Because I’m a nerd, I sometimes enjoy reading textbooks. This book review is a product of that. Every CCU student has to take an Introduction to Paul class. Jenny highly recommended their textbook, so I borrowed Emily Isaacs’ copy. A lot of the material specific to each epistle was familiar to me from hearing Ben, Todd, and Ken teach, but there was plenty of new knowledge gained. I will focus on life in the Ancient Near East.
The first few chapters gave background on the world Paul lived in, the Ancient Near East (ANE). I learned a wide range of useful tidbits that apply not only to Paul’s life and letters, but also to the other writings in the New Testament (NT). Any question asked in public was a challenge to a man’s honor. If you had a friendly question, you asked it in private. Every man fought to defend his honor and, if he was a client, the honor of his patron. The patron-client system was an integral part of society. Wealthier men (and sometimes women) were considered patrons. Their clients were the people they protected and trusted to represent them honorably. If a person sought the patronage of someone of high standing, they would offer a gift to the high-ranking person. If the gift was accepted, so was their client-hood. This leads to the idea that almost every gift came with strings attached.
On a different note, I also learned a good deal about letter-writing in the ANE. It was quite an expensive venture, so most letters were short. The book of Philemon would have been a letter of average length that most could afford. The book of Romans, however, is a different story. Paul’s letter-writing style cost him a pretty penny or two. Letters of the day often followed certain formulae and conventions about greetings, body content, and conclusion. Paul’s letters definitely show these greetings and conclusions, although the other pieces may be harder to trace in his massive letters. The process of composing a letter was very different than it is now. First off, as my readers may already know, a scribe wrote the letter. The author might add a final word or signature of sorts in his own hand, but a scribe did all the rest. Different authors gave their scribes different degrees of freedom in the phrasing of the letter, but barring extremely rare word-by-word dictation, the scribe’s style would seep into the author’s words. Second, formulaic phrases were common and could comprise the bulk of the letter. In Paul’s case, this included not only the typical well-wishing and polite phrases of the day, but also hymns from the early church, teachings from the apostles in Jerusalem, and passages from the Old Testament. Furthermore, it would not at all be out of the question for the companions of the letter-writer to give input to the author. Given that Paul usually traveled with solid Christian companions, it makes sense that he would take into account their suggestions. All these things considered, it is not at all difficult to discount the criticisms against the authenticity of some Pauline epistles based on stylistic differences.
I could probably continue for quite some time about all the things I learned from the book, and there are probably things I learned without being conscious of it, but they have nevertheless already seeped into my understanding of Paul and the world of the first church. This book with all its details about Paul’s life and the surrounding culture helped Paul come alive for me (to the point that I shed a tear or two when they talked about his death and his concerns for his church-children at that time). It was most definitely a worthwhile read.
Book Information:
Title: Rediscovering Paul: an Introduction to His World, Letters, and Theology
Authors: David B. Capes, Rodney Reeves, E. Randolph Richards
Year Published: 2007
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