Paul's Letter Collection: Tracing the Origins

by David Trobisch

In this fascinating book David Trobisch looks at the Pauline letters of the New Testament by examining the oldest manuscripts of the Letters of Paul. Then he describes characteristic features of the Pauline letters and interprets them in the light of documented editorial practices by comparing them to other published letter collections of the time (Cicero, Plinius etc). He comes to the conclusion that the New Testament collection of Pauline letters is best understood if one assumes that the Apostle Paul himself prepared some of them for publication (Romans, I & II Corinthians and Galatians). It is written in accessible language for anyone interested in New Testament scholarship. With footnotes, tables, and illustrations. The author taught at the University of Heidelberg, Yale Divinity School, and Bangor Theological Seminary.

Genres: Biblical Studies

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Luke Burrage · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very clearly written and very convincing in its arguments. As I was reading, I thought "It would be really cool to lay out Paul's letters in the way that Trobisch has found makes best sense of them" and then, at the very close of the book, he recreates a new "greeting and explanation" in the style of Paul himself, exactly as I wanted.

I might still make a "Trobisch Version" of Paul's first four letters, for my own personal reading and enjoyment, and then try to work out if something similar can be done with some of the other letters. You know, because I've got that much spare time on my hands...

[Lindsay John Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The information in the first half about manuscripts, transmission, and the argument for an official letter collection is fascinating and well worth the price of the book. The second half begins to get more speculative and less convincing. Still, it was a very impacting read and I can't wait to read his other book on the NT.