What are the three main types of letter in the ancient world?
Explain how Paul’s letters are both similar and different from each type. Show how understanding the form of Paul’s letters is valuable for their interpretation. The ancient letters which survive from the time of the Apostles fall into three categories. These are short, private letters of a personal nature, official public letters, and philosophical letters sometimes to friends, whose purpose was to explain certain teaching of certain sects. Paul’s form was basically the same as the secular letters of the day. Normally, these letters contained a paragraph of introduction giving the name of the recipient, the name of the writer of the letter, and a greeting. This greeting was usually something like “health to you” and such like. The middle section of the letter contained the main message, and the final paragraph is one of conclusion, bidding farewell, and often contains messages from friends. Even though Paul followed the basic letter pattern, he made certain changes to make the letters
