The Epistles are occasional writings, written in response to specific occasions at early churches.
(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken, Page 148)
Literary Form
The New Testament Epistles are modifications of the conventional letters of the classical world. They contain an opening (sender, addressee, greeting), a body, and a closing (greetings and final wishes). The New Testament also adds a thanksgiving (a prayer for spiritual welfare and remembrance or commendation of the spiritual riches of the addressee) and a paraenesis (a list of exhortations, virtues, vices, commands, or proverbs).
The Epistles contain figurative language such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox. The sentences and clauses are influenced by parallelism so deeply they can be arranged as poetry. Proverbs and aphorisms are continually present. Less frequently are dramatic apostrophes, rhetorical questions, personifications, question-and-answer constructions, and antitheses.
Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews are systematic theological treatises.
(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Bible as Literature by Leland Ryken, Page 147-148)
List
- Romans
- 1 Corinthians
- 2 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- 1 Timothy
- 2 Timothy
- Titus
- Philemon
- Hebrews
- James
- 1 Peter
- 2 Peter
- 1 John
- 2 John
- 3 John
- Jude
Others