Catholic Epistles
Catholic Epistles
The title Catholic Epistles, as applied to a group of seven Epistles in the NT, viz. those of James, Peter (two), John (three), and Jude, is first met with in Eusebius (HE [Note: E Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.).] ii. xxiii. 25 [bis] and vi. xiv. 1), and, somewhat later, in Cyril of Jerusalem (Catecheseis, iv. 36) and the original Euthalius (ed. Zaccagni, 1698, i. 405, 409). We can thus trace the title in the above sense as far back as c. [Note: . circa, about.] a.d. 310, and even then it comes before ns as a long-established and familiar designation, the origin of which we may therefore assign to the 3rd century. As regards its usage by Eusebius, the contest of the first passage cited (ii. xxiii. 25) shows us that it cannot bear the meaning of canonical or apostolic, since he there employs it simply in the sense of Epistles not addressed to a definite and relatively narrow circle of readers. With this usage we may compare his application of the term catholic to the Epistles of Dionysius of Corinth in HE [Note: E Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.).] iv. xxiii. 1, where he presumably makes use of an already current designation of that group of seven (!) Epistles, which, though directed to particular communities, might nevertheless, so far as their character and contents are concerned, have been addressed to any community in Christendom, The title Catholic Epistle, again, as applied to a particular letter, is used, c. [Note: . circa, about.] 260, by Dionysius of Alexandria (ap. Eus. HE [Note: E Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.).] vii. xxv. 7, 10) of 1 John-in contradistinction to the other two Epistles of John, which are not addressed to the Church at large; the term is used more frequently by Origen of 1 John, Jude, and 1 Peter, as also, in a single instance, of the Epistle of Barnabas (c. Cels. i. 63). The letter of the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem (Act 15:23-29) is referred to as catholic by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. iv. xv. 97) c. [Note: . circa, about.] 205, and he applies the same attribute to Jude in his Hypotyposeis (T. Zahn, Forschungen zur Gesch. des NT Kanons, pt. iii. [1884] 83, Gesch. des NT Kanons, i. [1888] 319f.). The anti-Montanist Apollonius speaks (197) of a Catholic Epistle which the Montanist Themiso had composed in imitation of the Apostle (ap. Eus. HE [Note: E Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.).] v. xviii. 5)-probably St. John in his First Epistle.
We may therefore assume that, by the end of the 2nd century, the title catholic was applied to certain Epistles which, as contrasted above all with the Epistles of Paul, were not explicitly addressed to particular churches, and that it was likewise used on similar grounds of 1 John as contrasted with 2 and 3 John. From this point, again, a further step was taken, probably in the first half of the 3rd century, in applying the attribute catholic to all the non-Pauline Epistles in the sacred collection, even although the term as hitherto used was not appropriate to 2 and 3 John. These, however, were by that time closely linked with 1 John. The usage of the term as equivalent to general or encyclical was still recognized by Leontius of Byzantium (de Sectis, ii. 4) and cumenius (Com. in Ep. Gath. Jacobi). The change by which the attribute catholic came to signify the opposite of non-apostolic or uncanonical took place in the West, and it was there also that this group of seven Epistles in the NT came to be known generally as the Canonical Epistles (cf. Council of Damasus of 382; see C. H. Turner, Journal of Theological Studies i. [1899-1900] 554, and E. v. Dobschtz, Decret. Gelasianum, 1912, p. 28; Pseudo-Didymus, in Ep. Can. [in the Latin version], and Cassiodorus, de Instit. Div. Lit., 8). In would thus appear that these terms were resorted to as a mere makeshift, and that they are of very little service to us either as regards the history of the canon or from the literary point of view.
Literature.-Histories of the NT Canon, and Introductions to the NT, esp. H. A. Schott, Isagoge hist.-crit. in libros Novi Fderis, Jena, 1830, pp. 371-5, and E. Reuss, Gesch. der heiligen Schriften Neuen Testaments3, Brunswick, 1860, 301 (Eng. translation , Edinburgh, 1884); E. T. Mayerhoff, ber die Bedeutung des Namens in Hist.-krit. Einleitung in die petrinischen Schriften, Hamburg, 1835, pp. 31-42; A. Deissmann, Bibelstudien, Marburg, 1985, p. 243f. (Eng. translation , Edinburgh, 1901, p. 50ff.); the relevant excursuses of Jan van Gilse and W. C. L. Ziegler (Animadversiones in sensum nominis epist. cathol.) in J. Dahl, Commentatio exegetico-critica de epist. petr., Rostock, 1807.
