NT: the letters

The Letters of Paul

These were probably the first of the NT documents to be written. We can be fairly certain of when they were written because we know so much about Paul’s ministry from the book of Acts.
Paul travelled around the Roman Empire, planting new churches and then moving on. Before too long the new Christians would encounter problems, or misunderstandings would arise. Paul could not easily return to them because travel was slow and difficult. So he would write letters advising them on various matters, and send these by messenger.
Later in his career, Paul was arrested by the Romans in Jerusalem, and spent the next four or five years in prison. It was while he was in prison that he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. (All these letters contain references to him being a prisoner)
The letters to Timothy and Titus are sometimes called ‘the pastoral letters’ because they are addressed to church leaders rather than to churches, and deal with such matters as appointment of leaders and church organisation and discipline. II Timothy is thought to be Paul’s very last letter, written from prison shortly before he was executed.
Paul’s letters usually contain a mixture of basic doctrine and practical application. They were written to address particular situations and even individuals, so it will never be forgotten that there was a long-running dispute between two members of the church in Philippi, or that a man called Philemon had to work out how to apply his Christian faith to dealing with a runaway slave. The teaching in them is not systematic; the nearest thing we have to a formal exposition of Christian theology is the first eight chapters of Romans.

The General Letters

Hebrews is a very Jewish letter, presumably written to Jewish Christians, but we do not know the author. Its main subject is how Jesus’ death has superseded the Jewish Law.

The remaining letters are known by the names of their authors: James, Peter, John and Jude. Peter and John were two of the twelve apostles. James and Jude were brothers of Jesus.

Revelation is a bit different – the record of a prophetic vision given to the apostle John. Its message is conveyed in pictures and symbols, most of them derived from the Old Testament.