Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters

This study applies and compares different metrics and statistical methods to Paul’s letters and a variety of roughly contemporary texts also written in Greek. The primary objective is to elucidate the distinctions between several notable metrics and statistical methods of comparison to discern the r...

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Main Authors: Luce Alessandra, Robertson Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2025-01-01
Series:Open Theology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0032
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author Luce Alessandra
Robertson Paul
author_facet Luce Alessandra
Robertson Paul
author_sort Luce Alessandra
collection DOAJ
description This study applies and compares different metrics and statistical methods to Paul’s letters and a variety of roughly contemporary texts also written in Greek. The primary objective is to elucidate the distinctions between several notable metrics and statistical methods of comparison to discern the relative impact of their application on our understanding of Paul’s letters vis-à-vis our comparanda. The secondary objective is to compare the findings from different statistical metrics in order to assess their relative merits as statistical tools for literary analysis. Such analysis extends to determining the statistical significance of different methods’ relative findings and extracting meaningful insights about each metric and method. We aim to determine which metrics are most accurate and provide the most useful information in comparing Paul’s letters to other types of literature such as Greco-Roman philosophy, formal oratory, and so-called Jewish apocalyptic literature. Such findings are especially salient when comparing these quantitative methods to qualitative conclusions from the biblical commentary traditions of literary analysis and comparison.
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spelling doaj-art-5bb4ea9c3a624687a5dee9c24293d7e02025-02-02T15:46:42ZengDe GruyterOpen Theology2300-65792025-01-01111283410.1515/opth-2024-0032Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s LettersLuce Alessandra0Robertson Paul1Department of Computer Science, University of New Hampshire, Durham, United StatesDepartment of Classics, Humanities and Italian Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham, United StatesThis study applies and compares different metrics and statistical methods to Paul’s letters and a variety of roughly contemporary texts also written in Greek. The primary objective is to elucidate the distinctions between several notable metrics and statistical methods of comparison to discern the relative impact of their application on our understanding of Paul’s letters vis-à-vis our comparanda. The secondary objective is to compare the findings from different statistical metrics in order to assess their relative merits as statistical tools for literary analysis. Such analysis extends to determining the statistical significance of different methods’ relative findings and extracting meaningful insights about each metric and method. We aim to determine which metrics are most accurate and provide the most useful information in comparing Paul’s letters to other types of literature such as Greco-Roman philosophy, formal oratory, and so-called Jewish apocalyptic literature. Such findings are especially salient when comparing these quantitative methods to qualitative conclusions from the biblical commentary traditions of literary analysis and comparison.https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0032paul’s lettersdigital humanitiescomparative literaturecomputational methods
spellingShingle Luce Alessandra
Robertson Paul
Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
Open Theology
paul’s letters
digital humanities
comparative literature
computational methods
title Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
title_full Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
title_fullStr Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
title_full_unstemmed Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
title_short Comparing and Assessing Statistical Distance Metrics within the Christian Apostle Paul’s Letters
title_sort comparing and assessing statistical distance metrics within the christian apostle paul s letters
topic paul’s letters
digital humanities
comparative literature
computational methods
url https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2024-0032
work_keys_str_mv AT lucealessandra comparingandassessingstatisticaldistancemetricswithinthechristianapostlepaulsletters
AT robertsonpaul comparingandassessingstatisticaldistancemetricswithinthechristianapostlepaulsletters