Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection by E. Randolph Richards

Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection Reviews

• 
  Douglas Wilson

  Really informative book. Just great.
• 
  Amy Morgan

  Steve made me read this. A super informative look at the first-century process of letter writing, with implications for how we understand both inspiration and inerrancy. Richards explores Paul’s use of coauthors, secretaries, letter carriers, and explains the influence all of these individuals likely had on the writing process and interpretation.
  
  This would be a really good book for a NT survey class.
• 
  Eric Fulwider

  Does well to address the topic at hand, which is quite surprising! More lively than I expected as well, considering this was assigned reading for a course.
• 
  Steve Herman

  Richards’ discussion of the technical aspects of writing on papyrus is quite good. His exegesis of Paul’s letters reflects his religious zealotry, and is less useful. But Richards’ discussion of the cost of Paul’s letters is shameful, even scandalous. I confine my discussion to costs, a critical area that is almost never mentioned.
  
  In estimating the cost of the papyrus for Paul’s letters, Richards, like other scholars, assumed that the cost of a sheet of papyrus was about two-thirds of a day’s wage. Richards claimed the daily wage was one-half a denarius (p. 167). However, Matthew 20:2 says the daily wage was one denarius. No scholar that I know of supports Richards’ estimate, nor did Richards provide any references. Furthermore, this reflects the cost of papyrus at its source in Egypt. As Richards notes, papyrus was shipped in the form of scrolls, which were both fragile and bulky. Transport costs were high, and there were often shortages in the cities of Paul’s mission. Paul’s cost of papyrus was far higher. When confronted with these facts, Richards remained silent.
  
  There was no public mail system in the Roman Empire. To send a letter, you needed a private messenger to carry it. Richards assumed that Paul incurred no cost for having Timothy or Titus carry his letters to Paul’s distant churches, claiming that they would have eaten anyway (p. 181). This claim is utterly preposterous, and Richards himself contradicted it several times. Travel was expensive, especially sea travel. Paul wrote the Corinthians of his dire poverty, lacking both food and shelter. Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus, across the Aegean Sea. The letter’s cost could have purchased room and board for a year. When confronted with these facts, Richards remained silent.
  
  Paul, like virtually all letter-writers, used a professional secretary to create his papyrus scroll. Richards claims that the price edict of Diocletian said the (maximum) secretarial wage was 25 denarii per ten thousand lines produced, and used this figure in his calculations. In fact, the price edict said secretaries could charge 35 denarii per hundred lines produced. When confronted with this, Richards remained silent.
  
  Faith is far better at suppressing and misrepresenting facts than it is at moving mountains. Richards’ faith-based estimates eliminated over ninety percent of Paul’s costs. His evangelical publisher, InterVarsity Press, refused to issue any corrections when notified of the facts. In over a decade, his brethren New Testament scholars have had nothing but praise for the book, even overlooking its contradiction of the Gospel of Matthew. These are the kind of pious miscreants who banned the teaching of evolution, who burned witches, and who conducted inquisitions. Jesus said the truth will set you free, but that’s not part of their gospel.
• 
  Orville Jenkins

  Paul's Oral Letters
  
  This is an excellent scholarly study of the letters of Paul in light of the times and technologies. He reviews all the classical examples from the whole range of ancient Mediterranean writers in various languages, formal, scholarly and popular or informal. He analyzes Paul's formats, syntax and content in light of other letters of the first century before Christ and after Christ.
  
  His analysis and the perspectives from the other sources he cites on letters of the era confirm vibrantly the oral and relational character of letter writing. An important characteristic is that they were written to be read.
  
  They were meant to be oral, not analytical treatises. They were practical and written to represent Paul's presence with the recipients. The oral relational character of the society and of Paul's priorities are overwhelmingly clear.
• 
  Mike

  Although this book contains some interesting ideas and is fairly accessible in its readability, it will most likely only interest those involved in NT studies and canon formation.
• 
  Walter Harrington

  E. Randolph Richards brings a wealth of information on letter writing in the first century and how it relates to Paul's letters. This is a wonderful book that sheds so much light on the actual process of Paul's letters and how we misperceive the process by mapping our modern concept of letter writing onto Paul and his ancient context. It is extremely interesting to get a window into the context of Paul's writings, and it is helpful to build a better picture of the process of inspiration and the making of scripture.
  
  Richards clearly demonstrates his knowledge base in ancient letter writing and examination of the ancient letters we have found, mostly from sites in Egypt that were able to best preserve ancient papyrus. He also draws many parallels from well-known letter writers in this time period, especially Cicero. Richards begins by giving words to our modern (often unconscious) picture of what Paul looked like when he was writing a letter and then proceeds to show how these assumptions simply do not stand in the ancient world.
  
  Richard then dives deep into letter writing in the ancient world, discussing aspects including the materials and tools used, the time it took to write letters, the use of secretaries, the absence of privacy in the ancient world, how the mail system worked through letter carriers, the cost of letter writing, and the location of the letter-writing process. He notes where Paul aligns with ancient conventions and where he deviates, such as his frequent use (and naming) of coauthors.
  
  Throughout the book, Richards tries to reconstruct an accurate historical picture of how Paul wrote his letters. He also discusses how this context may inform and shape how we perceive and interpret Paul's letters. It is so interesting to see little comments in the text come alive and give us so much information, especially in light of the ancient context. Contributing to the wider discussion about Paul's letters, Richard puts forth and discusses some theories on how the Pauline corpus was compiled, reasons why some of Paul's letters might not sound as Pauline as others, and some thoughts on inspiration in light of the evidence.
  
