The General Epistles

The General Epistles:

• Intro:

  • Includes: Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude

  • Known as the General Epistles or the Catholic Epistles

    • Catholic

    • Collection was solidified in the late 3rd century CE but did not include Hebrews

  • Not addressed to specific congregations

• Background:

  • Christian persecution

  • Local sporadic

  • Nero’s persecution in 64 CE

  • Hebrews

  • Author is anonymous and audience is anonymous

• Hebrews:

  • Author: Anonymous

  • Audience: Anonymous 

    • Title was added in the 2nd century CE

      • Due to engagement with Jewish traditions 

  • Occasion:

    • Written to a community that has been enduring hardship

    • Encourages them to endure and remain faithful

  • Genre:

    • Structure and contents point away from being an epistle

    • Instead, it seems to be a homily

  • Content:

    • Christologically centered

• James:

  • Authorship is James, the brother of Jesus

    • Leader of the Jerusalem church

  • Audience is the twelve tribes in the diaspora

    • Likely Jewish and possible Gentile Christians

  • Occasion:

    • Churches that are suffering

  • Genre:

    • Paranesis

      • Moral exhortation that emphasizes traditional instruction

• James vs. Paul:

  • Both Paul and James use the story of Abraham

  • Most likely one is responding to a distortion of the other’s teaching

    • Taking Paul’s statement too far produces a libertine lifestyle

    • Taking James too far falls into legalism

• Peter:

  • Author is supposedly Peter

    • Evidence suggests otherwise

  • Likely pseudonymous

  • Audience is the churches in Asia Minor

    • Likely gentile Christians 

  • Occasion:

    • Suffering due to their faithfulness

  • Genre:

    • Epistles 

  • 1 Peter:

    • Message:

      • Emphasis on the community’s identity as Christian believers

      • Encourages Christians to adapt to their social environment as much as possible to avoid slander and harassment 

        • Governing authorities and households 

  • 2 Peter:

    • Author: Pseudonymous 

    • Genre:

      • “Last Testament”

      • Where a figure provides their final instructions before their death

    • Content:

      • Against false teachers and encourages believers to remain steadfast

  • Jude:

    • Author is Jude

      • The Brother of Jesus and James

    • Likely Pseudonymous

      • Historical perspective appears to be beyond the first generation of Christians

    • Content:

      • About false teachers and draws upon noncanonical texts