JULY BOOK(S) - JAMES, 1,2 PETER, 1,2,3 JOHN, JUDE

The seven letters following Hebrews – James, 1,2 Peter, 1,2,3 John and Jude – have often been designated as the General Epistles. The epistles so designated may be said to be, for the most part, addressed to general audiences rather than to specific persons or localized groups. James identifies himself as James and he was probably the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15). He was one of several brothers of Christ and was probably the oldest since he heads the list in Mat 13:55. At first he did not believe in Jesus and even challenged Him and misunderstood His mission (John 7:2-5). Later he became very prominent in the church. Some date this letter to the A.D 60s (Peter was martyred around A.D. 62), however, there are indications it was written before A.D. 50. Peter identifies himself as the apostle Peter and the contents and the character of the letter support his authorship. From the beginning, 1 Peter was recognized as authoritative and as the work of the apostle Peter. Nevertheless some claim that the idiomatic Greek of this letter is beyond Peter’s competence. It is true that the Greek of 1 Peter is good literary Greek, and even though Peter could no doubt speak Greek, it is unlikely that he would write such polished Greek. It is at this point that Peter’s remark in 5:12 concerning Silvanus may be significant. He claims that he wrote it “by” Silvanus. Thus Silvanus was the intermediate agent in writing. This book can be satisfactorily dated in the early 60s. John is John the son of Zebedee – the apostle and author of the Gospel of John and Revelation. 1 John does not tell us who its author is. The earliest identification of him comes from the church fathers. As far as we know, no one else was suggested by the early church. The traditional identification is confirmed by the evidence in the letter itself. The style of the Gospel of John is markedly similar to that of this letter. Both are written in simple Greek and use contrasting figures, such as light and darkness, life and death, truth and lies, love and hate. This letter is dated somewhere between A.D. 85 and 95, after the writing of the Gospel. This letter was addressed to believers, but it does not indicate who they were or where they lived. The fact that it mentions no one by name suggests it was a circular letter sent to Christians in a number of places. Jude identifies himself as Jude, which is another form of the Hebrew name Judah, a common name. Of those so named in the NT, the ones most likely to be author of this letter are: (1) Judas the apostle – not Judas Iscariot – and (2) Judas the brother of the Lord. The latter is more likely. He describes himself as a “brother of James” (v. 1). Although neither Jude nor James describes himself as a brother of the Lord, others did not hesitate to speak of them in this way. There is nothing in this letter that requires a date beyond the lifetime of Jude the brother of the Lord. The relationship between Jude and 2 Peter has a bearing on the date of Jude. If 2 Peter makes use of Jude – a commonly accepted view – then Jude is to be dated prior to 2 Peter, probably around A.D. 65. Otherwise, a date as late as A.D. 80 would be possible. (Exerpted from the KJV Study Bible. Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved.) ************************************************************************ These seven letters combined contain a total of 21 chapters. July has 31 days; 23 weekdays – 22 if you count the 3rd as part of the Holiday weekend. So, we can read a chapter each day except weekends and the holiday, and have a day at the end to review the month. Please visit the blog page frequently and share any insights or other information that might enrich the reading experience for the rest of us as we try and take in all the blessings that God holds for us in this month's Book(s)!