G. E. Post. CATERPILLAR.— See LocuST.
CA'THOLIC EPISTLES ({vKrroKal KaBoKiKal).— The title given to a group of seven Epistles of the NT, which bear the names of James, Peter, John, and Jude. From an early period in the history of the Church these Epistles were dealt with as a class by themselves. There were reasons for this, lying in their contents and in their generally ac- cepted authorship. They form a distinct and in- teresting section of the NT literature. They have some obvious points of affinity with each other. There are resemblances, e.g., between 1 P and Ja; while Jude and 2 P have much matter in common. These seven Epistles have some remarkable coin- cidences both with other books of the NT and with non-canonical writings of ancient date. There are unmistakable similarities in thought and style, with certain marked dili'erences, between the Johannine Epistles and the other writings ascribed to St. John. There are resemblances be- tween 1 P and the Pauline Epistles, especially those to the Romans and the Ephesians. Jude quotes the pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch, and refers, as it seems, to tlie As.iumption of Moses; while in James we have reminiscences of lien Sirach.
These seven Epistles are not all of one piece. There are notable dili'erences in style and contents between the several members of the group. While they are all letters, they dilt'or considerably in epistolary form. Some ot them (2 and 3 .In) are simple, personal letters. One of them (James) is ratlier of the nature of a sententious Wisdom writing, like parts of the ^okhma literature of the OT and Judaism. Others, especially 1 Jn, have the appearance of Pastorals or Ei)istolary Mani- festoes (Westcott's The Epistles of St. John, \m. xxix, XXX ; Moulton's The Literary Study of the Bilile, pp. 2!)2, 442). As a cla-sa, however, they have a character wliicli readily distinguishes them from the Epistles which bear Paul's name, and from the Epistle to the Hebrews. They make a con- tribution of essential value to the body of NT teacliing. They have their own ideas, their own forms of ex]iression, their own aspects of the truth tanglit in common by the first Christian writers. Tlicy have had dillcrent degrees of aocipt.ance in dillcrcnt part.s of the Church and in dillciunl ages. They have been, and continue to be, the subject of much debate with regard to their origin, date, authorship, and claims. For these questions see the articles on the several Epistles.
Tlicso seven Episttoa are not (riven tn the sune order Id anciunt MSS, vi-rsioria, and catalotfties. Jerome notices a elilTfrenco in this rcHiM-ct lH;twcen tlic Greek and the l>:itln codices (Prolotj. 7. h'jn^t. Canfm.). The order In which tticv ■tanil in our English liihie (Ja, 1 and 2 P, 1, 2, 3 Jn. Jiiili) is the ortlcr In which they occur In most ancient documents. It Is the order that Is followed in Oodex B, in the Canon of Ihi
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Bynod of Laodicea (o. a.d. 363), in the lists of Athanasius, C>Til of Jerua., Epiphanius, Oregon' Naz., Leontiiis, Jerome, Nicephorus, Amphilooliius, Uie ' Sixty Books,* Isidore, and Jotm of Dauiaijcus (see Westcott's Canon qf NT, pp. 540-579). Eusebius also {HE ii. 23) spealcs of James as reported to have written ' llie first of tiie Cathohc Epistles.' But in the Canon of the third Council of Car- thatfe (A. D. Sl>7), in the Apostolic Canons, and in the Claromontane Stichometry {S<zc. vii.), they are given as 1 and 2 P, 1, 2, and 3 Jn, Ja, and Jude. Au^'ustine {De Doctr. ChrUt. ii. 12) enumer- ates them as two jf Peter, three of John, one of Jude, and one of James ; which succession is followed also by Pbilastrius. Rutinus, a^in (C'omm. in Syinb. Apost. § 36), names them in the order of 1 and 2 P. Ja, Jude, 1, 2, and 3 Jn ; lunocentius {ad Kj^uperixun Ep. Toiosanum) in that of 1, 2, 3 Jn, 1 and 2 P, Jude, Ja ; Gelasius (^Decretum de lib, recep. et non recep.) in that of 1 and 2 P, Ja, 1, 2, 3 Jn, Jude ; while JuniUus Africanus, noticing a difierence in respect of extent of recognition between the first two and the five which follow, gives them in the succession of I P, 1 Jn, Ja, 2 P, Jude, 2 and 3 Jn. Neither have they the same place in the series of the NT books as given in ancient MS8, versions, and catalogues. In most they come between the Acts and the Pauhne Epistles. This is the case with the Canon of the Council of Laodicea, Codices B and A, the lists of Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, Leontius, the 'Sixty Books," Cassiodorus, John of Damascus, etc This is the position assigned vhem in the critical editions of Lachmann, Tischen- dorf. Treadles, Westcott and Hort. But in the Canon of the third Council of Carthage, in Rutinus, in Amphilocbius, and in Codex K, they are inserted between the Pauline Epp. (with He) and the Apoc. ; and this is the place given them by Gries- bach in his critical edition. The same arrangement is so far followed also in the lists of Gregory Naz., Nicephorus, Pbilas- trius, and Junilius Africanus, where they come after the Paulino Epp. ; and in that of Epiphaniua, where they precede the Apoca- lypse. In the Apostolic Canons they are placed between the 14 Epp. of Paul and the 2 Epp. of Clement ; in Augustine, Innocen- tius. and Isidore, between the Pauline Epp. and Acts ; in Jerome, between the Acts and the Apoc. ; in the Claromontane Sticho- metry, after the Pauline Epp. and before the Ep. of Barnabas (supposed to mean here the Epistle to the Hebrews), the Eev. of Jn, and the Acts. In Gelasius they appear after the Apoc. and last in the list of our NT books ; in the Si/twpsu of Chrj-sostom, after the Acts and last in the list. While in our English Bible tliey come between He and Rev, in the German Bible they are dealt with in a singular fashion. Instead of being brought into one series there, five of them (those ascribed to Peter and John) are introduced between Philem and He, and two of them (Ja and Jude) are placed between Hebrews and the ApocaI>'pse.