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INTROD
UCTIONTO
THE
TO
ALL
LETTERSCHRISTIANS
II
II
II
TherearesevenNewTestamentletterswhicharenotPaulineandwhich,in spite
of
havingno
othe
robviousconnection,wereverysoongroupedtogether. ThreeoftheselettersareattributedtoJohn,twotoPeterandtheothertwoto JamesandJude.Theywerealreadygiventhetitle'universal'or'catholic'by theend
of
the2ndcentury;itis
not
certainwhy,possiblybecause
most
areaddressedtothewholeChristianChurchand
not
toparticularcommunitiesorindividuals.
The
letter
of
James
wasgenerallyacceptedascanonicalintheChurchfrom the2ndcenturyonwards.Its
author
isusuallyidentifiedwiththeJames,'brother ofthe
Lord',
Mt13:55p;cf.12:46+,whoplayedanimport
ant
part
intheearliestChristiancommunityinJerusalem,Ac12:17+;
15:1
3-21;21:18-26;ICo15:7;
Ga
1:19;2:9,12,andwhowas
put
todeathbyJews
about
theyear62(Josephus,Hegesippus).Heisobviously
not
theapostleJames.sonofZebedee,MtIO:2p,martyredby
Herod
in44,Ac12:2,thoughhecouldtheoreticallybeidentifiedwiththeapostleJames,sonofAlphaeus,MtIO:3p;evenearlywriters, however,weredoubtfulandmostcriticsnowadaysrejectit.Paul'sturnof phrasein
Ga
I:19is
amb
iguous.ButevenwithoutbeingoneoftheTwelve, James,as'thebrotherofthe
Lord',
wassufficientlyprominentfortheapostolic authority
of
hislettertobeacceptedfromthebeginning. Thetraditional
attr
ibutionofthelettertoJames,'thebrotherofthe
Lor
d',leader
of
theJudaeo-ChristiancommunityinJerusalem,issupportedby internalevidence.TheauthorwasfamiliarwiththeOldTestamentandwith theteachingsofJesus,yethisletter,thoughitisfullofHebraismsandmakes useofparallelism,andisinadidacticstyle
that
ischaracteristicallysemitic, wasobviouslywritteninGreek.Itiswritten,moreover,withsuchelegance, sucharichvocabularyandwithsuchaskilfuluse
of
the'diatribe',thatmany criticshavefoundithardtobelievethe
author
wasaGalilean.Noaccurate estimate,however,canbemadeastohowcompetentfirst-centuryPalestinians wereinwritingGreek,andJamesmayhavebeenhelpedbyadisciplefamiliar withthehellenisticworldanditsculture. Theletterisaddressedtothe'twelvetribes
of
theDispersion',1:1,i.e.to theJewishChristiansscatteredallovertheGraeco
-Ro
manworldbutconcen tratedincountriesnearPalestinelikeSyriaandEgypt.Thewholetoneofthe lettershows
that
itwasintendedforJewishconvertsandpresumesthatthe readersarefamiliarwiththeOldTestamentsince,unlikePaulandtheauthor
of
the
Hebr
ews,Jameshardlyevermakesuseofdirectquotationsbutargues fromtheimpreciseand
rather
generalallusionsthatunderliethewholetext.
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INTRODU
CTION
39
2
393
TH
ELE
TTERS
TOALL
CHRISTIANS
II
II
II
II
HistwochiefsourcesaretheOldTestamentwisdomliterature,onwhichhe baseshismorallessons,andtheteachingfoundinthegospels.Somecritics havethoughtoftheletterasanexclusivelyJewish
produ
ct,but,onthec
ont
rary,ideasandevencharacteristicexpressions
of
Jesuscanbedetectedallthroughit, notsomuchbyexplicitquotationsfromwrittentexts,asbyreferencetoaliving, oraltradition.JamesisaJudaeo-Christiansagewhohasrethoughtthemaxims
of
theJewishWisdomtraditioninthelightofhisMaster'steachings,andisable tore
-pr
esenttheminanoriginalway. Moreasermon
than
aletter,it
prob
ablyreflectstheregularteaching
of
Juda
eo-Christianassemblies
and
consists
of
aseriesofmoralexhortations linkedeitherbyacommonthemeorsometimesbynothingmorethanverbal assonances.Thesort
of
subjectsdealtwithare:howtobehaveintimeoftrial, I:1-12;5:7-11;theorigin
of
temptation,I:13-18;howto
contr
olthetongue, 1:26;3:1-18;goodrelationsandsympathywithone'sneighbour,2:8,13; 3:13
-4
:2;
4:llf;
thepowerofprayer,1:5-8;4:2f;5:13-18etc.In5:14fisthe
locusclassicus
onthesacramental(cf.Council
of
Trent)anointingofthesick. Therearetwomainthemes.
