The first volume of the new series “Papyri and the New Testament” introduces students, teachers, and scholars to the value of the study of papyrological documentsand their impact on the understanding of early Christ groups.Papyri, ostraca, and tablets document social, economic, political, and multilingualcircumstances of the Greco-Roman period and are one of the best sources for understandingNew Testament times. Compared to the first studies devoted to papyri andthe New Testament some hundred years ago, the amount of available material hasincreased twentyfold. In addition, the days have...

New Testament letters are compared with private, business, and administrative letters of Greco-Roman antiquity and analyzed against this ackground. More than 11,800 Greek and Latin letters – preserved on papyrus, potsherds, and tablets from Egypt, Israel, Asia Minor, North Africa, Britain, and Switzerland – have been edited so far. Among them are not only short notes by writers with poor writing skills, but also extensive letters and correspondences from highly educated authors. They testify to the literary skills of Paul of Tarsus, who knew how to make excellent use of epistolary...