James – Revelation Flashcards
James – Content
- A treatise composed of short moral essays
- emphasising endurance in hardship and responsible Christian living
- with special concern that believers practice what they preach and live together in harmony
James – Author
James:
- brother of our Lord (Gal 1:19)
- led the church in Jerusalem for many years (Acts l5; Gal 2: 1-13)
James – Date
Unknown; dated anywhere from the mid 40s A.D. to the 90s, depending on authorship; probably earlier than later
James – Recipients
Believers in Christ among the Jewish Diaspora
James – Occasion
Unknown, but the treatise shows concern for real conditions in the churches, including:
- severe trials
- dissensions caused by angry and judgmental words
- and abuse of the poor by the wealthy
James – Emphases
- Practical faith on the part of believers
- Joy and patience in the midst of trials
- The nature of true (Christian) wisdom
- Attitudes of the rich toward the poor
- Abuse and proper use of the tongue
1 Peter – Content
- A letter of encouragement to Christians undergoing suffering
- instructing them how to respond Christianly to their
persecutors - and urging them to live lives worthy of their calling
1 Peter – Author
The apostle Peter; written by Silas (5:12), the sometime companion of Paul
1 Peter – Date
ca. A.D. 64—65 from Rome (5:13, Babylon was used by both Jews and Christians to refer to Rome as a place of exile)
1 Peter – Recipients
Mostly Gentile believers (1:14, 18; 229-10; 4:3- 4) in the five provinces in the northwest quadrant of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), referred to—with a play on the Jewish Diaspora—as strangers (exiles) in the world
1 Peter – Occasion
Probably concern over an outbreak of local persecution that some newer believers (2:2–3) were experiencing as a direct result of their faith in Christ
1 Peter – Emphases
- suffering for the sake of righteousness should not surprise us
- believers should submit to unjust suffering the way Christ did
- Christ suffered on our behalf to free us from sin
- God’s people should live righteously at all times, but especially in the face of hostility
- Our hope for the future is based on the certainty of Christ’s resurrection
2 Peter – Content
- A “farewell speech” sent as a letter,
- urging Christian growth and perseverance
- in light of some false teachers who both deny the second coming of Christ
- and live boldly in sin
2 Peter – Author
The apostle Peter, although questioned both in the early church and by most New Testament scholars; possibly a
disciple who wrote a kind of “testament of Peter” for the church
2 Peter – Date
ca. A.D. 64 (if by Peter); later if by a disciple
2 Peter – Recipients
An unknown but specific group of believers
2 Peter – Occasion
- A desire to establish the readers in their own faith
and godly living, - while warning them of the false teachers and their way of life
2 Peter – Emphases
- Concern that God’s people grow in and exhibit godliness
- The sure judgment on the false teachers for their ungodly living
- The certainty of the Lord’s coming, despite the scoffing of the false teachers
1 John – Content
- A treatise that offers assurance to some specific believers,
- encouraging their loyalty to Christian faith and practice
- in response to some false prophets who have left the community
1, 2 and 3 John – Author
“The elder” in 2 and 3 John; a solid historical tradition equated him with the apostle John
1 John – Date
Unknown; probably toward the end of the first Christian century (late 80s, early 90s).
1 John – Recipients
- A Christian community (or communities) well known to the author (whom he calls “dear children” and “dear
friends”; the false prophets defected “from us,” 2:19); - it has traditionally been thought to be located in or around Ephesus
1 John – Occasion
- The defection of the false prophets and their followers, who have called into question the orthodoxy—both teaching and practice—of those who have remained loyal to what goes back to “the beginning”
1 John – Emphases
- That Jesus who came in the flesh is the Son of God
- That Jesus showed God’s love for us through his incarnation and crucifixion
- That true believers love one another as God loved them in Christ
- That God’s children do not habitually sin, but when we do sin, we receive forgiveness
- That believers can have full confidence in the God who loves them
- That by trusting in Christ we now have eternal life
2 John – Content
“the elder” warns against false teachers who deny
the incarnation of Christ
2 John – Recipients
the “lady chosen by God” is either a single, local congregation or a woman who hosts a house church; “her children” are the members of the believing community
2 John – Occasion
John is concerned that after the defection of the
false prophets from his community, they might spread their
teaching in another community of faith
3 John – Content
to borrow the words of New Testament scholar Archibald M. Hunter, 3 John is all about:
- “the Elder”, who wrote it
- Gaius, who received it
- Diotrephes, who provoked it
- and Demetrius, who carried it
3 John – Date
probably in the A.D. 90s
3 John – Recipient
- Gaius, a beloved friend of the elder who lives in another town
- other believers are to be greeted by name (v. 14)
3 John – Occasion
- an earlier letter to the church had been scorned by Diotrephes, who also refused hospitality to the elder’s friend(s) and disfellowshipped those who would do so
- consequently John writes to Gaius, urging him to welcome Demetrius
3 John – Emphases
- The obligations of Christian hospitality, especially toward approved itinerant ministers
Jude – Content
- A Pastoral letter of exhortation,
- full of strong warning against some false teachers who have “secretly slipped in” among them
Jude – Author
Jude, who modestly describes himself as “the brother
of James” (thus of Jesus), but does not consider himself an apostle (v. 17)
Jude – Date
unknown; probably later in the first Christian century (after A.D. 70), since the apostolic “faith” seems to be well in place (vv. 3,17)
Jude – Recipients
- unknown
- probably a single congregation of predominantly Jewish Christians somewhere in Palestine
- who were well acquainted with both the Old Testament and Jewish apocalyptic literature
Jude – Occasion
the threat posed by some itinerants who have turned grace into license and who have “wormed their way in” (NEB) to the church
Jude – Emphases
- The certain judgment on those who live carelessly and teach others to do so
- The importance of holy living
- God’s love for and preservation of his faithful ones
Revelation – Content
a Christian prophecy cast in apocalyptic style and
imagery and finally put in letter form, dealing primarily with
tribulation (suffering) and salvation for God’s people and God’s wrath (judgment) on the Roman Empire
Revelation – Author
a man named John (1:1, 4, 9), well known to the recipients, traditionally identified as the apostle, the son of Zebedee (Matt 10:2)
Revelation – Date
ca. A.D. 95 (according to Irenaeus [ca. 180])
Revelation – Recipients
churches in the Roman province of Asia, who
show a mix of fidelity and internal weaknesses
Revelation – Occasion
- the early Christians’ refusal to participate in the cult
of the emperor (who was acclaimed “lord” and “saviour”) was putting them on a collision course with the state - John saw prophetically that it would get worse before it got better and that the churches were poorly prepared for what was about to take place
- so he writes both to warn and encourage them and to announce God’s judgments against Rome
Revelation – Emphases
- Despite appearances to the contrary, God is in absolute control of history
- Although God’s people are destined for suffering in the present, God’s sure salvation belongs to them
- God’s judgment will come on those responsible for the church’s suffering
- In the end (Rev 21–22) God will restore what was lost or distorted at the beginning (Gen 1–3)
