III Vogue of Epistolary Form in Literature — The New Testament Epistles
When we consider how in the first century of the Christian era it was a frequent custom to clothe literature of all kinds in the letter form, and how popular amongst all classes and orders was this method—so to speak—of literary expression, when associated with it were, among a crowd of comparatively undistinguished authors, such personalities as Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny, whose letters as pieces of literature obtained at once an enormous popularity which has never really waned,26 it becomes a grave and interesting question: Did this fashion, this method, this singularly popular form of writing, affect the great New Testament writers, and induce them to cast their sublime inspired thoughts in this special form, which certainly, when the apostles put out their writings, was a loved and admired literary method?
The fact of so large a portion of the New Testament writings being cast in “letter form” is striking; it is quite different from anything that we find in the Old Testament Scriptures, where, save in one solitary instance (Jer. xxix.), nothing in the letter form appears in that wonderful compilation which embraces so many subjects, and which in the composition spread over many centuries; but we are so accustomed to the New Testament writings, that the fact of a very large portion of the collection of its inspired writings being in “letter” form does not at first appear strange or unusual.
We may preface the few suggestions which follow with the remark, that whether or no the suggestion be entertained as a possible, even as a probable thought, the fact of “inspiration”—the fact of the New Testament writings referred to being “the word of God”—is not in the slightest degree affected. For it is the substance of the divine message, not the “colour” or “material” of the clothing of the message, which is of such paramount importance.
The question of the “colour” and “material” of the message’s clothing, the consideration in what it is clothed, is deeply interesting; but, after all, is nothing more.
The “message” which we believe to be from God remains the same—be it enclosed in a “pamphlet,” in a “treatise,” in a “study” (étude), or in a “letter” form.
Nothing like an analysis of the New Testament Epistles, some of which will be briefly referred to in the course of this study, will be attempted. Such an analysis would not, of course, enter into the scheme of the present work.
We would first indicate some at least of the New Testament Letters which certainly seem to be more than letters in the ordinary sense of the word—which, indeed, are “settings” to short theological treatises containing statements of the highest doctrinal import.
These “Letters” were evidently intended for a far more extended circle of readers than the congregations immediately addressed.
We have already in a previous section quoted the three Epistles of S. Paul written during his first imprisonment,27 A.D. 61–3 (viz. the Epistles to the Colossians, Philippians, and Ephesians), as embodying some of the more weighty and important doctrinal teachings of the great apostle put out during the period in which S. Paul preached to the Christians of the capital, and thus and then earned his well-known and acknowledged claim to be one of the two “founders” of the Church of Rome—S. Peter being the other.
One of the reasons, no doubt, of the vast and long-enduring popularity of the “letter” form of literature was the introduction of quasi-confidential remarks, which gave a freshness, a breath of everyday life to the composition; or, to use another image, the “Letter” might even be termed a picturesque and attractive “setting” to the graver, the more serious thoughts contained in the writing.
This is well exemplified in the famous collection of the correspondence of Cicero, of whose Letters it has been happily written that the majority are “brief confidential outpourings of the moment.” The same purely human colouring is manifest in the Letters of Seneca, written from the year 57 and onwards; this is even more especially noticeable in the Letters of the younger Pliny.
There are, however, certain of the Pauline Epistles which partake more closely of the nature of private letters, and which scarcely seem intended for public circulation—notably the Second Epistle to the Corinthians and the little letter to Philemon.
Professor Deissmann, of Heidelberg, who has written at some length on the subject, differs somewhat from the general view taken here of S. Paul’s writings; but while expressing his doubts as to whether any of the Pauline Epistles were really written by the apostle with a view to publication, he unhesitatingly decides that amongst the New Testament writings the Epistle to the Hebrews, the First Epistle of John, the First Epistle of Peter, the Epistles of James and Jude, were most certainly written in “letter” form for general circulation.
As early certainly as the third century, the Christian Church placed the so-called Catholic Epistles as a group apart among the canonical writings and termed them “Catholic” or universal, as addressed to no one special congregation. This is absolutely true in the cases of the Epistles of 1 Peter, James, Jude, and 1 John, above referred to.
