The collection of books, united by the common name "Epistle of the Holy Apostles", is part of the New Testament, which is part of the Bible along with the Old Testament written earlier. The creation of messages refers to those times when, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, the apostles dispersed around the world, preaching the Gospel (Good News) to all peoples who were in the darkness of paganism.
Preachers of the Christian Faith
Thanks to the apostles, the bright light of the true faith, shone in the Holy Land, illuminated the three peninsulas that were the center of ancient civilizations - Italy, Greece and Asia Minor. Another New Testament book, “Acts of the Apostles”, is devoted to the missionary activity of the apostles, however, in it the paths of the closest disciples of Christ are indicated insufficiently.
This gap is filled by the information contained in the "Epistle of the Apostles", as well as set forth in the Sacred Tradition - materials canonically recognized by the Church, but not included in the Old or New Testament. In addition, the role of the epistles is invaluable in clarifying the foundations of faith.
The need to create messages
The Epistles of the Apostles are a set of interpretations and clarifications of the material that is set forth in the four canonical (recognized by the Church) Gospels compiled by the holy evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The need for such messages is explained by the fact that along the way of their wanderings, spreading the gospel message orally, the apostles founded Christian churches in multitudes.
However, circumstances did not allow them to stay in one place for long, and after their departure, the newly formed communities were threatened by the dangers associated with both the weakening of faith and deviation from the true path due to the hardships and suffering endured.
That is why the new converts to the Christian faith while never needed encouragement, reinforcement, admonition and consolation, which, however, have not lost their relevance in our days. For this purpose, the Epistles of the Apostles were written, the interpretation of which later became the subject of the work of many eminent theologians.
What do the apostolic letters include?
Like all monuments of early Christian religious thought, the messages that have come down to us, the authorship of which is attributed to the apostles, are divided into two groups. The first includes the so-called apocrypha, that is, texts that are not included in the number of canonized, and the authenticity of which is not recognized by the Christian Church. The second group consists of texts, the truth of which in different periods of time is fixed by the decisions of Church Councils, which are considered canonical.
The New Testament includes 21 apostolic appeals to various Christian communities and their spiritual leaders, most of which are the letters of St. Paul. There are 14 of them. In them, one of the two chief apostles addresses the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Jews, the holy apostle from the seventy disciples of Christ Philemon and Bishop Titus, the primate of the Cretan Church. In addition, he sends two letters each to the Thessalonians, the Corinthians, and Timothy, the first bishop of Ephesus. The remaining epistles of the apostles belong to the closest followers and disciples of Christ: one to James, two to Peter, three to John and one to Judas (not Iscariot).
The Epistles written by the Apostle Paul
Among the works of theologians who studied the epistolary heritage of the holy apostles, a special place is occupied by the interpretation of the epistles of the Apostle Paul. And this happens not only because of their large number, but also because of their extraordinary semantic load and doctrinal significance.
As a rule, the "Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans" is distinguished among them, since it is considered an unsurpassed example not only of the New Testament Scriptures, but of all ancient literature in general. In the list of all 14 epistles belonging to the apostle Paul, it is usually placed first, although according to the chronology of writing it is not.
Appeal to the Roman community
In it, the apostle refers to the Christian community of Rome, which in those years consisted mainly of converted pagans, since all the Jews in 50 were expelled from the capital of the empiredecree of the emperor Claudius. While citing his busy preaching work preventing him from visiting the Eternal City, Paul at the same time hopes to visit it on his way to Spain. However, as if foreseeing the impracticability of this intention, he addresses the Roman Christians with his most extensive and detailed message.
Researchers note that if the other epistles of the Apostle Paul are intended only to clarify certain issues of Christian dogma, since in general the Good News was conveyed to him in person, then, turning to the Romans, he, in fact,, sets forth in an abbreviated form the entire gospel teaching. It is generally accepted in scholarly circles that the letter to the Romans was written by Paul around the year 58, before his return to Jerusalem.
Unlike other epistles of the apostles, the authenticity of this historical monument has never been questioned. Its extraordinary authority among the early Christians is evidenced by the fact that one of its first interpreters was Clement of Rome, himself one of the seventy apostles of Christ. In later periods, such prominent theologians and Church Fathers as Tertullian, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin the Philosopher, Clement of Alexandria and many other authors refer to the Epistle to the Romans in their writings.
Message to the heresy Corinthians
Another remarkable creation of the early Christian epistolary genre is the "Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians". It should also be discussed in more detail. It is known that afterPaul founded the Christian church in the Greek city of Corinth, the local community in it was led by his preacher named Apollos.
With all his zeal for the affirmation of the true faith, due to inexperience he brought discord into the religious life of local Christians. As a result, they were divided into supporters of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, and Apollos himself, who allowed personal interpretations in the interpretation of Holy Scripture, which, undoubtedly, was heresy. Addressing the Christians of Corinth with his message and forewarning them of their imminent arrival in order to clarify the controversial issues, Paul insists on the general reconciliation and observance of unity in Christ, which all the apostles preached. The Epistle to the Corinthians contains, among other things, the condemnation of many sinful deeds.
Condemnation of vices inherited from paganism
In this case, we are talking about those vices that were widespread among local Christians who had not yet managed to overcome the addictions inherited from their pagan past. Among the diverse manifestations of sin inherent in the new and not yet well-established community in moral principles, the apostle with particular intransigence condemns the widely practiced cohabitation with stepmothers, and manifestations of non-traditional sexual orientation. He criticizes the custom of the Corinthians to engage in endless litigation with each other, as well as to indulge in drunkenness and debauchery.
In addition, in this epistle, the apostle Paul encourages members of the newly created congregation to generously allocate funds formaintenance of preachers and to the best of their ability to help needy Jerusalem Christians. He also mentions the abolition of food prohibitions adopted by the Jews, allowing the use of all products, except for those that local pagans sacrifice to their idols.
Quote that sparked controversy
Meanwhile, a number of theologians, especially of the late period, note in this apostolic epistle some elements of such a doctrine not accepted by the Church as subordinatism. Its essence lies in the statement about the inequality and subordination of the hypostases of the Holy Trinity, in which God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the offspring of God the Father and are subordinate to Him.
This theory fundamentally contradicts the main Christian dogma, approved in 325 by the First Council of Nicaea and preached to this day. However, turning to the "Epistle to the Corinthians" (chapter 11, verse 3), where the apostle states that "God is the head of Christ", a number of researchers believe that even the supreme apostle Paul was not completely free from the influences of the false teachings of early Christianity.
In fairness, we note that their opponents tend to understand this phrase a little differently. The word Christ itself literally translates as "the anointed one", and this term has been used since ancient times in relation to autocratic rulers. If we understand the words of the Apostle Paul in this sense, that is, that “God is the head of every autocrat,” then everything falls into place, and contradictions disappear.
Afterword
In conclusion, it should be noted that all the epistles of the apostles are imbued with a truly evangelical spirit, and the church fathers strongly recommend reading them to anyone who wants to fully understand the teaching given to us by Jesus Christ. For their fuller understanding and comprehension, it is necessary, not limited to reading the texts themselves, to turn to the works of interpreters, the most famous and authoritative of which is St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894), whose portrait completes the article. In a simple and accessible form, he explains many passages, the meaning of which sometimes eludes the modern reader.