The
firstpraisesthe
poor
and
thr
eatenstherich, 1:9-11;1:27
-2
:9;4:13-5:6,showingaconcernforthelowly,God'sfavoured ones,thatfollowsoneOldTestamenttradition
but
particularlytheBeatitudes, Mt5:3+.Thesecondinsists
that
Christiansmustdogoodandnotbecontent withafaiththatproducesnothing,1:22-27;2:I0-26;thisleadsontoasection, 2:14-26,thatridiculesthepreachingoffaithcompletelyunrelatedtog
ood
works,andsomehaveseenthisasaimedagainstPaul.JamesandGalatians Romanshavemanysignificantpoints
of
contact
,particularlynoticeableinthe differentwaystheyinterpretOldTestamenttextson
Abra
ham.Jamesmaybe opposingPaulhimselfor,
mor
eprobably,certainChristianswhodrewper niciousconclusionsfromPaul'steaching.Twopointsareworthremembering: first,thatbeneaththeclashbetweentheirdifferentpositions,PaulandJames agreeonessentials,cf.2:14+;secondly,
that
theproblem
of
relatingfaithto worksisinherentinthe
data
ofJewishreligionandmayhavebeenatraditional
top
icthatJamesandPauldealtwithindependently
of
eachother.The
dat
ingoftheletterdependsonhowtheproblemjustmentionedissolved. IfJamesisthinking
of
whatPaultaughtin
Gala
tians
-Ro
mans,itmustbedated after57/58;ifn
ot
,itcouldbedatedbeforethe
jud
aisingcrisis(about49),which wouldaccountforitsprimitiveChristology.Ineithercaseitmustbedatedbefore theFirstLetterofPeterwhichisindebtedtoJames.
Jud
e
whocallshimself'brotherof
Jame
s',v.I,isalso,it
appear
s,oneofthe
'brother
s
of
the
Lord'
,Mt13:55p.Thereisnoreasontoidentifyhimwiththe
apost
le
of
thesamename,Lk6:16;Ac1:13;cf.Jn14:22,especiallyasherefers tohimselfasbeingoutsidetheapostolicbody,v.17.
Nor
isitlikelythatan anonymous
author
wouldhaveadoptedthename.sinceJudewasnotsufficiently
prom
inenttolendauthoritytoaletter.Ourhypothesisisthatafterhisbrother Jameshadbeenexecutedin62A.D.,
Jude
followedhisexampleandwarned theJewishChristiansagainstnewthreatstotheirfaith.Ifthisisso,his anonymousreadersarethoseforwhomJameswrote,andhisGreek,whichis accurate,withsemiticturnsofphrase,maybeaccountedforasinthecaseof James.Theletterwasacceptedascanonicalbymanyofthechurchesasearlyas 200,thoughitsuseoftwoapocryphalsources,the-BookofEnochinvv.6,14f, andtheAssumptionofMosesinv.9,had
prom
ptedcertainhesitations;butto
quote
contemporaryJewishwritingsishardlyequivalenttorecognisingtheir inspiration.
Jude
'spurposeinwritingthisletteristodenouncethefalseteacherswhoarea
danger
toChristianfaith.Hethreatens
them
withthedivinepunishmentsfamiliarfromJewishtradition,vv.5-7,
and
alsoseemstobasehisdescription
of
theirfalseteachingonthesametraditions,v.
II.
Henowherestatesprecisely
what
thesedoctrineswere,sothey
cannot
beidentifiedwithsecond-centuryGnosticism.Heaccusesthemofirreligionandimmorality,in
par
ticularofblasphemiesagainsttheLordChristandtheangels,vv.4,8-10.Thesemayhave been
part
of
thesyncretistictendenciesdenouncedinColossians,the
Pastoral
LettersandRevelation.
