Chapter 2 | Table of
Contents | Chapter 4
The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia
W. M. Ramsay
1904
Chapter 3: The Christian Letters and Their Transmission
In the preceding chapter we have described the circumstances amid which the Christian
letter-writing was developed; and it was pointed out in conclusion that in the pressure of
those circumstances, or rather in the energetic use of the opportunities which the
circumstances of the Roman Empire offered, there came into existence a kind of letter,
hitherto unknown in the world. The Christians developed the older class of letter into new
forms, applied it to new purposes, and placed it on a much higher plane than it had ever
before stood upon. In their hands communication by letter became one of the most
important, if not the most important, of the agencies for consolidating and maintaining
the sense of unity among the scattered members of the one universal Church. By means of
letters the congregations expressed their mutual affection and sympathy and sense of
brotherhood, asked counsel of one another, gave advice with loving freedom and plain
speaking to one another, imparted mutual comfort and encouragement, and generally
expressed their sense of their common life. Thus arose a new category of epistles.
Dr. Deissmann in Bible Studies, p. 1ff, following older scholars, has rightly
and clearly distinguished two previously existing categories, the true letter-written by
friend to friend or to friends, springing from the momentary occasion, intended only for
the eye of the person or persons to whom it is addressed--and the literary
epistle--written with an eye to the public, and studied with literary art. The literary
epistle is obviously later in origin than the true letter. It implies the previous
existence of the true letter as a well-recognised type of composition, and the deliberate
choice of this type for imitation. Soon after the death of Aristotle in 322 BC a
fictitious collection of letters purporting to have been written by him was published.
Such forged letters are composed for a literary purpose with an eye to the opinion of the
world. The forger deliberately writes them after a certain type and with certain
characteristics, which may cause them to be taken for something which they are not really.
A fabrication like this proves at least that the letter was already an established form of
composition; and the forger believed that he could calculate on rousing public interest by
falsely assuming this guise.
But it is impossible to follow Dr. Deissmann, it seems to me, when he goes on to reduce
all the letters of the New Testament to one or other of those categories. He shows, it is
true, some consciousness that the two older categories are insufficient, but the fact is
that in the new conditions a new category had been developed--the general letter addressed
to a whole congregation or to the entire Church of Christ.
These are true letters, in the sense that they spring from the heart of the writer and
speak direct to the heart of the readers; that they were often written in answer to a
question, or called forth by some special crisis in the history of the persons addressed,
so that they rise out of the actual situation in which the writer conceives the readers to
be placed; that they express the writer's keen and living sympathy with and participation
in the fortunes of the whole class addressed; that they are not affected by any thought of
a wider public than the persons whom he directly addresses; in short, he empties out his
heart in them. On the other hand, the letters of this class express general principles of
life and conduct, religion and ethics, applicable to a wider range of circumstances than
those which have called forth the special letter; and they appeal as emphatically and
intimately to all Christians in all time as they did to those addressed in the first
instance.
It was not long before this wider appeal was perceived. It is evident that when St.
Paul bade the Colossians send his letter to be read in the Laodicean Church, and read
themselves the Laodicean letter, he saw that each was applicable to a wider circle than it
directly addressed. But it is equally evident that the Colossian letter was composed not
with an eye to that wider circle, but directly to suit the critical situation in Colossae.
The wider application arises out of the essential similarity of human nature in both
congregations and in all mankind. The crisis that has occurred in one congregation is
likely at some period to occur in other similar bodies; and the letter which speaks direct
to the heart of one man or one body of men will speak direct to the heart of all men in
virtue of their common human nature. Here lies the essential character of this new
category of letters. In the individual case they discover the universal principle, and
state it in such a way as to reach the heart of every man similarly situated; and yet they
state this, not in the way of formal exposition, but in the way of direct personal
converse, written in place of spoken.
