Letters of Grace and Beauty: A Guided Literary Study of New Testament Epistles
Overview
Take a guided tour on how to interpret the New Testament epistles. Leland Ryken shows pastors and students and teachers of the Bible how to appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty of the New Testament letters. In Letters of Grace and Beauty, he explores the intersection of the Bible and ancient letter writing. And he goes one step further than merely explaining the literary dimensions of the epistles—he includes exercises to help students of the Bible master them.
Reading the Bible as Literature series
In the Reading the Bible as Literature series, Leland Ryken explores the intersection of the Bible and literature. In the series preface he writes, “It is my belief that a literary approach to the Bible is the common reader’s friend, in contrast to the more specialized types of scholarship on the Bible.”
Praise for the Reading the Bible as Literature series
Leland Ryken has been a pacesetter in the literary study of the Bible, especially within the evangelical community. Those of us who find this approach to Scripture especially enriching are always ready to listen when Ryken speaks. Readers who master Ryken’s principles will find the Bible open up to them in new, exciting ways.
—Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Chair and Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
Top Highlights
“To exhort is to utter urgent advice and strongly encourage someone either to believe an idea or to act in a certain way.” (Page 76)
“Another fallacy is that the paragraphs in an epistle are seamlessly woven together by tight logical coherence.” (Page 84)
“The most pervasive fallacy regarding the structure of the epistles is that they are structured like an essay or sermon” (Page 83)
“Paraenesis is not simply exhortation but a concentrated unit of exhortation packaged as a sequence of commands” (Page 66)
“Here is a brief list of traits in a letter of friendship, whether in antiquity or today: (1) naming the recipients either as individuals or a group; (2) references to shared experiences, either past or present; (3) friendship offered as the basis for a request; (4) expression of feelings that are part of friendship; (5) statements of longing to be present with the recipients. All of these are common in the epistles.” (Pages 26–27)
Contents
- The New Testament Epistles as a Genre
- Types of New Testament Letters
- Literary Genres from the Broader World of Literature
- Opening and Closing in New Testament Epistles
- The Thanksgiving in the Letters of the New Testament
- Paraenesis: Walking Worthy of the Lord
- Body: Giving Shape to New Testament Epistles
- Organization and Structure of New Testament Letters
- Embedded Genres within New Testament Letters
- Style of the Letters of the New Testament
Product Details
- Title: Letters of Grace and Beauty: A Guided Literary Study of New Testament Epistles
- Author: Leland Ryken
- Series: Reading the Bible as Literature
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2016
- Pages: 112
- Format: Logos Digital, Paperback
- Trim Size: 6x9
- ISBN: 9781683591566
About Leland Ryken
Leland Ryken (Ph.D., University of Oregon) is Professor of English Emeritus at Wheaton College, where he has taught since 1968. He is the author of more than 50 books, including How to Read the Bible as Literature, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, Windows to the World: Literature in Christian Perspective, and A Complete Handbook of Literary Forms in the Bible.
Reviews
0 ratings
Mike Bennett
2/26/2024
This book popped up in the "From Your Library" section of my home page, and I had a look. It seemed so interesting that I set up a daily reading plan in short, easy chunks. I have fallen in love, and have set up several of the author's other books to be read in order after this one. I'm also reading his _The Word of God in English_, which has driven me back to the ESV from the NET Bible. He is a treasure - a scholar who writes in plain language for us non-scholars.