The First Epistle of Peter is addressed to a vast number of the “Dispersion,” who, the apostle says, were sojourning in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia,—these provinces almost covering the region now popularly known as Asia Minor.
James wrote to the twelve tribes scattered abroad.
John in his First Epistle gives no address at all, leaving his Letter perfectly general—or universal.
Jude, too, names no particular congregation, but simply writes to those that are “sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called.”
In the Epistle “to the Hebrews” the writer is unnamed, and there is no mention of those to whom the anonymous “Letter” is addressed. It is, however, clear from the tenor of the “Letter” that it was addressed to Jewish Christians, and probably to Jewish Christians settled in Rome.
The “Pastoral” Epistles, so called (including 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus), were evidently intended for general circulation.
We may therefore conclude that the greater number of the New Testament Letters—certainly the four principal “Catholic” Epistles and the great Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Epistles of S. Paul with the exceptions above noted, influenced by the analogy of other collections of Letters made in the same age, were written in “letter” form, but were intended for a large group of readers. This particular “letter” form being adopted owing to the great popularity, throughout the Roman Empire, of this special description of literature.
Thus it is evident that the great Christian teachers to a certain extent adopted the most loved popular literary forms of the age in which they lived, especially choosing the letter form which such distinguished writers as Cicero, Seneca, and a little later the younger Pliny adopted.
While the “Acts of the Apostles” more or less followed the literary method of profane historical literature, with its picturesque insertion of “speeches,” “letters,” and “official papers”; while the “Revelation of S. John” more or less followed the method adopted in Jewish apocalyptic literature of the famous Alexandrian school: alone the Gospels are absolutely an original form—a literary form which originated within Christianity itself—a literary form which stands out alone. It imitated nothing, it followed no classical or Jewish examples—no models, however beautiful, attractive, or popular; nor has it ever been imitated in all the Christian ages, stretching over more than eighteen centuries, simply because it is inimitable.
The Apostolic Fathers
And when the Catholic Church judged, and as we see now wisely judged, that the Voice of Inspiration was hushed, we find that the literary remains of the primitive age of Christianity which have been preserved to us are cast in the same “letter” form, those few literary remains which have received the lofty title of “Apostolic.” The word comes to us from Ignatius, and seems to bear the meaning that the writers of these “remains” were historically connected with the apostles.
These writings properly so styled come from four persons—from (1) Clement (of Rome), of whom the tradition, constant and definite, tells us he was the disciple of Peter and also of Paul.
(2) From Ignatius, whose early date and connexion with Antioch, a chief centre of apostolic work, render, as Lightfoot well urges, his personal intercourse with apostles at least probable. The earliest tradition represents Ignatius as the second of the Antiochene bishops. His martyrdom must be dated circa A.D. 110. He was evidently then an old man. He was certainly a younger contemporary of some of the apostles.
(3) From Polycarp, whose close connexion in youth with S. John is indisputable, since his own disciple, the well-known Irenæus, tells us that Polycarp was a scholar of the beloved disciple; and that he (Irenæus) had heard from his master, Polycarp, many anecdotes of the apostles, which he had treasured up in his memory.
(4) From Barnabas, whose immediate connexion with the apostle is less certain; but the early date of his Epistle, written apparently during the days of the Flavian dynasty, would render the ancient traditions of this connexion at least highly probable.
These writings, few and humble, which have come down to us, are all we can with any certainty ascribe to “Apostolic” men; and they are all cast in “letter form,” viz., the one somewhat lengthy Epistle of Clement, the seven authentic Epistles of Ignatius, the one brief Epistle of Polycarp, the one (of considerable length) Epistle of Barnabas. These Epistles are genuine “Letters,” and “represent the natural outpouring of personal feeling arising out of personal relations”; but they contain doctrinal statements of the deepest importance, notably emphatic or positive statements bearing on the Godhead of Jesus Christ.28
These Epistles29 were obviously meant by the writers for a far more extended circle of readers than the congregations of Corinth, Philippi, Rome, etc., to whom the Letters were formally addressed.