  My biggest criticism of the book is his lack of discussion about Phoebe as the letter carrier to the Romans. Richards discusses letter carriers in great detail and even talks about Tychicus and Titus in some detail, but only mentions Phoebe twice (once identifying her as certainly the carrier of the Roman letter and once in a footnote). I assume that he avoids a discussion of Phoebe because he doesn't want to get into the implications that this fact has on women's roles in the church of the first century (from another book of Richards I have deduced his position on this controversial topic), but I think this is a disservice to Phoebe and the context of Paul's letters. Throughout the book, Richards shows that he is not afraid to allow the data and evidence to reshape his view of Paul in the first century. However, it seems he is unwilling to take this step with Phoebe as well. But the conclusions he draws about letter carriers in the first century speak for themselves.
  
  Other than that one criticism, this is a great book. I learned so much from it, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Paul's letters. It is very interesting and will give you a good picture of letter writing in the first century.
• 
  Aaron

  How do you picture the Apostle Paul as he wrote his letters? In Paul and First-Century Letter Writing, E. Randolph Richards helps us see what was really involved in letter writing - from secretaries, to composition, and collection.
  
  Challenging and Compelling
  
  In about 250 pages, Richards peels away our presuppositions and reveals the true letter writing process. We are accustomed to thinking of Paul as a modern Western writer. I used to think that he would write alone, in a room lit well by candlelight, and furiously writing in a quick flurry of genius. But the reality of this first-century letter writer was a very different story.
  
  Drawing from many sources including the Roman scholar Cicero, Richards paints a picture of what it was probably like for Paul. He was a leader of a mission team, he had coauthors, he probably used different secretaries, and the letter writing was most likely done in the day with many people around. I am generalizing here, but the book goes into much finer detail. I was constantly challenged and compelled to learn more.
  
  Art and Craft
  
  This book is an academic work, but I found it to be beautifully written and highly rewarding. While the technical process of letter writing fascinates me, some readers will definitely be intrigued by how Richards explains how material gets inserted into a letter. Also interesting are the attempts to analyze Paul’s writing style, and understanding the sheer amount of work and expense that went into writing and sending a letter.
  
  The book ends by discussing how a letter was dispatched, carried, and collected. I am thankful that God would see that the letter writing process would require copies - and that many would be preserved for us today. These are the inspired words of God, and I have a greater appreciation for the art and craft that God deemed fit to hold his word.
  
  Written Word
  
  This book is perfect for serious students of the Bible, as it will give you unparalleled contextual insight. I especially encourage preachers and teachers to read it, as it will enhance your overall worldview of the text. While this book changed my understanding of Paul and his letters, it does not change my convictions. My faith is strengthened. I feel a deeper appreciation for the apostle. And I have a greater love for the written word - and the Author who inspires it.
  
  I received a media copy of Paul and First-Century Letter Writing and this is my honest review.
• 
  Deky

  Membaca buku ini membuat kita sadar bahwa Alkitab yang kita miliki saat ini memiliki akar sejarah yang tidak terlepas dari konteks zamannya. Richards menunjukkan tentang segala sesuatu mengenai proses penulisan surat-menyurat pada abad-abad awal kekristenan dan bagaimana relevansinya dalam memahami surat-surat PB, khususnya surat-surat Paulus. Misalnya, soal materi yang digunakan, koleksi, pengantar surat, sekretaris/amanuensis, dsb.
  Menarik bahwa Richards tidak sekadar menunjukkan keterkaitan fakta-fakta tersebut dengan surat-surat Paulus, tetapi juga mengakhiri bukunya dengan sebuah diskusi teologis, khususnya mengenai keterlibatan amanuensis dalam penulisan surat-surat Paulus. Pertanyaan kuncinya adalah apakah para amanuensis dan para co-authors Paulus juga diinspirasikan? Richards menjawab, Ya! Menurut Richards bahkan keseluruhan proses penulisan surat-surat Paulus harus dianggap "diinspirasikan". Bagaimana tanggapan Anda? Silakan baca review saya yang lebih luas mengenai buku ini dalam:
  http://arastamar.blogspot.com/2009/07....
• 
  Robyn

  Good read. Informative. Always wanted to know how much it cost to write Romans. ;)
  
  Interestingly he dances around issues like anachronistic interpretations re: ancient reading/writing practices (and even, at one point, the history of the notion of "justification by faith" v. works)... but he never quite goes the distance. He strikes me as a bright scholar who maybe just loves Jesus a little too much to get too critical. I guess seminary can do that to you.
• 
  Toby

  This is a great book for thinking about the complexities of the compilation of the canon. It helpfully explains how one may answer many higher criticism questions (and sometimes agree with them) and yet maintain a high view of inspiration. The focus of this book is on Paul and the NT in particular, but the principles involved seem applicable to the entire canon.
• 
  Timothy Smith

  This book is where you should start before beginning to study one of the Apostle Paul's letters.
• 
  Joel Fitzpatrick

  Good book. Very helpful in understanding the topic of letter writing and delivery in the formation of the cannon.
• 
  Nathan White

  Fascinating book on how letters were composed in the 1st century. Important to a proper understanding of the Apostle Paul and the doctrine of inspiration.
• 
  Aaron Shamp

  Fine academic work... Certainly not the most exciting material. If you are interested, but don't have the time for 200+ pages, Richards included excellent conclusions at the end of every chapter.
• 
  Ana Margarida

  Quite interesting for my thesis purposes! think I will buy it because of some important references.