Irenaeus endorsed it in Against Heresies 3. Evidence for Deacons and Elders in Undisputed Letters. Concerning the development of elders and deacons in the church, one must consider the role of leadership in the earliest church.
Jesus himself divided his disciples into various groups. He chose seventy-two or seventy disciples and sent them out two by two. Of those seventy-two, Jesus had twelve primary disciples. Of those twelve, he chose three to be inner-circle disciples Peter, James, and John. Therefore, even Jesus established a system for the church in the early going.
In Acts 6, the disciples chose seven to serve. These seven are believed by many, including myself, to be the earliest deacons chosen to serve. Thus, with the system set in place by Jesus and the addition of deacons in Acts 6, it is no great leap to implement the offices of elders i. Therefore, the idea that the offices of pastor and deacon represents a much later development in church history is greatly overblown.
The early church flatly rejected pseudonymous letters. Early church leaders emphasized the authenticity of Christian documents. Tertullian while teaching on his acceptance of complementarianism discredited a letter involving Paul and a woman named Thecla because it was falsely attributed to Paul. Eusebius tells the story of Serapion.
Serapion was the bishop of Antioch. Serapion chided the church at Rhosse in Cilicia for their use of the the apocryphal Gospel of Peter. Closeness in Proximity. Simply put, individuals closest in proximity to the writing of a document can know with more certainty who actually authored the document than those two-thousand years removed. This is especially true if the veracity of the document is stressed by early readers. Did Paul write all thirteen of the letters attributed to him?
He did with the help of amanuenses. With the points established in this article, one should have no reservation in accepting all thirteen letters. The only letter sometimes attributed to Paul that should be highly questioned for its Pauline origin is the book of Hebrews. No one really knows who wrote the book. However, it is accepted as authentic for reasons we will discuss in a future article. In fact, we will discuss the writers of the Pastoral Epistles next in our series on the authors of the New Testament.
Barry, et. Rather, Luke did not provide an exhaustive history and never intended to do so. You must be logged in to post a comment. It means "letter. Written by leaders of the early church, these letters contain valuable insight and principles for living as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
There are 21 separate letters found in the New Testament, which makes the epistles the largest of the Bible's literary genre in terms of the number of books. Strangely, the epistles are among the smallest genres of the Bible in terms of actual word count.
For that reason, I've divided my general overview of the epistles as a literary genre into three separate articles. In addition to the summaries of the epistles below, I encourage you to read my two previous articles: Exploring the Epistles and Were the Epistles Written for You and Me?
Both of these articles contain valuable information for properly understanding and applying the principles of the epistles in your life today. And now, without further delay, here are summaries of the different epistles contained in the Bible's New Testament. The following books of the New Testament were written by the apostle Paul over a period of several years, and from several different locations. One of the longest epistles, Paul wrote this letter to the growing church in Rome as a way of expressing his enthusiasm for their success and his desire to visit them personally.
The bulk of the letter, however, is a deep and poignant study on the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Paul wrote about salvation, faith, grace, sanctification, and many practical concerns for living as a follower of Jesus in a culture that has rejected Him.
Paul took a great interest in the churches spread throughout the region of Corinth -- so much so that he wrote at least four separate letters to that congregation. Only two of those letters have been preserved, which we know as 1 and 2 Corinthians. Because the city of Corinth was corrupt with all kinds of immorality, much of Paul's instructions to this church center on remaining separate from the sinful practices of the surrounding culture and remaining united as Christians.
Paul had founded the church in Galatia modern day Turkey around 51 A. During his absence, however, groups of false teachers had corrupted the Galatians by claiming that Christians must continue to observe the different laws from the Old Testament in order to remain clean before God. Therefore, much of Paul's epistle to the Galatians is an appeal for them to return to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith -- and to avoid the legalistic practices of the false teachers.
As with Galatians, the letter to the Ephesians emphasizes God's grace and the fact that human beings cannot attain salvation through works or legalism.
Paul also emphasized the importance of unity in the church and its singular mission -- a message that was especially important in this letter because the city of Ephesus was a major trade center populated by people of many separate ethnicities. While the major theme of Ephesians is grace, the major theme of the letter to the Philippians is joy. Paul encouraged the Philippian Christians to relish the joy of living as servants of God and disciples of Jesus Christ -- a message that was all the more poignant because Paul was confined in a Roman prison cell while writing it.
This is another letter Paul wrote while suffering as a prisoner in Rome and another in which Paul sought to correct numerous false teachings that had infiltrated the church.
Apparently, the Colossians had began worshiping angels and other heavenly beings, along with the teachings of Gnosticism -- including the idea that Jesus Christ was not fully God, but merely a man. Throughout Colossians, then, Paul lifts up the centrality of Jesus in the universe, His divinity, and His rightful place as Head of the church. Paul had visited the Greek city of Thessalonica during his second missionary journey, but was only able to remain there for a few weeks because of persecution.
Therefore, he was concerned about the health of the fledgling congregation. After hearing a report from Timothy, Paul sent the letter we know as 1 Thessalonians to clarify some points on which the church members were confused -- including the second coming of Jesus Christ and the nature of eternal life.
In the letter we know as 2 Thessalonians, Paul reminded the people of the need to continue living and working as followers of God until Christ returned. Paul writes the Galatians an aggressive letter to set them straight on their freedom in Christ. Paul outlines doctrines of grace, peace, and salvation, and then instructs the church to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ. He writes to the church at Philippi urging them to take on a Christlike attitude.
This letter explains to the church at Colossae who they are in Christ. Paul had left Titus at Crete to set up order in the churches there. Now he writes Titus instructions for leading a counter-cultural church. Who Was Herod? This site uses cookies to analyze traffic and ensure you get the best experience. Learn more. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
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