The letters of the New Testament were written by the apostles and other leaders of the church as
a means of helping to “address a problem or deal with a situation” when they were not able to be
in person.1 These letters where the way the apostles and other leaders were able to help churches
while not being present and carried with them the authority of those who wrote them. Letters
from this time period often followed a convention or style which is present in many of the letters
of the New Testament. Generally letters included an introductory section, the main body of the
letter, and a final concluding section.2 Within the introductory section were the name of the
author of the letter, the name of those to whom the letter was sent, a manner of salutation, and a
prayer that was specific to those to whom the letter was written. The second section contained
the main reason why the letter was written. Finally, the conclusion of the letter varied. Since
these letters were often used by “early Church leaders to conduct their missionary work and
shepherd their flocks from a distance,” they were more lengthy than other ancient letters.3
While most letters of the New Testament utilize the form explained above, not all of them share
this format. For example:
The book of Hebrews does not give an author in the introductory section, or elsewhere
The book of James “is organized more like a collection of short sermons aimed at a
general audience”4
1 John does not include an opening section
When interpreting the New Testament letters, it is important that context be taken into account.
As expressed by Duvall and Hays, the letters were written in order to address specific concerns
at specific times, not as “exhaustive dictionaries of Christian doctrine.”5 These letters contain
writing which must be viewed with an understanding of the original cultural context in which the
letter is situated. To properly interpret any New Testament letter, the interpreter should first
understand what the letter meant to those to whom it was first written. As Klein, Blomberg, and
Hubbard Jr. express in Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, since the Bible was written by men
who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is important that we interpret their writings ensuring that
the meaning we give it “is the meaning those words would have conveyed to the readers at the
time they were written.”6 An understanding of the historical context surrounding the text is
important to reconstruct the original setting for the letter as best as possible.7 Once that is
understood, the interpreter should look for principles from the letter which are cross-cultural and
in keeping with the rest of the Scripture. Once these principles are found, the interpreter can
apply those principles to their cultural setting.
1 J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic,
2020), 260.
2 Ibid., 264.
3 Ibid., 259.
4 Ibid., 267.
5 Ibid., 260.
6 William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2017), 264.
7 Ibid., 268.
Bibliography
Duvall, J. Scott and J. Daniel Hays. Grasping God’s Word. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Academic, 2020.
Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Introduction to Biblical
Interpretation. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2017.
