Lesson 5: Introduction to Genre
NT Genres: Epistles
For many modern evangelicals, the NT epistles may be the most familiar portion of the Bible—even more so than the Gospels. Still, many readers do not feel competent to properly interpret these letters without first turning to a commentary. One significant cause of this dilemma is the typical approach to Bible reading: we read snippets of the Bible in search of “a truth for the day.” Many daily devotional guides facilitate this kind of reading by simply attaching a verse or two to a story or lesson. Consequently, we rarely get a clear picture of the themes, style, and emphases which the authors weave into their letters. By failing to see the forest, we run the serious risk of misinterpreting the trees.
Keys to Interpreting the Epistles:
- Read the whole letter.
- Take time to read and reread the whole letter in one sitting.
- Identify words and themes that run throughout the letter.
- Dig into the setting.
- Gather information from the letter itself, other epistles, and Acts.
- Look for information about the author, the audience, and the circumstances.
- Summarize the facts.
- Avoid speculation.
- Ask, how does the setting illuminate the author’s purpose and message?
- Exegete the introduction and conclusion.
- Important themes often arise in the introduction.
- Important themes often return in the conclusion.
- Trace the logic.
- Pay careful attention to the author’s logic and thought flow.
- Note important connector words like “for,” “therefore,” and “so that.”
- Consider how phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and sections relate to one another. (See our courses on arcing, bracketing, and phrasing.)
- Define words and phrases.
- Identify important words and phrases (repeated, emphasized, significant).
- Define key words and phrases by searching for how the author uses them in this and other epistles.
- Identify and dig into OT allusions and quotations.
- Pair indicatives and imperatives.
- NT letters root commands (imperatives) in gospel truth statements (indicatives).
- These indicatives provide the means, motivations, and anchors that support the commands.
- Take the time to relate commands to indicatives stated elsewhere in the letter.