Starlight Book Review – Epistle of Jude

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* Note — The Epistle of Jude will be last Starlight Book Review (SBR) for my 2022 reading of the Bible. Future posts regarding book(s) of the Bible such as Old Testament (OT) Prophets or New Testament (NT) Prophecy will be for 2023 or better.

Part of a series of SBR on NT Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 When I first learned of the Epistle of Jude, my mind leapt to Paul McCartney’s vocals in the song “Hey Jude.” In the course of my readings of this brief, next to last book of The Bible, I know this Jude greatly contrasts from the subject of a Beatles’ song <smile>.

“The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament as well as the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Jude, brother of James the Just, and thus relative of Jesus as well… Jude is a short epistle written in Koine Greek. It condemns in fierce terms certain people the author sees as a threat to the early Christian community, but describes these opponents only vaguely. According to Jude, these opponents are within the Christian community, but are not true Christians: they are scoffers, false teachers, malcontents, given to their lusts, and so on. The epistle reassures its readers that these people will soon be judged by God. It is possible that the group being referred to would have been obvious to the original recipients of the letter, but if a specific group was being referred to, knowledge of the details has since been lost. The one bit of their potential ideology discussed in the letter is that these opponents denigrate angels and their role. If this was indeed a part of the ideology of this group the author opposed, then the epistle is possibly a counterpoint to the Epistle to the Colossians. Colossians condemns those who give angels undue prominence and worship them; this implies the two letters might be part of an early Christian debate on Christian angelology.”

This short missive boils down to one thing — adhere to the faith. Do not let anyone or anything separate you from God. Instead, listen to the true teachers of the Christian faith.

Here is a verse which resonated with me:

²  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude 1:2

* Bible Verses came from the New International Version (NIV) Bible, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Access Bible Gateway by clicking here.

Select Bibliography

Reicke, Bo (1964). The Epistles of James, Peter, And Jude (First ed.). Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. p. 189–192.

Starlight Book Review – Epistles of John

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Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on New Testament (NT) Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 Sometimes these three books are called the Johannine epistles. Generally speaking, these are accredited to John the Apostle, the traditionally recognized author of the Gospel of John and Revelation. The following is my Starlight Book Review (SBR) of the three Johannine epistles.

“The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is termed John the Evangelist, who most scholars believe is not the same as John the Apostle. Most scholars believe the three Johannine epistles have the same author, but there is no consensus if this was also the author of the Gospel of John… This epistle was probably written in Ephesus between 95 and 110 AD. The author advises Christians on how to discern true teachers: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love. The original text was written in Koine Greek. The epistle is divided into five chapters.”

“The Second Epistle of John is a book of the New Testament attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the other two epistles of John, and the Gospel of John (though this is disputed). Most modern scholars believe this is not John the Apostle, but in general there is no consensus as to the identity of this person or group… Second John and Third John are the two shortest books in the Bible. The shortest book in the English language is different depending on which translation (version) one reads. For example, in the New International Version 2 John is the shortest book with only 302 words but in the King James Version (Authorized Version) 3 John is the shortest with only 295 words. However, Second John has the fewest verses in the Bible with only 1 chapter made up of only 13 verses.”

“The Third Epistle of John is the third-to-last book of the New Testament and the Christian Bible as a whole, and attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two epistles of John. The Third Epistle of John is a personal letter sent by “the elder” to a man named Gaius, recommending to him a group of Christians led by Demetrius, which had come to preach the gospel in the area where Gaius lived. The purpose of the letter is to encourage and strengthen Gaius, and to warn him against Diotrephes, who refuses to cooperate with the author of the letter… Early church literature contains no mention of the epistle, with the first reference to it appearing in the middle of the third century. This lack of documentation, though likely due to the extreme brevity of the epistle, caused early church writers to doubt its authenticity until the early 5th century, when it was accepted into the canon along with the other two epistles of John. The language of 3 John echoes that of the Gospel of John, which is conventionally dated to around AD 90, so the epistle was likely written near the end of the first century. Others contest this view, such as the scholar John A. T. Robinson, who dates 3 John to c. AD 60–65. The location of writing is unknown, but tradition places it in Ephesus. The epistle is found in many of the oldest New Testament manuscripts, and its text is free of major discrepancies or textual variants.”

Over the years of reading The Bible, I find the Johannine writings to be complete in their originality. This goes for these epistles. Throughout these letters, the author writes of how adhering to faith in God is rewarded with His love.

