Reading the epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude as scripture

About this book

Through a detailed examination of the historical shaping and final canonical shape of seven oft-neglected New Testament letters - James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1-2-3 John, and Jude - The Church's Guide to Reading the Catholic Epistles introduces readers to the historical, literary, and theological integrity of this indispensable apostolic witness. While most modern scholars interpret biblical texts against the diversity of their individual historical points of composition, Robert Wall and David Nienhuis make the case that a theological approach to the Bible as Scripture is better served by attending to issues that occasioned these texts' historical point of canonization - those key moments in the ancient church's life when apostolic writings were grouped together into collections designed to maximize the Spirit's communication of the apostolic rule of faith to believers everywhere. The Church's Guide to Reading the Catholic Epistles is the only treatment of the Catholic Epistles that approaches these seven letters as an intentionally designed and theologically coherent canonical collection.