Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Who Wrote 'Em?
According to these epistles, the authors are James the Just, Simon Peter, and Jude the brother of Jesus.
Case closed, right?
Not so fast. See, back in the first century, it wasn't unheard of for someone to write a book or a letter and then pretend that someone else wrote it. It would be like if you penned a new book about wizards and put J.K. Rowling's name on it—the lines would be around the block. It was a way of adding a little heft to your words. Who cares what some guy from Antioch thinks about Jesus? But Peter? We'd read that.
Today, we'd see this as dishonest. You can't ghostwrite for someone without their permission—that's forgery. Call the FBI! But back in the day, it wasn't as big of a deal. Some of these books could have been written by followers of James, Peter, and Jude, and they probably contain ideas that these guys would have endorsed anyway. The anonymous author may have just given their thoughts a different spin or updated them for the times. After all, for the forgery to work, it has to be believable, too.
So we can't be sure who wrote these books. Scholars think that the real James the Just may have written his epistle, but it could also be the work of someone who knew him. 1 and 2 Peter probably weren't written by Peter at all. But Jude was most likely written by the actual guy (source 1256, 63, 71, 84). It's a mixed bag, and it's kind of confusing. For more details on each author, check out their individual analyses in the "Figures" section.
To make things easier for now, we'll just keep calling these guys by their traditional names. Shmoop likes to keep things simple.
Who Read 'Em?
Now that we (kind of) know who are authors are, let's take a look at whom these letters were written to. Unlike the letters to the Romans or Corinthians, these four books aren't addressed to one specific group of Christians at all. Really, these letters could have been going out to any Christians who lived in the Roman Empire.
We don't know where they are, but can guess what they were like and some of things they were dealing with. For starters, they're Christians…duh. That means they follow the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and believe he's the "Christ" or "messiah." Basically, he's the guy that God has sent to straighten out the whole world. (Good luck with that, Jesus.)
Nice Jewish Boys
The people reading these letters back in the 1st century either came from a Jewish background (like Jesus and his disciples) or were Gentiles who were into Yahweh. If they weren't, all those shout-outs to the Hebrew Bible would totally go over their heads. These epistles have a pretty 1st-century Jewish way of looking at things, too
• They see Jesus as the Jewish messiah.
• James encourages people to follow God's law from back in the day.
• Jesus is considered the fulfillment of everything God talked about in scripture.
See? Super Jewish.
Back in the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites were considered God's chosen people (remember when he helped them escape from Egypt?). But now that Jesus has come, say the authors, God has branched out a bit. Christians are now "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Peter 2:9). God set a plan in motion a long time ago and now Christians will get to reap the benefits of it.
Mo' Holy, Mo' Problems
Just because they got all this good news doesn't mean these early Christians didn't have problems. There were some big issues with the Gentiles in surrounding areas—mainly that they thought Christians were a tiny bit weird. Sometimes Christians would get harassed or even dragged into court. It doesn't seem like anyone had been put to death yet, but times were definitely little tough socially.
So relationships with Gentiles were strained. They couldn't top believing in Jesus (that would not be good), but they couldn't act exactly like their Gentiles neighbors to totally fit in (also bad). Basically, these folks had to walk a fine line. They needed to be polite, orderly, upstanding citizens at all times. Not only would that keep non-believers from picking on them, but it also might have convinced some folks that the whole believing in Jesus thing wasn't so wacky.
Very Bad Teachers
Just one thing: it wasn't just people outside the community that were causing issues; people inside were, too. Get out! That call is coming from inside the house!
Apparently, there were Christians in these communities that were spreading messages that James, Peter, and Jude didn't quite agree with—Peter calls them "false teachers" (2 Peter 2:1). It's not 100% clear what they believed, but it seems like they accused the leaders in the community of making stuff up about Jesus, selectively interpreting scriptures, and caring way too much about angels. They also probably doubted whether or not Jesus was coming back. He sure was taking his sweet time, after all.
Oh hey, funny story: they were kind of right about Jesus not coming back anytime soon. But otherwise, Peter and Jude think they're pretty morally bankrupt. They're greedy, immoral liars who love exploiting people; they promise all kinds of freedom to Christians who follow them, but they can't deliver on it; and in the end, when Jesus does come back, they're totally gonna pay—"for them the deepest darkness has been reserved" (2 Peter 2:17).
Yikes.
Fight Amongst Yourselves
Now we've got problems from the Gentiles and problems from other so-called Christians. But what about the people who believe the "right" stuff?
Well, there are problems with them, too. Go figure.
Even in a community of like-minded folks, there are some disagreements about exactly what it means to be a good person and a follower of Jesus. Our authors have some criticisms for the folks they're writing to: they want to let them know that they're not always living up to the standard Jesus set.
When people live together in a community, they say, there shouldn't be any divisions or in-fighting. That means you don't favor rich people over poor people. You don't say nasty things to other Christians. You also don't start problems with your superiors. For Christians, that meant that slaves should obey their masters, wives should obey their husbands, and everyone should be listening to the emperor. He's not the kind of guy you want to cross.
The authors had plenty more to say about how folks should be living, too:
Good people live in harmony with everyone. They give generously. They care about others. They don't run off at the mouth, praising God one minute and spreading rumors the next. They put their trust in God and submit to him totally. Sure, God loves a cheerful giver, but he also loves a humble and lowly servant a ton, too.
Faith vs. Works
And that brings us to one final smackdown: faith vs. works.
The folks in this community are having a little disagreement about how exactly you can obey God and get in his good books. Is it enough to just believe in Jesus? Or do you need to do stuff, too? Can't we just praise him and call it a day?
James is pretty squarely in the works camp: he says that doing good deeds is a must for Christians. You can sit around all day and say how much you love Jesus, but until you actually do something about it, it doesn't really mean much. If someone is starving, it doesn't help to just say to them, "Jesus saves!" You've got to meet both that person's physical and spiritual needs or there's no point.
The Apostle Paul has the same sort of discussion in his epistle to the Romans, but he kind of comes out on the opposite side—he's much bigger into faith. In Paul's view, people can become obsessed with doing "good deeds" and lose sight of God in all that. Let's say you go to church or say a certain prayer or give to charity. Are you doing that stuff because it draws you closer to God, or are you doing those things because you're trying to check off a box on some weird list of "Holy Things to Do"?
Basically, both of these guys are saying the same thing. A person has to have true faith and orient their whole life toward God. But, that person also has to act on that faith by doing kind and loving acts for others. For these dudes, faith and works are connected. You can't have one without the other. It's like peanut butter and jelly, tacos and limes…
Shmoop and the Bible.
This Is the End
Last but not least: these Christians are also waiting for a very special day. No, not Oscars Night. It's the day the world ends.
Peter calls it "the day of the Lord," which is what the prophets from the Hebrew Bible like Isaiah and Jeremiah called it when they really wanted to freak people out. It's also known as "the day of judgment" (2 Peter 2:9). Doesn't sound too fun.
Basically, the idea is that Jesus will return and show his doubters a thing or two, and God will wipe out everything out by using fire. (Who knew he was such a pyro?) Then, God will judge every single person. Did you obey him? Did you believe in his son? Were you a good person? If the answer is no to any of these questions…things are not looking good for you.
Even though James, Peter, and Jude promised this would happen real soon, we're still waiting. Then again, they told us, "with the Lord […] a thousands years are like one day" (2 Peter 3:8). We guess we can wait a few more days.