By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
I’m teaching a summer Sunday School class at Lockport Church where I attend. In preparing for it, I took a small rabbit’s trail on how letters were written in the time of Paul.
Before I retired, I wrote letters and notes nearly every week. It never dawned on me that letters written 2,000 years ago were written differently. It wasn’t even part of my seminary training. Hence, the rabbit trail.
In the New Testament we hear about the Scribes and the Pharisees but those scribes are not who I will be talking about. That group described legal scholars more than secretaries like Paul might have used.
My wife was an executive secretary for many years and often composed letters for her bosses based on what they wanted said. Even though she took shorthand at the general rate of speech, her bosses didn’t always dictate.
Sometimes it was “send Bill a letter explaining that we just can’t do what he wants.” She’d compose it and he’d review it for corrections, additions or his signature.
Paul wrote his letters using scribes/secretaries to actually write what he wanted said (like Donna typed) but not always word for word dictation.
Don’t let this threaten your understanding of God’s authorship or of the inerrancy of the Scriptures. What went out was precisely what God wanted said. The Holy Spirit guarded the process and the final product.
Secretaries then, like now, played a variety of roles from transcribing dictation to composing letters based on the sender’s ideas.
Paul’s letters show a variety of practices. In Galatians 6:11, Paul tells the recipients, “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!”
Some letters had multiple authors. The named co-senders of Paul’s letters (Timothy, Sosthenes, Silas) were contributors to the content of the letters.
Paul was the authorizing sender meaning that he agreed with all that was in the letter.Some of Paul’s letters would have been created over periods of weeks and months in multiple stages and in group sessions with the named co-authors discussing and debating about how to word and arrange the letter.
Paul’s letters almost certainly went through multiple drafts involving editing, re-wording, and re-ordering material until Paul was pleased with the final product.
When I prepared sermons every week, the same thing occurred. I would draft a sermon, re-write it, re-write it again, changing some words, rearranging the order of some thoughts, adding or deleting illustrations.
And finally, by the end of the week I would have the final product. Rarely, did a sermon I preached on Sunday get written in one setting.
The letter carriers also played a key role in a letter’s reception. They would have often been in the discussions with the authors, hearing what they were thinking and trying to communicate with their intended listeners.
Then, at the church, they would read the work aloud, explaining difficult parts based on personal knowledge of the author’s intentions, and answer questions from the recipients.
Tychicus (for Ephesians), Phoebe (for Romans), Eutuchus (for Ephesians), Epaphras (for Philippians), and Onesimus (for Colossians and Philemon) are among the named carriers.
This article is not meant to challenge you like most that I author but I thought I’d just take you along with me on a fun rabbit’s trail. Hope you enjoyed the journey.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.
