A friend mentioned that he had received a REAL letter (i.e. paper and ink in a posted envelope) from his Dad the other day. He LOVED getting it!! Such a special thing these days.
Thinking about Paul's letters, I imagine they would have been highly cherished.
How did they share the contents? Were they read out loud? Did everyone gather for dinner at someone's house so they could all get the message at the same time? Who delivered the letters? Was it a scroll? Could all the church members read? Were just "members" allowed to hear what Paul had to say? Did they memorise some parts?
It's not like today when we can just run off another copy. And such LONG letters they were. One interested in having a personal copy would surely have had to invest quite some time in the copying process. And what language did Paul write in? Presumably Greek. How did they preserve them? Have any survived in their original form? How grateful we are to those far-seeing people who recognized the value of what they had in their hands and preserved the message, which, as it turns out, was not just for their time, but for all time.
Julie
Even though it refers to Paul's second letter, I know readers will love the following poem.
A letter from Love
II Corinthians 3:3
From the July 6, 1981 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
What joy—a letter
from someone loved!
Paul wrote long ago
that we are "the epistle of Christ...
Written not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God."
Let me read you—
each man, woman, and child—
as a unique communication
from our loving Father.
from someone loved!
Paul wrote long ago
that we are "the epistle of Christ...
Written not with ink,
but with the Spirit of the living God."
Let me read you—
each man, woman, and child—
as a unique communication
from our loving Father.
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