“In the Pauline letters much effort is taken to introduce Paul’s co-workers. The reason for this may be found in the fact that some of these were the messengers who not only had to deliver the letters but had to perform them, i.e. read them aloud, expanding on them where necessary. The performer had to embody the voice of the sender(s). If, therefore, “Paul” introduces a fellow-worker without stating the reason, we may assume that it has to do with the delivery and performance of the message.
This also explains why it is so difficult today to come to exact descriptions of the purpose and context of the Pauline letters. The extant letters are only secondary remnants of much wider and richer communication systems. The emotive and illocutionary power of the letters is not evident, because it was presumed to be communicated by the performer.
From the wider cultural setting we know that the written word was always considered to be secondary to the spoken word. The primary message to the congregations would not be the written letter, but the performed message (logos), with the letters merely serving as mnemonic aids.”
— J. A. Loubser, Oral and Manuscript Culture in the Bible: Studies on the Media Texture of the New Testament
(Stellenbosch: Sun Press, 2007) pp. 62-63.
(Stellenbosch: Sun Press, 2007) pp. 62-63.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In