Those general letters of the Christians express and embody the growth in the law of the Church and in its common life and constitution. They originated in the circumstances of the Church. The letter of the Council at Jerusalem (Ac 1573-29) arose out of a special occasion, and was the reply to a question addressed from Syria to the central Church and its leaders; the reply was addressed to the Churches of the province of Syria and Cilicia, headed by the Church of the capital of that province; but it was forthwith treated as applicable equally to other Christians, and was communicated as authoritative by Paul and Silas to the Churches of the province Galatia (Ac 16%).
The peculiar relation of headship and fatherhood in which St. Paul stood to the Churches which he had founded, developed still further this category of letters, as is well shown in the article on EPISTLES, vol. i. p. 730. A still further development towards general philosophico-legal statement of religious dogma is apparent on the one hand in Romans, addressed to a Church which he had not founded, and on the other hand in the Pastoral Epistles, addressed to friends and pupils of his own, partly in their capacity of personal friends,—such portions of the letters being of the most intimate, incidental, and unstudied character,—but far more in their official capacity as heads and overseers of a group of Churches—such parts of the letters being really intended more for the guidance of the congrega- tions than of the nominal addressees, and being, undoubtedly, to a considerable extent merely con- firmatory of the directions and instructions already given to the congregations by Timothy and Titus. The double character of these Epistles is a strong proof of their authenticity. Such a mixture of character could only spring from the intimate friend and leader, whose interest in the work which his two subordinates are doing is at times lost in the personal relation.
The Catholic Epistles represent a further stage of this development. First Peter is addressed to a very wide yet carefully defined body of Churches in view of a serious trial to which they are about to be exposed. Second Peter, James, and First John are quite indefinite in their address to all Christians. But all of them are separated by a broad and deep division from the literary epistle written for the public eye: they are informed and inspired with the intense personal affection which the writers felt for every individual of the thou-
* See EpistLn, vol. i. p. 730; Deissmann, Bible Studies (an im-
proved edition of his Bibelstudien and Neue Bibelstudien), also his article on ‘Epistolary Literature’ in Encycl. Bibi. ii. p. 1323,
402 ROADS AND TRAVEL (IN NT)
sands whom they addressed. A serious study of all the NT and early Christian Epistles from this point of view is much needed, and would bring out in strong relief their real, human, individual and authentic character. The seven letters to the seven Churches contained in Rev 1-3 are full of touches special to the individual Churches, many of which have hardly been observed in modern times, but which show close personal knowledge of the cities on the part of the writer; and yet they are written on a uniform plan, which gives them a certain literary type to a degree and of a kind differing from any of the other letters. They stand by themselves, written in the inspiration of one single occasion, which expressed itself suit- ably to the individual circumstances of each of the seven Churches, yet conformed to certain general lines.
This remarkable development, in which law, statesmanship, ethics, and religion meet in and transform the simple letter, was the work of St. Paul more than of any other. But it was not due to him alone, nor initiated by him. It began be- fore him and continued after him. It sprang from the nature of the Church and the circumstances of the time. The Church was Imperial, the King- dom of God, and its leaders felt that their letters expressed the will of God. They issued their truly Imperial rescripts : ‘it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us’ is a bold and regal expression in the first Christian letter.
Christian letters in the next two or three cen- turies were often inspired by something of the same spirit. Congregation spoke boldly and authoritatively to congregation, as each was moved by the Spirit to write: the letter partook of the nature of an Imperial rescript, yet it was merely the expression of the intense interest taken by equal in equal, and brother in brother. The whole series of such letters is indicative of the strong interest of all individuals in the government. of the entire body ; and they form one of the loftiest and noblest embodiments of a high tone of feel- ing common to a very large number of ordinary, commonplace, undistinguished human beings.
Such a development of the letter in that widely scattered body of the Church was possible only through the greatly increased facilities for travel and intercourse. The Church showed its marvel- lous intuition and governing capacity by seizing this opportunity. In this, as in many other ways, it made itself really a rival to the Imperial adminis- tration. It did, and did better, what the Imperial policy was trying to do.