what is an epistle?

Question

what is an epistle.....?

a private letter?
letter of recommendation?
letter written to the general public?

Answer 1

An open letter to a group of readers or the public in general.

Answer 2

# a specially long, formal letter
# a book of the New Testament in the form of a letter from an Apostle
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one. The letters from Apostles to Christians in the New Testament are often referred to as epistles.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle

# The lesson at the Eucharist preceding the Gospel taken from one of the Letters of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, or the Book of Revelation; also any reading from the Bible other than the Gospels or Psalms.
saintpauls.org/glossary/e.htm

# formal letters containing Christian doctrine and exhortation, referring particularly to the 21 epistles of the New Testament, divided into Pauline and General epistles.
www.calvarychapel.com/redbarn/terms.htm

# One of the Letters in the New Testament, read before the Gospel by the Reader or an appointed person.
euphrosynoscafe.com/resources/glossary.html

# (1) A poem addressed to a patron, friend, or family member, thus a kind of "letter" in verse. (2) An actual prose letter sent to another. (3) A distinct part or section of such a poem or letter.
web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_E.html

# Verse or poetry in the form of a letter.
members.fortunecity.es/fabianvillegas/drama/glossary-e.htm

# Greek for "letter." The New Testament contains 22 epistles written by Saints Paul, Peter, John, and others, that were addressed to Christian churches scattered throughout the Roman Empire. The second reading in the Divine Service is usually taken from one of these epistles.
www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp

# A letter - in the early Church letters were written to people or churches (eg by the apostle Paul or John) and they have now become books of the Bible in the New Testament.
www.fitzwimarc.org.uk/glossary/e.htm

# A letter. Part of the New Testament; many written by St.Paul.
re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/cupboard/exam/examsupp/dloads/cp/cp35.htm

Answer 3

The word epistle simply means letter.

Answer 4

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Epistle
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An epistle (Greek επιστολη, epistolē, "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of persons, usually a letter and a very formal, often didactic and elegant one. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians are usually referred to as epistles; those traditionally from Paul are known as Pauline epistles and the others as catholic or general epistles.

Form

Epistles were written in strict accordance to formalized, Hellenistic tradition, especially the Pauline epistles. This reflects the amount of Hellenistic influence upon the epistle writers. Any deviancy is not the result of accident but indicates an unusual motive of the writer.

Opening

In contrast to modern letters, epistles usually named the author at the very beginning, followed by the recipient (for example, see Philippians 1:1). The scribe (or more correctly, the amanuensis) who wrote down the letter may be named at the end of the epistle (e.g. Romans 16:22). In the absence of a postal system, the courier may also be named (e.g. Ephesians 6:21-22).

After the names of the author and recipient, Pauline epistles often open with the greeting, "Grace and peace to you." "Grace" was a common Hellenistic greeting, while "peace" (shalom) was the common Jewish greeting; this reflected Paul's dual identity in Jewish faith and Hellenistic culture. There may also be a word of thanks to the audience. In secular letters, a prayer or wish for health followed.

Body

The body begins with a brief statement introducing the main topic of the entire body.

Closing

The close of a letter reiterates the relationship between the writer and the audience. There may also be expression of thanks, for example to the courier or amanuensis.

Style

To English readers, the epistles may appear more formalized than originally read, due to the process of translation. The writer sought to establish philophronesis, an intimate extension of their relationship as similar as a face to face encounter as possible. The writer hoped to revive the friendship, making the epistle a substitute for the actual writer. Letters written to a group of people, which include most of the New Testament epistles, were not read individually but read aloud to the entire church congregation.

The content is concise compared to modern letters. Writing required a great financial expense of paper and ink and long process of time.

The letter often intends to establish theological points (as in many of Paul's epistles), to comfort in the face of persecution (for example, 1 Peter), or to exhort Christians to do good works (James).

Liturgical use

In the context of a liturgy, "epistle" may refer more specifically to a particular passage from a New Testament epistle — sometimes also from the Book of Acts or the Revelation of John, but never from the Four Gospels — that is scheduled to be read on a certain day or at a certain occasion.

In the Roman Catholic Mass and Anglican Communion, epistles are read between the Collect and the Gospel reading. The corresponding Gregorian chants have a special tone (tonus epistolae).

See also

* Pauline epistles
* General epistles
* Letter
* Epistolary novel, a novel written as a series of letters or similar writings

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Pauline epistles
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This does not cite its references or sources.
You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2005.

The Pauline epistles are the thirteen or fourteen letters in the New Testament of the Christian Bible traditionally believed to have been written by the apostle Paul. Among them are some of the earliest extant Christian documents. They provide an insight into the beliefs and controversies of formative Christianity and, as part of the canon of the New Testament, they have also been, and continue to be, hugely influential in Christian theology and ethics.

The authorship of some of these letters ("epistles") has been called into question particularly by more recent scholarship (these works are marked '(*)' in the list below). Some of those who doubt Paul's direct authorship suggest they were written by some of his disciples, either during or soon after his lifetime.

In the order they appear in the New Testament, the Pauline epistles are:

* Romans
* First Corinthians
* Second Corinthians
* Galatians
* Ephesians (*)
* Philippians
* Colossians (*)
* First Thessalonians
* Second Thessalonians (*)
* First Timothy (*)
* Second Timothy (*)
* Titus (*)
* Philemon
* Hebrews (*) (Anonymous)

All of the epistles except the epistle to the Hebrews present Paul as the author. The epistle to the Hebrews is something of a special case, being anonymous. Authorship of Hebrews was disputed from the earliest, and few, if any, modern scholars would attribute it to Paul. Thus some classifications do not include Hebrews as a Pauline epistle, listing it instead with the general epistles.

