Paul and the Ancient Letter Form

Throughout the last century, there has been continuous study of Paul as a writer of letters. Although this fact was acknowledged by previous generations of scholars, it was during the twentieth century that the study of ancient letter-writing practices came to the fore and began to be applied to the study of the letters of the New Testament. This volume seeks to advance the discussion of Paul’s relationship to Greek epistolary traditions by evaluating the nature of ancient letters as well as the individual letter components. These features are evaluated alongside Paul’s letters to better understand Paul’s use and adaptations of these traditions in order to meet his communicative needs.

Stanley E. Porter, Ph.D. (1988) in Biblical Studies and Linguistics, the University of Sheffield, is President and Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has published extensively in New Testament and related subjects, and has also edited the first five volumes in the Pauline Studies series.

Sean A. Adams, Ph.D. (Cand.) in New Testament and Christian Origins, the University of Edinburgh. He has published in the areas of Greek linguistics, New Testament literary background and Pauline letters.