Some of those Christian letters are more diverse from the true letter than others; and
Dr. Deissmann tries to force them into his too narrow classification by calling some of
them true letters and others literary epistles. But none of the letters in the New
Testament can be restricted within the narrow range of his definition of the true letter:
even the letter to Philemon, intimate and personal as it is, rebels in some parts against
this strictness, and rises into a far higher and broader region of thought: it is
addressed not only to Philemon and Apphia and Archippus, but also "to the Church
in thy house."
Such letters show a certain analogy to the Imperial rescripts. The rescript was
strictly a mere reply to a request for guidance in some special case, addressed by an
official to the Emperor; yet it came to be regarded as one of the chief means of improving
and developing Roman public law. A rescript arose out of special circumstances and stated
the Emperor's opinion on them in much the same way as if the official had consulted him
face to face; the rescript was written for the eye of one official, without any thought of
others; but it set forth the general principle of policy which applied to the special
case. The rescripts show how inadequate Dr. Deissmann's classification is. It would be a
singularly incomplete account of them to class them either as true letters or as literary
epistles. They have many of the characteristics of the true letter; in them the whole mind
and spirit of the Imperial writer was expressed for the benefit of one single reader; but
they lack entirely the spontaneity and freshness of the true letter. As expressing general
truths and universal principles, they must have been the result of long experience and
careful thought, though the final expression was often hasty and roused by some special
occasion. This more studied character differentiates them from the mere unstudied
expression of personal affection and interest.
Similarly, those general letters of the Christians express and embody the growth in the
law of the Church and in its common life and constitution. They originated in the
circumstances of the Church. The letter of the Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:23ff) arose
out of a special occasion, and was the reply to a question addressed from Syria to the
central Church and its leaders; the reply was addressed to the Churches of the province of
Syria and Cilicia, and specially the Church of the capital of that province; but it was
forthwith treated as applicable equally to other Christians, and was communicated as
authoritative by Paul and Silas to the Churches of Galatia (Acts 16:4).
The peculiar relation of fatherhood and authority in which Paul stood to his own
Churches developed still further this category of letters. Mr. V. Bartlet has some good
remarks on it in Dr. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, i., p. 730, from which we
may be allowed to quote two sentences. "Of a temper too ardent for the more studied
forms of writing, St. Paul could yet by letter, and so on the spur of occasion,
concentrate all his wealth of thought, feeling and maturing experience upon some
particular religious situation, and sweep away the difficulty or danger...The true cause
of" all his letters "lay deep in the same spirit as breathes in First
Thessalonians, the essentially 'pastoral' instinct."
A still further development towards general philosophicolegal statement of religious
dogma is apparent on the one hand in Romans, addressed to a Church which he had not
founded, and on the other hand in the Pastoral Epistles. The latter have a double
character, being addressed by Paul to friends and pupils of his own, partly in their
capacity of personal friends--such portions of the letters being of the most intimate,
incidental, and unstudied character--but far more in their official capacity as heads and
overseers of a group of Churches--such parts of the letters being really intended more for
the guidance of the congregations than of the nominal addressees, and being, undoubtedly,
to a considerable extent merely confirmatory of the teaching already given to the
congregations by Timothy and Titus. The double character of these Epistles is a strong
proof of their authenticity. Such a mixture of character could only spring from the
intimate friend and leader, whose interest in the work which his two subordinates were
doing was at times lost in the personal relation.
The Catholic Epistles represent a further stage of this development. First Peter is
addressed to a very wide yet carefully defined body of Churches in view of a serious trial
to which they are about to be exposed. Second Peter, James, and First John are quite
indefinite in their address to all Christians. But all of them are separated by a broad
and deep division from the literary epistle written for the public eye. They are informed
and inspired with the intense personal affection which the writers felt for every
individual of the thousands whom they addressed. They are entirely devoid of the
artificiality which is inseparable from the literary epistle; they come straight from the
heart and speak straight to the heart; whereas the literary epistle is always and
necessarily written with a view to its effect on the public, and the style is affected and
to a certain degree forced and even unnatural. It was left for the Christian letter to
prove that the heart of man is wide enough and deep enough to entertain the same love for
thousands as for one. The Catholic Epistles are therefore quite as far removed from the
class of "literary epistles" as the typical letters of Paul are from the class
of "true letters," as those classes have been defined; and the resemblance in
essentials between the Catholic and the typical Pauline Epistles is sufficient to
overpower the points of difference, and to justify us in regarding them as forming a class
by themselves.