The
lettermustbedatedfairlylateintheIstcentury:theapostlesare
quoted
asbelongingtothepast,vv.17f;thefaithisnowsomethingfixedand
'handed
ononceforall',v.3;
and
theauthorappearstobeacquaintedwithPaul'sletters.Itistrue
that
2Peterborrowsfrom
Jude
andisthereforelater,
but
the'SecondLetterofPeter'couldhavebeenwrittenafterPeter'sdeath(cf.
infra).
The
limitsseemtobebetween70and80.Twoofthese
'un
iversal'lettersareattributedto
Peter.
IPeterintroducesthe name
of
theapostleintheopeningverse,I:I,andhasneverbeen
dou
btedinanypartoftheChurch.Clementof
Rome
seemstohaveused
it;
Polycarpcertainlydid,andsincethetime
of
Irenaeusithasbeenexpresslyattributed toPeter.TheapostlewritesfromRome(Babylon,5:13),andcalls
Mark,
whoiswithhim,his's
on'.
Verylittleisknown
abo
utPeter'slastyears;according totraditionhewentto
Rome
andwasmartyredthere
underNero
(in64orpossibly67).HisletterisaddressedtotheChristians'oftheDispersion',and namesfiveprovinces,I:I,whichrepresent
prac
ticallythewholeofAsiaMinor. Fromwhathesays,I:14,
J
8;2:9f;4:3,itseemsthatmost
of
themwereconvertedpagans,thoughtheremayhavebeensomeJudaeo-Christiansamongthem. HewasobviouslyobligedtosendthemaletterinGreek-Jameshaddonethe samewithlessreason-andthoughPeter's
Gr
eekisunsophisticateditistoo accurateandunforcedforafishermanfrom
Ga
lilee.Unliketheletterfrom James,thenameofadiscipleandsecretaryismentionedwhomayhavehelped: thisisSilvanus,5:12,usuallyidentifiedwiththeSilvanuswhohadbeena
compa
nion
of
Paul,Ac15:22+..
The
purpose
of
theletteristohelpitsreaders'faithinatimeoftrial.Some criticsthinkthismayrefertoapersecutionu
nder
Domitianor
Trajan,
whichwoulddatethelettermuchlaterthanPeter;buttheallusionsintheletterare notstrongenoughto
make
thisconclusioninevitable,sinceitseems
that
this'timeoftrial'couldreferrathertothepersonalmaliceandspitefulcalumnies causedbythestrictlymorallifeledbyconvertsamongthosewhosesinsthey nolongershared,2:12;3:16;4:4,12-16. AnotherargumentagainstPetrineauthorshipisbasedontheliberaluse thelettermakesofJohn,RomansandEphesians,andonthesurprisinglylittle directuseitmakes
of
thegospel.Thereare,however,manyreminiscences
of
thegospelbutthesearesoimplicitastoconstituteanargumentagainstthe ideathattheauthormerelywantedtopretendtheapostlehadwrittenit.There isatendencyperhapstoexaggeratethe
numb
er
of
point
s
of
contactwithJames
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and
Paul.
SpecificallyPaulinethemes,e.g.theabolitionof
the
Jewish
Law,
theBody
of
Christ,etc.,donotap
pear
atall,
andthough
somethemes
appearthat
arebest
known
from
Paul's
letters,yetthese
are
themes
common
toall
ear
ly
Christiantheo
logy,e.g.
the
redemptive
nature
of
the
death
of
Jesus;
faith
and
baptism,etc.
Certainformulae
usedinprimitive
preaching
and
certain
itemsin
anthologies
of
Old
Testament
quotations
arebeing
increas
inglyidentifiedbycritics,
and
anyearlywritings
could
wellhave
drawn
onthese
independen
tly.Even
theremaining
caseswhereI
Peter
is
dependent
on
Romans
orEphesiansneed
not
militate
againstPetrineauthorship,
sincePeter,feelinghislack
of
theologicalgifts,maywellhave
had
recourseto
Paul's
writings,especiallyashewaswritingto
peoplewhohad
felt
Paul's
influence.
It
isalso
worth
reme
mbering
thatSilvanuswasadisciple
of
both
apost
les
and
t
hat
some
scholars
detect
affinities
not
onlybetweenIPeterandPaulbutalso b
etw
eenIPeter
and
two
gro
ups
of
writingswhosecli
mate
isPetrine:i.e.Mark
and
thediscoursesof
Peter
inActs.
If
thesubstance
of
thele
tter
wereinexistencebefore
Peter's
death
in64or67, Sil
vanus
couldstillhavegivenititspresent
form
manyyearslater.
