Overview

In The Pauline Letters: A Rhetorical Analysis, David Oliver Smith unveils his revolutionary discovery that the apostle Paul divided his letters into structured literary units as he wrote them. These literary units are based upon repeated words, phrases, and abstract concepts and are invariably patterned into chiastic, parallel, or hybrid structures. Using his technique of rhetorical analysis, Smith sets out each literary unit in the seven undisputed letters of Paul. After the structures of the literary units have been exposed, the units reveal interpolations that disrupt Paul's original structure. When the interpolations revealed by this technique are compared with interpolations heretofore proposed by Pauline scholars, there are some surprising results. Smith also uses his technique to analyze the Deutero-Pauline letters to determine whether any of those letters exhibit the same literary attributes as the undisputed letters.

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9781666744576

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David Oliver Smith has done something important here. It is quite worthwhile for a scholar to produce new theories and interpretations for us to consider. But it is even more significant when one crafts a new methodological tool, opening up altogether new ways of analyzing biblical texts. And this is what Smith has done in this groundbreaking book. Get ready to be both challenged and enlightened! --Robert M. Price, editor, Journal of Higher Criticism Smith, a retired lawyer who turned his attention to New Testament scholarship, proposes a new and different approach to determining what Paul did and did not write. Applying 'rhetorical analysis' to the letters claiming Pauline authorship, he seeks to identify both interpolations (later additions to the authentically Pauline letters) and pseudonymous letters (those falsely claiming Pauline authorship). It is to be hoped that his book will be widely read and given serious consideration by Pauline scholars. --William O. Walker Jr., Trinity University, emeritus

David Oliver Smith has done something important here. It is quite worthwhile for a scholar to produce new theories and interpretations for us to consider. But it is even more significant when one crafts a new methodological tool, opening up altogether new ways of analyzing biblical texts. And this is what Smith has done in this groundbreaking book. Get ready to be both challenged and enlightened! --Robert M. Price, editor, Journal of Higher Criticism Smith, a retired lawyer who turned his attention to New Testament scholarship, proposes a new and different approach to determining what Paul did and did not write. Applying 'rhetorical analysis' to the letters claiming Pauline authorship, he seeks to identify both interpolations (later additions to the authentically Pauline letters) and pseudonymous letters (those falsely claiming Pauline authorship). It is to be hoped that his book will be widely read and given serious consideration by Pauline scholars. --William O. Walker Jr., Trinity University, emeritus

Author Information

David Oliver Smith has a JD from Duke University and is a retired lawyer who began his study of the New Testament more than fifteen years ago. He is the author of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul: The Influence of the Epistles on the Synoptic Gospels (2011) and Unlocking the Puzzle: The Structure and Christology of the Original Gospel of Mark (2016).

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