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Epistle(s)
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e-pis'-'-l ((epistole) a letter, (epistello) to send to)
RELATED: Colossians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Hebrews, James, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Philemon, Philippians, Romans, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus
AUTHORS: James,
John,
Jude,
Paul,
Peter, Unknown
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
the apostolic letters. The New Testament contains twenty-one
in all. They are divided into two classes.
(1) Paul's Epistles, fourteen in number, including Hebrews. These are not arranged
in the New Testament in the order of time as to their composition, but rather
according to the rank of the cities or places to which they were sent. Who arranged
them after this manner is unknown. Paul's letters were, as a rule, dictated to
an amanuensis, a fact which accounts for some of their peculiarities. He authenticated
them, however, by adding a few words in his own hand at the close. (See GALATIANS,
EPISTLE TO.)
The epistles to Timothy and Titus are styled the Pastoral Epistles.
(2) The Catholic or General Epistles, so called because they are not addressed
to any particular church or city or individual, but to Christians in general,
or to Christians in several countries. Of these, three are written by John, two
by Peter, and one each by James and Jude.
It is an interesting and instructive fact that a large portion of the New Testament
is taken up with epistles. The doctrines of Christianity are thus not set forth
in any formal treatise, but mainly in a collection of letters. "Christianity was
the first great missionary religion. It was the first to break the bonds of race
and aim at embracing all mankind. But this necessarily involved a change in the
mode in which it was presented. The prophet of the Old Testament, if he had anything
to communicate, either appeared in person or sent messengers to speak for him
by word of mouth. The narrow limits of Palestine made direct personal communication
easy. But the case was different when the Christian Church came to consist of
a number of scattered parts, stretching from Mesopotamia in the east to Rome or
even Spain in the far west. It was only natural that the apostle by whom the greater
number of these communities had been founded should seek to communicate with them
by letter."
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(no entry)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
e-pis'-'-l (epistole, "a letter," "epistle"; from epistello,
"to send to"):
1. New Testament Epistles:
A written communication; a term inclusive of all forms of written correspondence,
personal and official, in vogue from an early antiquity. As applied to the twenty-one
letters, which constitute well-nigh one-half of the New Testament, the word "epistle"
has come to have chiefly a technical and exclusive meaning. It refers, in common
usage, to the communications addressed by five (possibly six) New Testament writers
to individual or collective churches, or to single persons or groups of Christian
disciples. Thirteen of these letters were written by Paul; three by John; two
by Peter; one each by James and Jude; one--the epistle to the Hebrews--by an unknown
writer.
2. Distinctive Characteristics:
As a whole the Epistles are classified as Pauline, and Catholic, i.e. general;
the Pauline being divided into two classes: those written to churches and to individuals,
the latter being known as Pastoral (1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus; some also including
Philemon; see Lange on Romans, American edition, 16). The fact that the New Testament
is so largely composed of letters distinguishes it, most uniquely, from all the
sacred writings of the world. The Scriptures of other oriental religions--the
Vedas, the Zend Avesta, the Tripitaka, the Koran, the writings of Confucius--lack
the direct and personal address altogether. The Epistles of the New Testament
are specifically the product of a new spiritual life and era. They deal, not with
truth in the abstract, but in the concrete. They have to do with the soul's inner
experiences and processes. They are the burning and heart-throbbing messages of
the apostles and their confreres to the fellow-Christians of their own day. The
chosen disciples who witnessed the events following the resurrection of Jesus
and received the power (Acts 1:8) bestowed by the Holy Spirit on, and subsequent
to, the Day of Pentecost, were spiritually a new order of men. The only approach
to them in the spiritual history of mankind is the ancient Hebrew prophets. Consequently
the Epistles, penned by men who had experienced a great redemption and the marvelous
intellectual emancipation and quickening that came with it, were an altogether
new type of literature. Their object is personal. They relate the vital truths
of the resurrection era, and the fundamental principles of the new teaching, to
the individual and collective life of all believers. This specific aim accounts
for the form in which the apostolic letters were written. The logic of this practical
aim appears conspicuously in the orderly Epistles of Paul who, after the opening
salutation in each letter, lays down with marvelous clearness the doctrinal basis
on which he builds the practical duties of daily Christian life. Following these,
as each case may require, are the personal messages and affectionate greetings
and directions, suited to this familiar form of address.
The Epistles consequently have a charm, a directness,
a vitality and power unknown to the other sacred writings of the world. Nowhere
are they equaled or surpassed except in the personal instructions that fell from
the lips of Jesus. Devoted exclusively to experimental and practical religion
they have, with the teachings of Christ, become the textbook of the spiritual
life for the Christian church in all subsequent time. For this reason "they are
of more real value to the church than all the systems of theology, from Origen
to Schleiermacher" (Schaff on St. Paul's Epistles, History of the Christian Church,
741). No writings in history so unfold the nature and processes of the redemptive
experience. In Paul and John, especially, the pastoral instinct is ever supreme.
