Catholic Epistles, Pastoral Epistles, The Epistles of John

(Originally written January 24, 2006 in Book 20)

The first three Catholic Epistles:
1 Peter
2 Peter
Jude

1 Peter: Salvation & Suffering

What it means to live for God in a world without God.

"For Western Christians at the close of the 20th Century this brief tract written within a culture not yet Christian becomes a relevant textbook on Christian living in a culture no longer Christian".

1 Peter

I. Problem of Authorship
-What difference does it make whether the Apostle Peter wrote this letter or someone else wrote it and ascribed it to Peter?
-Peter is a highly esteemed apostle
-Peter was an eye witness
-Peter's words in 1 Peter & Acts

II. Who was I Peter written to?
-Gentiles

III. Setting of Peter's Readers
-ridicule for their beliefs
-honor and shame
-walking in Jesus' steps

2. II Peter

-Parallels Jude
-II Peter 1:20-21 Source of Scripture
- A response to rationalistic and hedonistic denials of God
-Paul's letter as Scripture

3. Jude: Danger! False Teachers!

-Parallels 2 Peter
-Jude was probably written after II Peter

Pastoral Epistles

Called Pastoral because they were written to young pastors

Contents: Introduction to Timothy and Titus about:
1) Errors of false teachers
2) Conduct and teaching as pastors/teachers
3) Church order and behavior in worship
4) Pastor's relationship to other groups in the Church
5) Qualifications for Church leaders

Authorship: critical scholarship considered non-Pauline
-a pseudonymous writer in the second century
-used Paul's authority
-to combat a rising Gnostic influence
-or could think of them as pious forgeries

Paul's authorship attacked on four grounds
1) Historical arguments
-don't fit into chronology in Acts (written after Paul was released in the end of Acts)
2) Stylistic arguments
-Author uses different style and words than Paul's (Paul was older, could have given secretaries more freedom)
3) Ecclesiastical arguments
-Church structure and church order is too developed for first century church (ignores fact that church in Acts is already highly developed)
4) Theological arguments:
-Heresy is a developed Gnosticism of the second century so it is therefore, post-Paul (Gnostic heresy existed very early on)

1st Timothy Highlights

1:18-20 Timothy's character and Paul's admonition

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
- New covenant stipulation
- Will Hymenaeus and Philters be in heaven?
2 Timothy is written 5 years after and it seems unlikely.

2:11-15
- Role of women in the church is one of the hottest topics in evangelicalism today

Authorship of Hebrews
-Philip?
-Apollos?
-Priscilla?
-Barnabas?

Hebrews was the oldest complete early Christian sermon that has been preserved.

Written to professing Jewish Christians in danger of apostasy (going back to Judaism)

The Epistles of John

Intro to I John

Test of fellowship
-Am I a carnal or a spirit directed believer?
-Assumes all John's readers are believers

Tests of Life View

-Am I spiritually alive or spiritually dead?
-Assumes some readers are not Christian