Oral Biblical Criticism: The Influence of the Principles of Orality on the Literary Structure of Paul's Epistle to the Philip (The Library of New Testament Studies)

Book info: Oral Biblical Criticism: The Influence of the Principles of Orality on the Literary Structure of Paul's Epistle to the Philip (The Library of New Testament Studies) (Hardcover, 196 pages) – Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Language: English.

The Apostle Paul expected the vast majority of the recipients of his letters to hear, not read, them. He structured his compositions for the ear rather than the eye. Pauline audiences would hear clues to meaning and structure because they had learned to communicate in a world where those clues were essential to understanding. Recognizable structures and patterns were essential for listeners to organize what they heard, to follow, to predict and to remember the flow of communication. Oral Biblical Criticism examines Paul's Epistle to the Philippians in light of recent study of oral principles of composition and interpretation.

Editorial Reviews About the Author Casey W. Davis is Chaplain and Assistant Professor of Religion, Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York.

Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.