Paul the Ancient Letter Writer
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
- Published: 2016
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Publisher's Description
This clear and user-friendly introduction to the interpretive method called "epistolary analysis" shows how focusing on the form and function of Paul's letters yields valuable insights into the apostle's purpose and meaning. The author helps readers interpret Paul's letters properly by paying close attention to the apostle's use of ancient letter-writing conventions. Paul is an extremely skilled letter writer who deliberately adapts or expands traditional epistolary forms so that his persuasive purposes are enhanced. This is an ideal supplemental textbook for courses on Paul or the New Testament. It contains numerous analyses of key Pauline texts, including a final chapter analyzing the apostle's Letter to Philemon as a "test case" to demonstrate the benefits of this interpretive approach.
Endorsements (2)
“Weima has written a very timely and important book on how to analyze the apostle Paul’s letters. A growing number of scholars, myself included, have had serious questions about the over-rhetorization of Paul’s letters. Weima presents a useful and helpful alternative in returning to a robust form of epistolary analysis. We may have some differences of opinion on whether there are four or five major parts to the Pauline letter, but we are in agreement that analysis of the epistolary form of Paul’s letters is central to their interpretation. I strongly endorse the approach of this book and Weima’s attempt to exemplify it, and I think that other interpreters of Paul’s letters will benefit as well.”
“Paul the Ancient Letter Writer is an overdue book that needed to be written. Readers of this comprehensive study will no longer be able to escape the reality of Paul having written real letters. Weima shows how the essential components of ancient letters appear in each of the thirteen texts in the New Testament’s collection of Paul’s letters.”
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