Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s Word

2. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s Word • Letters to an Entire Church • The Letter of James • The First Letter of Peter • The Letter of Jude and the Second Letter of Peter • The First, Second, and Third Letters of John • The Revelation to John

3. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters Catholic Letters 1. The seven Catholic Letters: James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John, and Jude 2. They are called “catholic” because they:  contain general advice helpful to all churches  were accepted by all Eastern and Western churches  help us understand better how the catholic, that is, universal or worldwide, Church developed 3. They were written by pseudonymous writers, presenting what the named Apostle might well have said

4. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters The Letter of James 1. Though it bears the name of the “brother of the Lord” and pillar of the Jerusalem church, martyred in AD 62, it was composed in the AD 80s or 90s by an unknown author 2. It resembles an epistle or sermon more than a letter 3. The focus of the letter is on the response of the believer 4. It gives much practical, Christ–inspired advice and encouragement on themes of Christian living

5. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters Themes in James 1. God’s preferential love for the poor and the need for rich people to care for the poor 2. The requirement of good works in addition to faith – faith is the response critical to our acceptance of the Salvation that Jesus earned for us 3. It is useless to wish warmth and food for the cold and hungry while doing nothing about it 4. The sick should request presbyters who will pray, lay hands on them in prayer, and anoint them with oil as the Twelve Apostles had done

6. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters The First Letter of Peter 1. Scholars classify the letter as pseudonymous, written by a disciples of Peter in Rome to some communities in southern Asia Minor between AD 70–90 2. A central theme is that Jesus is the Suffering Servant, the model in whose footsteps the suffering should walk – joining our sufferings with those of Christ for the sake of others 3. The author provides guidance for living in the world while awaiting the Lord’s return: do good works and behave well with the hope that good behavior will save others

7. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters Jude and 2 Peter 1. Second Peter borrows heavily from Jude 1:4–16 2. Both Jude and 2 Peter are pseudonymous works which are concerned with Christians who were beginning to distort the true teaching they received 3. Jude points out three examples of God’s severe punishment for false belief 4. Jude shows why remaining true to the faith of the Apostles is important so as to have an objective standard for Christian faith and Christian living

8. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters Jude and 2 Peter 5. Second Peter encourages the faithful to remain true to the teaching of the Church and to live the Christian life 6. Second Peter instructs those who were beginning to deny the Parousia, that the mercy of God is at work in the delay, giving everyone a chance for repentance

9. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters First, Second, and Third John 1. All three letters – written in the late 90s or around the year 100 – come from the same tradition established by the authors of John’s Gospel, repeating his important themes and ideas 2. First John was written with a sense of urgency to bolster communities threatened by false teachings, particularly a brand of Gnosticism called Docetism 3. A common theme to 1 John is that the world is transitory as evidenced by the presence of antichrists 4. Second John emphasizes two themes: truth and love

10. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters First, Second, and Third John 5. The primary concern of 2 John is that while the community does not seem to have been influenced, yet, missionaries representing the false teaching and practice of the Gnostics seem to be on their way 6. The point of 3 John is to encourage Gaius, a faithful convert, to remain helpful to the traveling missionaries 7. Third John offers a glimpse of the minute details of the early Church, especially how personalities and everyday questions of doctrine and faith played a part in shaping doctrine and faith of the universal Church

11. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters The Revelation to John 1. The dominant literary form of Revelation, written approximately AD 92-96, is apocalyptic writing 2. The author is a prophet named John (not the Evangelist) who was exiled to Patmos because he publically preached the Gospel 3. The prophet claims the Lord Jesus sent him visions to unveil what is going to take place in the future: the ultimate victory of God

12. Sacred Scripture: A Catholic Study of God’s WordPart 2c The Catholic Letters The Revelation to John 4. John wrote the book to wavering Christians of his day to encourage them to remain faithful during times of persecution, false teaching, and complacency 5. Revelation’s second theme for Christians is to remain hopeful: the Lamb of God has triumphed, victory is ours, persevere 6. One of the most important warnings was for his readers not surrender to the allure of wealth, epitomized by the Roman Empire