Their letters are too human, too personal, too vital to be formal treatises or
arguments. They throb with passion for truth and love for souls. Their directness
and affectionate intensity convert their authors into prophets of truth, preachers
of grace, lovers of men and missionaries of the cross. Hence, their value as spiritual
biographies of the writers is immeasurable. As letters are the most spontaneous
and the freest form of writing, the New Testament Epistles are the very life-blood
of Christianity. They present theology, doctrine, truth, appeal, in terms of life,
and pulsate with a vitality that will be fresh and re-creative till the end of
time. (For detailed study of their chronology, contents and distinguishing characteristics,
see articles on the separate epistles.)
3. Letter-Writing in Antiquity:
While the New Testament Epistles, in style and quality, are distinct from and
superior to all other literature of this class, they nevertheless belong to a
form of personal and written address common to all ages. The earliest known writings
were epistolary, unless we except some of the chronologies and inscriptions of
the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian kings. Some of these royal inscriptions carry
the art of writing back to 3800 BC, possibly to a period still earlier (see Goodspeed,
Kent's Historical Series, 42-43, secs. 40-41), and excavations have brought to
light "an immense mass of letters from officials to the court--correspondence
between royal personages or between minor officials," as early as the reign of
Khammurabi of Babylon, about 2275 BC (ibid., 33). The civilized world was astonished
at the extent of this international correspondence as revealed in the Tell el-Amarna
Letters (1480 BC), discovered in Egypt in 1887, among the ruins of the palace
of Amenophis IV. This mass of political correspondence is thus approximately synchronous
with the Hebrew exodus and the invasion of Canaan under Joshua.
4. Letters in the Old Testament:
As might be expected, then, the Old Testament abounds with evidences of extensive
epistolary correspondence in and between the oriental nations. That a postal service
was in existence in the time of Job (Job 9:25) is evident from the Hebrew term
ratsim, signifying "runners," and used of the mounted couriers of the Persians
who carried the royal edicts to the provinces. The most striking illustration
of this courier service in the Old Testament occurs in Esther 3:13 , 15 ; 8:10
, 14 where King Ahasuerus, in the days of Queen Esther, twice sends royal letters
to the Jews and satraps of his entire realm from India to Ethiopia, on the swiftest
horses. According to Herodotus, these were usually stationed, for the sake of
the greatest speed, four parasangs apart. Hezekiah's letters to Ephraim and Manasseh
were sent in the same way (2 Chronicles 30:1 , 6 , 10). Other instances of epistolary
messages or communications in the Old Testament are David's letter to Joab concerning
Uriah and sent by him (2 Samuel 11:14 , 15); Jezebel's, to the elders and nobles
of Jezreel, sent in Ahab's name, regarding Naboth (1 Kings 21:8 , 9); the letter
of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, to Jehoram, king of Israel, by the hand of Naaman
(2 Kings 5:5 - 7); Jehu's letters to the rulers of Jezreel, in Samaria (2 Kings
10:1 , 2 , 6 , 7); Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14 ; Isaiah 37:14
; 2 Chronicles 32:17), and also that of Merodach- baladan, accompanied with a
gift (2 Kings 20:12 ; Isaiah 39:1). Approximating the New Testament epistle in
purpose and spirit is the letter of earnest and loving counsel sent by Jeremiah
to the exiles in Babylon. It is both apostolic and pastoral in its prophetic fervor,
and is recorded in full (Jeremiah 29:1 , 4 - 32) with its reference to the bitterly
hostile and jealous letter of Shemaiah, the false prophet, in reply.
As many writers have well indicated, the Babylonian captivity must have been a
great stimulus to letter-writing on the part of the separated Hebrews, and between
the far East and Palestine. Evidences of this appear in the histories of Ezra
and Nehemiah, e.g. the correspondence, back and forth, between the enemies of
the Jews at Jerusalem and Artaxerxes, king of Persia, written in the Syrian language
(Ezra 4:7 - 23); also the letter of Tattenai (the King James Version "Tatnai")
the governor to King Darius (Ezra 5:6 - 17); that of Artaxerxes to Ezra (Ezra
7:11), and to Asaph, keeper of the royal forest (Nehemiah 2:8); finally the interchange
of letters between the nobles of Judah and Tobiah; and those of the latter to
Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:17 , 19 ; so Sanballat verse 5).
