The General Epistles

Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

Some consider Hebrews to be Pauline, but even if Paul wrote it, it’s not to a church or a pastor, so it still fits as a general epistle

2 John and 3 John are technical to specific individuals and thus not general epistles

Hebrews

Authorship

Evidence for Paul

Associated with Timothy and Rome (Heb 13:23-24)

Pauline themes

Evidence against Paul

Non-Pauline themes

Ancient uncertainty (Origen, Eusebius, etc.)

Non-standard opening

Not an eyewitness (Heb 2:3)

Daniel Wallace suggested Barnabas with help from Apollos.

Audience

As title indicates, the audience was Jewish.

Persecuted (Heb 10:32-36)

Occasion

Became aware of some falling away from faith (Heb 3:6; 4:14; 6:4-6; 10:23, 26-27)

Concern that they will return to Judaism

Purpose

Convince Jewish Christians to endure in the faith instead of falling away (presumably back into Judaism)

Mode

Show that Jesus is better

Ch 1: Jesus as God’s promised Messiah is better than the angels who gave the Law.

Ch 2:  Jesus’ salvation is better b/c he is human.

Ch 3:  Jesus is better than Moses.

Ch 7: Jesus’ priesthood is better than Aaron’s.

Ch 8:  Jesus’ covenant is better than the old covenant b/c it has better promises.

Ch 9:  Jesus’ heavenly priestly service is better than the priests serving at the temple on earth.

Ch 10:  Jesus’ sacrifice is better than animal sacrifices.

Ch 11: The unshakable Mt. Zion covenant is better than the covenant at Mt. Sinai.

Overall rhetorical effect to ask, “Why in the world would Christ-followers want to downgrade to Judaism after they’ve tasted something so much better?”

1 John

Authorship

No author in the document itself (1 John 1:1)

Early Christians refer to this letter as written by John

Irenaeus (a.d. 180) attributed the Gospel of John and 1 John to “John, the disciple of the Lord”1

Later Christians agreed, including Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and the Muratorian Canon

Eusebius says, “But of John’s writings, in addition to the Gospel, the first of the letters is unambiguously accepted [as genuine] both by people today and by the ancients” (H.E. 3.24.17)2

Definitely the same John who wrote the Gospel of John (John the Apostle)

Same vocabulary and writing style

Audience

Christians that John is worried about

Occasion: concern over rogue Christians

“They went out from us, but they did not belong to us”

(1 John 2:19).

They are trying to deceive the regular Christians (2:26; 3:7).

Many false prophets have gone out (4:1).

They are denying that Jesus is the Christ (2:22).

They may have been teaching that sin is ok (3:7-10).

Purpose

Equip Christians to discern and resist false teachings

Encourage them to

Live righteously

Believe correctly about Jesus

Love one another

Mode

Christology

“Confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (4:2)

“Testify that the Father has sent his son as the savior of the world” (4:14).

“Confess that Jesus is the son of God” (4:15)

“Believes that Jesus is the Christ” (5:1)

“Believes that Jesus is the son of God” (5:5)

“Believes in the son of God” (5:10)

“Life is in his son” (5:11)

“Believe in the name of the son of God” (5:13)

Behavior (1 John 3:7-10)

“It is unlikely that John has in mind absolute sinless perfection, since earlier he has denounced those who say they are without sin (1:8, 10). Rather, John has in mind the blatant sinning to which those who have left the community have fallen prey (2:19). In view of the letter as a whole, such sinning probably involves denial of Christ’s human nature (4:2-3; theological lapse), flaunting of God’s (or Christ’s) commands (2:4; ethical lapse), failure to love (4:20; relational lapse), or some combination of these grave errors.”3

Many appeals to live righteously (1 John 1:.5-6; 2:1-6; 3:4-10, 23-24; 5:18)

Live differently than the world (1 John 2:15-17; 3:1, 13; 4:4-6; 5:4-5, 19)

Love your brother/sister in Christ (1 John 2:10-11; 3:11, 14-18; 4:7-