This remarkable development, in which law, statesmanship, ethics, and religion meet in
and transform the simple letter, was the work of St. Paul more than of any other. But it
was not due to him alone, nor initiated by him. It began before him and continued after
him. It sprang from the nature of the Church and the circumstances of the time. The Church
was Imperial, the visible Kingdom of God. Its leaders felt that their letters expressed
the will of God; and they issued their truly Imperial rescripts. "It seemed good
to the Holy Spirit and to us" is the bold and regal exordium of the first
Christian letter.
Christian letters in the next two or three centuries were often inspired by something
of the same spirit. Congregation spoke boldly and authoritatively to congregation, as each
was moved by the Spirit to write: the letter partook of the nature of an Imperial
rescript, yet it was merely the expression of the intense interest taken by equal in
equal, and brother in brother. The whole series of such letters is indicative of the
strong interest of all individuals in the government of the entire body; and they form one
of the loftiest and noblest embodiments of a high tone of feeling common to a very large
number of ordinary, commonplace, undistinguished human beings.
Such a development of the letter was possible in that widely scattered body of the
Church only through the greatly increased facilities for travel and intercourse. The
Church showed its marvellous intuition and governing capacity by seizing this opportunity.
In this, as in many other ways, it was the creature of its time, suiting itself to the
needs of the time, which was ripe for it, and using the conditions and opportunities of
the time with true creative statesmanship.
As has been said, correspondence is impossible without some safe means of conveyance. A
confidential letter, the real outpouring of one's feelings, is impossible unless the
writer feels reasonably sure that the letter will reach the proper hands, and still more
that it will not fall into the wrong hands. Further, it has been pointed out that there
was no public post, and that any individual or any trading company which maintained a
large correspondence was forced to maintain an adequate number of private letter-carriers.
The great financial associations of publicani in the last century BC had bodies of
slave messengers, called tabellarii, to carry their letters between the central
administration in Rome and the agents scattered over every province where they conducted
business. Wealthy private persons employed some of their own slaves as tabellarii.
But if such messengers were to be useful, they must be experienced, and they must be
familiar with roads and methods of travel: in short, any great company which maintained a
large correspondence must necessarily organise a postal service of its own. The best
routes and halts were marked out, the tabellarii travelled along fixed roads, and
the administration could say approximately where any messenger was likely to be at any
moment, when a letter would arrive and the orders which it contained be put in execution,
when each messenger would return and be available for a new mission. All this lies at the
basis of good organisation and successful conduct of business. As to the details we know
nothing; no account of such things has been preserved. But the existence of such a system
must be presupposed as a condition, before great business operations like the Roman could
be carried on. A large correspondence implies a special postal system.
Now we must apply this to the Christian letters. Many such letters were sent: those
which have been preserved must be immensely multiplied to give any idea of the number
really despatched. The importance of this correspondence for the welfare and growth of the
Church was, as has been shown, very great. Some provision for the safe transmission of
that large body of letters, official and private, was obviously necessary. Here is a great
subject, as to which no information has been preserved.
It must be supposed as was stated above, that the bishops had the control of this
department of Church work. In the first place the bishop wrote in the name of the
congregation of which he was an official: this is known from the case of the Roman
Clement, whose letter to the Corinthians is expressed in the name of the Roman Church. The
reference to him in the Shepherd of Hermas, Vision, ii., 4, 3, as entrusted with
the duty of communicating with other Churches, confirms the obvious inference from his
letter, and the form of the reference shows that the case was not an exceptional, but a
regular and typical one. This one case, therefore, proves sufficiently what was the
practice in the Church.