5. Letters in the Apocrypha:
The Old Testament Apocrypha contains choice specimens of personal and official
letters, approximating in literary form the epistles of the New Testament. In
each case they begin, like the latter, in true epistolary form with a salutation:
"greeting" or "sendeth greeting" (1 Maccabees 11:30 , 32 ; 12:6 , 20 ; 15:2 ,
16), and in two instances closing with the customary "Fare ye well" or "Farewell"
(2 Macc 11:27 - 33 , 34 - 38 ; compare 2 Corinthians 13:11), so universally characteristic
of letter-writing in the Hellenistic era.
6. Epistolary Writings in the New Testament:
The most felicitous and perfect example official correspondence in the New Testament
is Claudius Lysias' letter to Felix regarding Paul (Acts 23:25 - 30). Equally
complete in form is the letter, sent, evidently in duplicate, by the apostles
and elders to their Gentilebrethren in the provinces of Asia (Acts 15:23 - 29).
In these two letters we have the first, and with James 1:1, the only, instance
of the Greek form of salutation in the New Testament (chairein). The latter is
by many scholars regarded as probably the oldest letter in epistolary form in
the New Testament, being in purport and substance a Pastoral Letter issued by
the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem to the churches of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.
It contained instructions as to the basis of Christian fellowship, similar to
those of the great apostle to the churches under his care.
The letters of the high priest at Jerusalem commending Saul of Tarsus to the synagogues
of Damascus are samples of the customary letters of introduction (Acts 9:2 ; 22:5
; compare Acts 28:21 ; also Acts 18:27). As a Christian apostle Paul refers to
this common use of "epistles of commendation" (2 Corinthians 3:1 ; 1 Corinthians
16:3) and himself made happy use of the same (Romans 16:1); he also mentions receiving
letters, in turn, from the churches (1 Corinthians 7:1). Worthy of classification
as veritable epistles are the letters, under the special guidance of the Holy
Spirit, to the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 2:1 - 3:22). In fact, the entire
Book of Re is markedly epistolary in form, beginning with the benedictory salutation
of personal and apostolic address, and closing with the benediction common to
the Pauline epistles. This again distinguishes the New Testament literature in
spirit and form from all other sacred writings, being almost exclusively direct
and personal, whether in vocal or written address. In this respect the gospels,
histories and epistles are alike the product and exponent of a new spiritual era
in the life of mankind.
7. Epistles as Distinguished from Letters:
This survey of epistolary writing in the far East, and especially in the Old Testament
and New Testament periods, is not intended to obscure the distinction between
the letter and the epistle. A clear line of demarcation separates them, owing
not merely to differences in form and substance, but to the exalted spiritual
mission and character of the apostolic letters. The characterization of a letter
as more distinctly personal, confidential and spontaneous, and the epistle as
more general in aim and more suited to or intended for publication, accounts only
in part for the classification. Even when addressed to churches Paul's epistles
were as spontaneous and intimately and affectionately personal as the ordinary
correspondence. While intended for general circulation it is doubtful if any of
the epistolary writers of the New Testament ever anticipated such extensive and
permanent use of their letters as is made possible in the modern world of printing.
The epistles of the New Testament are lifted into a distinct category by their
spiritual eminence and power, and have given the word epistle a meaning and quality
that will forever distinguish it from letter. In this distinction appears that
Divine element usually defined as inspiration: a vitality and spiritual endowment
which keeps the writings of the apostles permanently "living and powerful," where
those of their successors pass into disuse and obscurity.
8. Patristic Epistles:
Such was the influence of the New Testament Epistles on the literature of early
Christianity that the patristic and pseudepigraphic writings of the next century
assumed chiefly the epistolary form. In letters to churches and individuals the
apostolic Fathers, as far as possible, reproduced their spirit, quality and style.
See LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC.
9. Apocryphal Epistles:
Pseudo-epistles extensively appeared after the patristic era, many of them written
and circulated in the name of the apostles and apostolic Fathers. See APOCRYPHAL
EPISTLES. This early tendency to hide ambitious or possibly heretical writings
under apostolic authority and Scriptural guise may have accounted for the anathema
pronounced by John against all who should attempt to add to or detract from the
inspired revelation (Revelation 22:18 , 19). It is hardly to be supposed that
all the apostolic letters and writings have escaped destruction. Paul in his epistles
refers a number of times to letters of his that do not now exist and that evidently
were written quite frequently to the churches under his care (1 Corinthians 5:9
; 2 Corinthians 10:9 , 10 ; Ephesians 3:3); "in every epistle" (2 Thessalonians
3:17) indicates not merely the apostle's uniform method of subscription but an
extensive correspondence. Colossians 4:16 speaks of an "epistle from Laodicea,"
now lost, doubtless written by Paul himself to the church at Laodicea, and to
be returned by it in exchange for his epistle to the church at Colosse.
Dwight M. Pratt
Tags:
apostolic letters, bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, define, epistle, general (catholic) epistles, new testament, pastoral epistles, paul's epistles
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