Friday, January 30, 2009

The Letter-Carriers of 1 Clement

Just got news that my paper - '"Witnesses between you and us": The Role of the Letter-Carriers in 1 Clement' - has been accepted for the National Patristics Conference (9-11 Sept 09, in Cambridge).

For details about the conference check here.

The abstract:
This paper discusses the role which 1 Clement envisages for those sent with the letter ‘who will be witnesses between you and us’ (1 Clement 63.3). The couriers are presented as the personal agents by which the appeal for ‘peace and harmony’ will be speedily received in the Corinthian church. Careful attention is given to 63.1-4 and 65.1-2 within the context of the letter as a whole.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Published in JSNT
Just received an email saying that my article ‘Named Letter-Carriers among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri’ has been published in JSNT 31.3 (2009), 279-299; and is now available on-line (DOI: 10.1177/0142064X08101525). On-line at:
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/3/279

The abstract: This paper analyses the role played by named letter-carriers among Greek personal letters in the Oxyrhynchus papyri as possible background for Pauline practice, and within the context of recent proposals concerning the role of the letter-carriers within Pauline practice. Around forty letters are discussed, with three examples analysed in more depth (P.Oxy. 113; P.Oxy. 3313; P.Oxy. 3505). It is seen that, when named and identified within the letter, the letter-carrier frequently supplements the written communication with some oral supplement. Against some recent proposals no evidence is found in support of the view that the letter-carrier ever read the letter itself to the recipient.