This
hypot
hesiswouldbe
more
likelyifitcouldbe
pr
oved
tha
tthe
letter
wasmadeupoffragments.
lt
issuggested
tha
t,for
exampl
e,a
baptisma
lhomily,I:1
3-
4:II,is
one
suchfragment,
but
theseidentificationsremainverytentative.
Thoug
haverypracticalletter,itisalsoa
valuablesummary
of
apostolictheol
ogy.Thedomi
nat
ingthemeisfortitudein
tria
l,forwhichChristhimself is
the
model,2:21-25;3:18;4:
I.
Christiansmustsufferpatientlylikehimwhen theirtrialsareduetotheirfaithandto
their
saintlylives,2:19f;3:14;4:12-19; 5:9,i.e.if,inre
turn
forevil,theyoffer:charity,
ob
ediencetoCIvil
authori
ty,2:13-17,
and
gentlenesstoall,3:8-17;4:7-11,19.Thereisone
obsc
ure
pa
ssage,3:19f,cf.4:6;the'
preac
hing'ofChristcanbetakenasan
announ
ce
ment
eitherofsalv
ation
or
of
punishment;the
'sp
iritsinprison'canbe
taken
eitherasthe wi
cke
dwhoweredrownedinthe
Flood
or
asthefallenangels
of
biblicaland
apocalyptic
t
radit
ion.Oneitherview,this
pa
ssagerefersthe
'pr
ea
ching'
tothe
momen
tJesusdied
and
is
the
chief
source
for
thedoc
trine
oftheDescentinto Hell.
The
SecondLetterofPeterclaimstohavebeenwrittenbythe
apostl
ehimself.
He
isnamedintheopening
addres
s,I:I,
the
predic
tion
of
Peter's
death
ismade byJesustothe
autho
rhimself,I:14,whoalsoclaimstohavewitnessedthe t
ran
sfiguration,I:16-18,
and
who
allude
stoa
forme
rletterthatis
obviou
slymeanttobeIPeter.Thepurposeofthele
tter
istwofold:towarn
aga
instfalseteachers,ch.2,
and
toallay
anxiet
yduetothedelay
of
the
par
ousia
,
ch.3.
It
ispossiblet
hat
boththesedifficultiesexistedbeforePeter'sdeath,butotherconsider
ations
makePetrine
aut
horshipdoubtfulandsuggestal
ater
date.Thevocabularyis
notably
differentfromIPeter;thewhole
of
ch.2isobviouslyafreerepetition
of
Jud
e;anacceptedPauline
corp
usseemstobealr
eady
inexistence,3:ISf;
the
apostolicbodyisreferredto,with
theprophets,
asathing
of
the
past
andasifthe
auth
ordidnotbelongtoit.
These
difficulties
cau
sedearlywriterstohesitate,and
ther
eisnos
ure
evidencet
hat
theletterwasacceptedatallbeforethe3rdcentury, andsome,
according
to
Or
igen,EusebiusandJ
ero
me,explicitly
ref
usedtoacce
pt
it.
Most
criticsnowa
days
alsorejecttheP
etr
ineauthorship,thoughthe wr
itermay
have
hadsomeclaim
torepresentPeter:
perhaps
hebelongedto
For
thethree
letters
of
John
cf.the
Introduction
tothe
Gospel
and
Letters
of
Sa
intJohn
.a
group
of
Peter's
disciples,perhapshefilled
out
one
of
Peter'swritingswith ideas
fromthe
letterof
Jude.
Thisiswhatwe
sho
uldcallforgery
but
w
hat
in
those
daysliterary
convention
foundadmissible.
The
letter
hasbeendefinitelyacceptedby
theChurch
ascanonical,
and
Christians
acceptitasan
authoritative
document
fromtheapostolic
age.
The
doctrine
itteaches
supports
this:
note
especially
the
vocation
of
all
Christians
to
the
'sharein
the
divine
nature',
1:4;thewayscripturalinspirationisdefined,I:20f;
theassurance
that
eventuallythe
parousia
will
come
though
no
one
can
knowwhen;
the
prediction
of
anew
world
free
of
allinjustice
afterthe
oldworldhas
beendestroyed
byfire,3:3-13.
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,
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.,
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'"I'
THE
L
ETTERS
TOALL
CHRISTIANS
9594
NTRODUCTION
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