Corpus-Paul

["John C. Hurd" <John.Hurd AT Squam.org>]

One of the most helpful papers on the subject of literary style as a
basis for judgments about authorship is Francis I. Andersen, "Style and
Authorship."  It was published as "The Tyndale Lecture for 1976."  I
cannot remember where I got it, and now I cannot find it.  Does anyone
on the list know the source?
    Here is a sample:

"Questions about authorship have been raised by biblical scholars for
hundreds of years.  The problems are numerous; the literature is
endless.  Also tedious.  And largely useless, or at least
inconsequential.  This is because biblical scholars seem to have been
quite innocent of what is needed to put such research on a scientific
footing.  Several steps are needed, each with its own methodological
requirements.  First a decision has to be made about what kind of
evidence should lend itself to the purpose of correlating style with
authorship.  Secondly, sampling procedures have to be adopted to extract
such data from the source.  Then the data have to be processed by
statistical calculations to yield a quantitative measure of the selected
features of style.  Fourthly, an interpretive inference may be
indicated.  Finally, the creditability of the inference should be
estimated."

Lest anyone think that this is criticism from outside the fraternity be
assured that Prof. Andersen is an established and well-published Old
Testament scholar.
    Also stimulating is Louis T. Milic, "A Quantitative Approach to the
Prose Style of Jonathan Swift" (The Hague: Mouton, 1967).
    And closer to home is Kenneth J. Neumann's, "The Authenticity of the
Pauline Epistles in the Light of Stylostatistical Analysis"  ("SBL
dissertation series, 120; Atlanta, GA:  Scholar's Press, 1990).  He was
my student, and I was his director and am his friend.
    Best wishes to all!          --         John Hurd
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