The epistles are important for seniors of faith because they offer encouragement and guidance to all Christians. They help us see how God worked in the early church and remind us that he's still on the throne today.
An epistle was an ancient form of a letter that had a greeting, body and conclusion. Most New Testament epistles follow this format. The epistles are a particular type of instructional letter written mainly to churches but also to individuals.
They appear to have been sent with the intention that they be shared among the early congregations. The epistles are divided into two groups; the first group consists of the Pauline epistles, and the second includes the general epistles written by other apostles.
Except for the four gospels, Acts and Revelations, all other books in the New Testament are epistles. Although greater in number than the other books, the epistles are shorter and represent around 35% of the New Testament.
As can be seen in the table below, the epistles were written in a different order than the way they're listed in the Bible. This knowledge is useful for a better understanding of the context of each epistle. The information used in the table was largely taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) Study Bible. The dates provided are approximate and, in some instances, are estimates based on the context of the epistle. The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible uses slightly different dates.
Epistle
Written To
Probable Author
Date
James
Jewish Christians
James
AD 46
Galatians
Churches in Galatia
Paul
AD 48
1-2 Thessalonians
Church in Thessalonica
Paul
AD 50
1-2 Corinthians
Corinthian Church
Paul
AD 55-AD 56
Ephesians
Roman Asia
Paul
AD 53-AD 56
Philippians
Church in Philippi
Paul
AD 53-AD 56
Colossians
Church in Colosse
Paul
AD 53-AD 56
Philemon
Philemon
Paul
AD 53-AD 56
Romans
Churches in Rome
Paul
AD 57
1-2 Peter
Roman Asia
Peter
AD 60-AD 67
Timothy (1&2)
Timothy
Paul
AD 63-AD 65
Titus
Titus
Paul
AD 63
Hebrews
Christians in Rome
Paul
AD 60-AD 70
Jude
Early Church
Jude
AD 64-AD 67
1-2 John
Roman Asia
John
AD 80-AD 90
3 John
Gaius and Diotrephes
John
AD 80-AD 90
The authorship of the epistles is an area where scholars differ. While there's common agreement that Paul was the author of Romans, Galatians, Corinthians, Philippians and Philemon, some scholars feel the remainder attributed to Paul were written by other disciples because their style is slightly different.
This would be unusual, given that Christians believe the New Testament was inspired by God. In the NLT version of 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says, "You accepted what we said as the very word of God — which, of course, it is." An alternative explanation, which is possibly more likely, is that Paul used a different literary assistant or scribe to write down his dictation in later epistles. Another reason that has been suggested is that some, like Hebrews, were authored by Paul and rewritten at a later stage in stylized Greek.
For the early church, the epistles were the first written instructions recipients received as Christians. The first gospel to be written was Mark's Gospel, and this was only finished on or after AD 65.
While the gospels are a record of Jesus's life, the epistles dealt with current issues of the time within the early Christian church that are, in many ways, still relevant today. The book of Romans is a systematic explanation of the life and death of Christ and what it meant to Christians in Rome. Paul wrote the letters to the Corinthians and Galatians because of false teachings and the need to repent of sin after some Christians fell back into sinful pagan practices prevalent at the time. The purpose of other epistles was to encourage churches and individuals facing challenges and hardships.
The Pauline epistles explain the basis of our Christian faith, building on the foundation of Jesus's life. They explain that God used Jesus' death on the cross as an intervention to cleanse us of our sins so that we become acceptable to God. We are reconciled with God because of Christ's sacrifice for us. Paul explained that Christianity was for everyone, not just the Jews. Paul also dealt with false theologies being spread by deceptive teachers and the importance of finding salvation through Christ.
The epistles help seniors live as Christ would want us to with humility, joy, patience, endurance and love. As James says in his epistle (NLT James 1:25), "But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
