Book Notice: Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John & Jude as Scripture

David R. Nienhuis & Robert W. Wall

Reading the Epistles of James, Peter, John & Jude as Scripture: The Shaping & Shape of A Canonical Collection
Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013.
Available at Amazon.com

People write about the theology of the  four gospels (tetraevangelium) and the Pauline corpus (Paulinium) so why not also the Catholic letters (Apostolos)? Glad to say that Nienhuis and Wall have a tackle at it in this book in a largely synchronic reading of the Catholic letters.

They argue that the Catholic Epistles (CE) represent a “distinctive and coherent witness alongside the Pauline corpus” (5). They lament that the CE are “offered up as the leftovers of the NT, an optional plate of ‘other writings’ to be consumed, should one desire, after the main course of Gospel and Paul” (8). Nienhuis and Wall aim to show that the CE “be read together as the interpenetrating parts of a coherent whole” (10).

In several places – and much like Jerome – they do not think the authorship of the CE is that important. They state: “The church’s discernment of the Spirit’s leading role in the production of the biblical canon is not predicated on the identity of a text’s author but on its effect in forming a congregation that is wise for salvation and mature for good works” (12).

They also argue that “the CE collection is revealed to be the piece de resistance that determined the ultimate norm of the NT canon. It is the final brushstroke of canonization, without which the masterwork of the NT would have been incomplete” (17-18).

A highlight of the book is also the introduction, short commentary, and theology of each of the CE too.