H. Jordan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
catholic epistles
Letters addressed by the Apostles not to any particular body, but to the Universal Church: two by Peter, one each by John, Jude, and James the Less.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Catholic Epistles
The canonical epistles of James, Peter, and Jude, and the first of John, are so called because they are not addressed to any particular individual or church, but to Christians in general (Suicer, Thes. Ecc 2:15).
Hug gives the following view: “When the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles constituted one peculiar division, the works of Paul also another, there still remained writings of different authors which might likewise form a collection of themselves, to which a name must be given. It might most aptly be called the common collection, , of the apostles, and the treatises contained in it and , which are commonly used by the Greeks as synonyms. For this we find a proof even in the most ancient ecclesiastical language. Clemens Alexandrinus calls the epistle which was dispatched by the assembly of the apostles (Act 15:23) the ‘catholic epistle,’ as that in which all the apostles had a share, . Hence our seven epistles are catholic, or epistles of all the apostles who are authors” (Introd. to N.T. 151). So, also, Eichhorn. See Horne, Introduction, pt. 6, ch. 4, 1. SEE EPISTLES, APOSTOLICAL.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Catholic epistles
the epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude; so called because they are addressed to Christians in general, and not to any church or person in particular.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Catholic Epistles
CATHOLIC EPISTLES.The title of Catholic was given by the early Church to the seven Epistles which bear the names of James, Peter, Jude, and John. There is much uncertainty as to the meaning of the title. Perhaps the most probable explanation is that this group of Epistles was looked upon as addressed to the Church generally, while the Pauline Epistles were written to particular churches and were called forth by local circumstances.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Catholic, Epistles
katho-lik ( , epistola katholika): In distinction from the apostolic or Pauline epistles which were addressed to individual churches or persons, the term catholic, in the sense of universal or general, was applied by Origen and the other church Fathers to the seven epistles written by James, Peter, John and Jude. As early as the 3rd century it came to be used in the sense of encyclical, since, as Theodoret says, they are not addressed to single churches, but generally (katholou) to the faithful, whether to the Jews of the Dispersion, as Peter writes, or even to all who are living as Christians under the same faith. three other explanations of the term have been given, namely, (1) that it was intended to indicate a common apostolic authorship (only a few support this view); (2) that it signifies that the seven epistles were universally received as genuine; (3) that it refers to the catholicity of their doctrine, i.e. orthodox and authoritative versus heretical epistles whose teachings were in harmony with Christian truth. By some misconception of the word catholic the Western Church interpreted it as signifying canonical and sometimes called these epistles epistolae canonicae. That it was originally used in the sense of general epistles is now commonly received.
This is evident from their form of address. James wrote to all Jews, of the Dispersion, who had embraced the Christian faith. In his first epistle Peter addressed the same Christians, including also Gentile converts, resident in five provinces of Asia Minor: elect who axe sojourners of the Dispersion. His second epistle is to all Christians everywhere. John’s first letter was evidently written to a cycle of churches and intended for universal use. Jude also had in mind all Christians when he said to them that are called beloved in God, etc. The seeming exceptions are 2 and 3 Jn, addressed to individuals, but included with the catholic epistles as properly belonging with John’s first epistle and of value to the general reader. The character and contents of these seven epistles are treated under their various heads. The letters of James and Jude belong to the Judaic school of Christianity; those of Peter to a broad and non-partisan type of faith that both includes and mediates between the Judaists and Paulinists. John’s letters were written after the internal doctrinal controversies of the church had ceased, and the pressure of opposition and error from without tended to unite his little children in a new community of love and spiritual life.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Catholic Epistles
A name often given to the Epistles of James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1 John, and Jude, and which are called ‘general’ epistles in the A.V., doubtless because of not being addressed to any particular person or assembly. The word ‘catholic’ occurs in a few Greek MSS, but not in any of the most ancient ones.