Scalometry and the Pauline Epistles

Book excerpt: "Scale" is well known and understood in creative arts such as architecture, sculpture and music, but New Testament scholars have given no significant consideration to scale changes in the Biblical texts. A robust methodology allows scale changes in literature to be examined scientifically and reveals "scale-related" patterns in the epistles. To determine the significance of these patterns, George Barr has conducted a wide survey covering many texts in Greek, Latin and English. It reveals that the patterns found in the New Testament are very rare indeed, if not unique, and gives grounds for the belief that such patterns are associated with authorship. The patterns found in the Pauline epistles clarify some theories regarding the origins of the epistles and, in some cases, shed new light on their compilation.