The word "epistle" is from the Greek word epistolos which means a written "letter" addressed to a recipient or recipients, perhaps part of exchanged correspondence. Today in common usage this somewhat elevated term usually connotes a specific group of books in the New Testament that either were letters or were written in that literary form, although "epistle" can refer to other written missives as well, such as a bishop's open letter to the congregants of his see. Calling a letter an "epistle" does not by itself imply that the letter is part of the New Testament, inspired, or even that it is necessarily religious in nature. For instance, an epistolary novel is told in the form of a series of letters.
New Testament Epistles
The epistles of the New Testament are Christian writings of Apostles to churches in particular parts of the world. The most prolific apostle to write was Paul.
There are epistles that are written to particular areas, and general epistles that are written to groups. Taking at face value the traditional ascription of epistles to their superscribed authors, Paul wrote more epistles to particular churches, as well as personal letters to Timothy and Titus. Peter, John, James, Jude, and the writer of Hebrews wrote general letters to the church in general. Sometimes these epistles are divided into subgroups. For instance, the "prison epistles" are the ones written by Paul while he was in prison, while the "pastoral epistles" are the letters to Timothy and Titus, since they contain advice about providing pastoral care to their churches.
Questions of historical authorship or of date and authenticity are addressed in the entries to individual Epistles. Usually the Epistles of the New Testament canon are divided as follows:
Pauline Epistles as written by Paul:
"Catholic" (i.e. "general") epistles
These are letters written by some very early Christian leaders, in the first or second century, which are not part of the New Testament. They are generally considered to form part of the basis of Christian tradition. The ennobling word "epistle" is used partly because these were all written in Greek, in a time period close to when the epistles of the New Testament were written, and thus "epistle" lends additional weight of authority.
External links
