Letters in NT :
Letters in NT 21 of 27 books are Letters or Epistles
14 authored by Paul
Named for recipients: Romans, Galatians, Philemon
Longer in length than Ancient Letters of that time
Thousands of manuscripts found in Egypt: Short in Length
Signed, Sealed, Delivered :
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Manner of writing Next year delivery Many times dictated
Romans 16:22: “I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the lord”
Paul add notes after dictating, sometimes corrects errors. Difficult to send letters
NO POSTAL SERVICE!
Ex: St. Augustine sent a letter to Jerome in Bethlehem. Jerome received it 9 YEARS LATER!
LAND, SEASONS, BANDITS… OH MY!
Letter vs. Epistle :
Letter vs. Epistle Letters for a certain individual or group of people
Deal with the moment
Epistle more sophisticated: Public and Permanent
“…were written in order to deal with urgent difficulties experienced by the recipients, such as persecution, heresy, and religious or moral laxity.”
DEAL WITH IT! :
DEAL WITH IT! “The letters in the New Testament are real letters, and the issues they deal with belong to the particular period in the history of the church.”