In the second place the bishop was charged with the duty of hospitality, i.e. of
receiving and providing for the comfort of the envoys and messengers from other Churches:
this is distinctly stated in 1 Timothy 3:1ff and Titus 1:5ff. To understand what is
implied in this duty, it is necessary to conceive clearly the situation. As has been
already pointed out, the Christian letter-writers had to find their own messengers. It
cannot be doubted that, as an almost invariable rule, those messengers were Christians.
Especially, all official letters from one congregation to another must be assumed to have
been borne by Christian envoys. Epaphroditus, Tychicus, Silas and others, who occur as
bearers of letters in the New Testament, must be taken as examples of a large class. St.
Paul himself carried and delivered the first known Christian letter. That class of
travelling Christians could not be suffered to lodge in pagan inns, which were commonly
places of the worst character in respect of morality and comfort and cleanliness. They
were entertained by their Christian brethren; that was a duty incumbent on the
congregation; and the bishops had to superintend and be responsible for the proper
discharge of this duty. It must therefore be understood that such envoys would address
themselves first to the bishop, when they came to any city where there was an organised
body of Christians resident, and that all Christian travellers would in like manner look
to the bishop for guidance to suitable quarters. Considering that the number of Christian
travellers must have been large, it is entirely impossible to interpret the duty of
hospitality, with which the bishop was charged, as implying that he ought to entertain
them in his own house.
In the third place, it seems to follow as a necessary corollary from the two preceding
duties, that the letters addressed to any congregation were received by the bishop in its
name and as its representative.
From the fact that the letter-carriers were usually Christian, we must infer that they
were not likely as a rule to be, like the tabellarii of the great Roman companies,
slaves trained to the duty and doing nothing else. In many cases, certainly, the letters
were carried by persons who had other reasons for travelling. But in a great province like
Asia, it was necessary to have more regular messengers within the province, and not to
depend entirely on accidental opportunities. Undoubtedly, messengers had often to be sent
with letters round the congregations of the province. In the earlier stages of Church
development, probably, those messengers were volunteers, discharging a duty which among
the pagans was almost entirely performed by slaves: just as Luke and Aristarchus, when
they travelled with St. Paul to Rome, must have voluntarily passed as his servants, i.e.
as slaves, in order to be admitted to the convoy. In such cases, it is apparent how much
this sense of duty ennobled labour and raised the social standing of the labourer, who was
not a volunteer, making himself like a slave in the service of the Church. In this there
is already involved the germ of a general emancipation of slaves and the substitution of
free for slave labour.
As time passed, and the work grew heavier, the organisation must have become more
complex, and professional carriers of letters were probably required. But as to the
details we know nothing, though the general outlines of the system were dictated by the
circumstances of the period, and can be restored accordingly. Thus, as soon as we begin to
work out the idea of the preparations and equipment required in practice for this great
system, we find ourselves obliged to admit the existence of a large organisation. The
Church stands before those who rightly conceive its practical character, as a real
antagonist in the fullest sense to the Imperial government, creating and managing its own
rival administration. We thus understand better the hatred which the Imperial government
could not but feel for it, a hatred which is altogether misapprehended by those who regard
it as springing from religious ground. We understand too how Constantine at last
recognised in the Church the one bond which could hold together the disintegrating Empire.
Whether or not he was a Christian, he at least possessed a statesman's insight. And his
statesmanlike insight in estimating the practical strength of rival religions stands out
as all the more wonderful, if he were not a Christian at heart; for (though many years of
his youth and earlier manhood had been spent in irksome detention in the East, where
Christianity was the popular and widely accepted religion), yet his choice was made in the
West, the country of his birth and of his hopes, where Mithraism was the popular and most
influential religion: it was made amid the soldiery, which was almost entirely devoted to
the religion of Mithras.
Chapter 2 | Table of
Contents | Chapter 4
research-bpr@philologos.org