Here are standout passages from the Johannine Epistles:

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

⁶ And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

2 John 1:6

³ It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

3 John 1:3

* Bible Verses came from the New International Version (NIV) Bible, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Access Bible Gateway by clicking here.

Select Bibliography

Wilder, Amos (1957). “Introduction to the First, Second, and Third Epistles of John”. In Harmon, Nolan (ed.). The Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 12. Abingdon Press. p. 211.

Starlight Book Review – Epistles of 1 and 2 Peter

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Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on New Testament (NT) Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 I recently learned that these two letters are sometimes referred to as the Petrine Epistles. This is because these two NT books were attributed to the Apostle Peter. Peter prominently figures in gospels and is considered the “rock in which the church is built.”

“The First Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament. The author presents himself as Peter the Apostle. The ending of the letter includes a statement that implies that it was written from “Babylon”, which is possibly a reference to Rome. The letter is addressed to the “chosen pilgrims of the diaspora” in Asia Minor suffering religious persecution.”

“The Second Epistle of Peter is a book of the New Testament of the Bible… The text identifies the author as “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ” and the epistle is traditionally attributed to Peter the Apostle, but most critical biblical scholars consider the epistle pseudepigraphical (i.e., authored by one or more of Peter’s followers in Ancient Rome, using Peter as a pseudonym) Scholars estimate the date of authorship anywhere from 60 to 150 AD. The original text was written in Koine Greek.”

With each read, I find both Petrine Epistles timeless. Peter speaks to believers all over the place. While toiling in daily life of the world, Christians have welcomed Christ into their hearts.

Here are standout passages from the Petrine Epistles:

¹Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

1 Peter 2:1-3

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

* Bible Verses came from the New International Version (NIV) Bible, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Access Bible Gateway by clicking here.

Select Bibliography

Bartlett, David, New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, 1 Peter. Abingdon Press. 1998

Evans, Craig A (2005). Craig A Evans (ed.). Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John, Hebrews-Revelation. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor. ISBN 0781442281.

Starlight Book Review – Epistle of James

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Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on New Testament (NT) Books of the Bible. Click here to see other NT SBR.

* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.

5/5 If I correctly recall, I read The Epistle of James as a baby Christian faith. Upon my seventh official visit to James, I see why many choose to look at this epistle with those new to the faith.

“The Epistle of James is a general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. James 1:1 identifies the author as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” who is writing to “the twelve tribes scattered abroad”. The epistle is traditionally attributed to James the brother of Jesus (James the Just), and the audience is generally considered to be Jewish Christians, who were dispersed outside Israel… Framing his letter within an overall theme of patient perseverance during trials and temptations, James writes in order to encourage his readers to live consistently with what they have learned in Christ. He condemns various sins, including pride, hypocrisy, favouritism, and slander. He encourages and implores believers to humbly live by godly, rather than worldly wisdom and to pray in all situations… For the most part, until the late 20th century, the epistle of James was relegated to benign disregard – though it was shunned by many early theologians and scholars due to its advocacy of Torah observance and good works. Famously, Luther at one time considered the epistle to be among the disputed books, and sidelined it to an appendix, although in his Large Catechism he treated it as the authoritative word of God… The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. During the last decades, the epistle of James has attracted increasing scholarly interest due to a surge in the quest for the historical James, his role within the Jesus movement, his beliefs, and his relationships and views. This James revival is also associated with an increasing level of awareness of the Jewish grounding of both the epistle and the early Jesus movement.”

With each visit to James, I find the text straightforward and simple enough to understand. Simple to comprehend but not always easy to apply <smile>. As with Hebrews, I see James as a link between Judaism and Christianity.

A couple of “fun facts”:

• James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord (Latin: Iacobus from Hebrew: יעקב, Ya’akov and Greek: Ἰάκωβος, Iákōbos, can also be Anglicized as “Jacob”), was “a brother of Jesus”, according to the New Testament.
• Some have said that the book was named James rather than Jacobos thanks to James VI and I who sponsored the translation of the Bible into English.

Here’s a standout passage from James:

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

James 1:2-3

[a] James 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19.

* Bible Verses came from the New International Version (NIV) Bible, courtesy of Bible Gateway. Access Bible Gateway by clicking here.

Select Bibliography

Davids, Peter H (1982). The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (Repr. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0802823882.

Evans, Craig A (2005). Craig A Evans (ed.). Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John, Hebrews-Revelation. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor. ISBN 0781442281.