num_pages: 238
description: The collection of letters by Ignatius of Antioch has until now mainly been treated as a coherent whole. This has been the case irrespective of analyses of the authenticity or theology of these letters, or of discussions about the identity of Ignatius' opponents. The present work underlines that each individual letter should be read as a specific act of communication between a sender and his recipients, and emphasizes that Ignatius wrote different letters to different addressees.The five Ignatian letters to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Philadelphia, and Smyrna are studied in order to highlight the individual character of each letter. Tools from text linguistic analysis (discourse analysis) and rhetorical criticism are employed in order to allow the structure, the (main) themes, and the rhetorical strategy of each respective letter to emerge.The result has implications for several fields of Ignatian the systematic surveys of Ignatius' theology and the question whether the letters reflect the situation in Antioch or that in the receiving churches, as well as the "eternal" question about the authenticity of these letters.
language: English
title: To Each Their Own Letter: Structure, Themes, & Rhetorical Strategies in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
titlecomplete: To Each Their Own Letter: Structure, Themes, & Rhetorical Strategies in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch (Coniectanea Biblica New Testament Series)
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Almqvist & Wiksell Intl