Religious classification of the epistles

The signed Pauline epistles may be classified into two types: Paul's letters to new Christian churches of the first century (Romans through Second Thessalonians), and Paul's letters to individuals (First Timothy through Philemon). The former are named after the city or region of receiving church; the latter after the individual to whom they were addressed. When more than one epistle was addressed to the same recipient, they are distinguished by number (i.e 2nd Thessalonians).

Paul's letters to churches are concerned with particular aspects of church doctrine and practice Paul felt to be important to the recipient congregation. In most cases these letters were addressed to churches Paul had founded himself, and he wrote to supply further teaching, or to correct misunderstandings of his doctrine, or to respond to situations that had developed since his last visit. In some cases he answered specific questions put to him by letter or messenger. A prominent theme in many of the letters is controversy over the role of the Jewish Law in early Christianity. Often Paul is responding to believers who argued that adherence to Jewish practices was desirable even for Gentile Christians. Sometimes it appears that teachers arrived after Paul's departure promoting these alternative ideas, or questioning Paul's apostolic authority. While all of the letters are concerned with a variety of topics, this is perhaps a common theme.

The letters to Timothy and Titus are collectively known as the 'pastoral epistles' as they address two of Paul's disciples charged with pastoring churches. Paul wrote to them give advice and commandments for Christian preachers and for the appointing of overseers, elders and deacons. The letter to Philemon is the most personal of all Paul's letters, addressed to a Christian slave-owner on behalf of a runaway slave who had become a believer.

The Pauline epistles are also noteworthy for the personal relationships they mention. Paul greets many individuals by name, often giving details about the value of these friendships and the encouragement they gave him.

Academic classification of the Epistles

The epistles may also be arranged by the nature of their content

* Those primarily introducing theology and doctrine

* Romans
* Philippians
* First Corinthians
* First Thessalonians

* Those predominantly addressing the issue of the use of Jewish practices

* Second Corinthians
* Galatians
* Hebrews

* Those acting as personal intercession

* Philemon

* Those primarily addressing heresy

* Ephesians
* Colossians

* Those primarily correcting readings of other epistles

* Second Thessalonians

* Those addressing the nature of the church (known as the Pastorals)

* First Timothy
* Second Timothy
* Titus

The letters to Timothy and to Titus bear a remarkable similarity to one another, as does Ephesians to Colossians. This may reflect a practise of mass-mailing, or the desire to re-address issues in earlier letters by repeating them, but expanding on the ideas.

Authenticity of the epistles

Main article Authorship of the Pauline epistles.

Several of the letters are thought by a majority of modern scholars to be pseudepigraphal, that is, not actually written by Paul of Tarsus even if attributed to him within the letters themselves. Details of the arguments regarding this issue are addressed more specifically in the articles about each epistle.

The 7 letters considered genuine by most scholars (at the time of writing), and doubted by almost none:

* Romans
* Philippians
* Galatians
* Philemon
* First Corinthians
* Second Corinthians
* First Thessalonians

The letters thought to be pseudepigrapha by the majority of modern scholars, according to recent standards of analysis and theoretical trends, are:

* First Timothy
* Second Timothy
* Titus

The letters on which modern scholars are about evenly divided are:

* Ephesians
* Colossians
* Second Thessalonians

An anonymous letter that nearly all modern scholars agree was probably not written by Paul is:

* Hebrews

Non-canonical Pauline Epistles

Several non-canonical epistles exist claiming or having been claimed to have been written by Paul. Most, if not all, scholars reject their authenticity. They include

* Third Epistle to the Corinthians (canonical for Armenian Orthodox)
* Epistle to the Laodiceans (Roman Catholic apocrypha)
* Third Epistle to the Thessalonians
* Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul
* Epistle to the Ionians

Texts also exist which, whilst not strictly epistles, nevertheless claim to have been written by (or about) Paul. These include

* Acts of Paul and Thecla
* Acts of Peter and Paul
* First Apocalypse of Paul
* Second Apocalypse of Paul
* Gospel of Paul
* Sermon of Paul
* Book of spells of serpents

Paul appears to have written four letters to the Corinthian church, only two of which survived. The first letter is referred to in 1 Corinthians 5:9 and a "letter of tears" is referred to in 2 Corinthians.

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General epistles
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General epistles (also called Catholic Epistles) are books in the New Testament in the form of letters. They are termed "general" because for the most part their intended audience seems to be Christians in general rather than individual persons or congregations as is the case with the Pauline epistles. However, 2 John and 3 John are included in this group despite their addresses respectively to the "elect lady", speculated by many to be the church itself, and to "Gaius", about whom there has been much speculation but little in the way of conclusive proof as to his identity.

There has been considerable speculation as to the authorship of these works. Most scholars tend to believe 2 Peter to be a pseudoepigraphical work.

The epistles of James and Jude are traditionally attributed to Jesus' brothers James and Jude (See the article on James for a discussion of the relatonship).

Listed in order of their appearance in the New Testament, the General Epistles are:

* Epistle of James
* First Epistle of Peter
* Second Epistle of Peter
* First Epistle of John
* Second Epistle of John
* Third Epistle of John
* Epistle of Jude

Additionally, some scholars include the anonymous Book of Hebrews as falling within this group; its traditional title is derived from its contents, not a specific address within the letter. Old tradition ascribed it to Paul, but its writing style makes this extremely unlikely, and almost no modern scholar accepts this idea currently.