General epistles

  • Matthew
  • Markus
  • Luke
  • John
  • Roman
  • 1 Corinthians
  • 2 Corinthians
  • Galatians
  • Ephesians
  • Philippians
  • Colossians
  • 1 Thessalonians
  • 2 Thessalonians
  • 1 Timothy
  • 2 Timothy
  • Titus
  • Philemon
  • Hebrew
  • Epistle of James
  • 1 Peter
  • 2 Peter
  • 1 John
  • 2 John
  • 3 John
  • Judas

The Catholic Epistles of the New Testament, the first and the second Epistle of Peter, the Epistle of James, the three Epistles of John and Jude are meant.

The names of the letters as Catholic (Greek καθολικός Catholicos "general" ) goes back to the fact that the specification of the addressee " general " than in the directed to individual communities or individuals letters of the apostle Paul. Although the Christians of five regions are named as recipients about the 1st Letter of Peter, but it is no short term could form such as the Romans. Only the third of the letters of John calls a single recipient by name, namely, Gaius. The term " Catholic letters " soon joined with the thought that these letters were addressed to the whole Church.

The Catholic Epistles are listed in all Christian Bibles in immediate succession, albeit in varying order. The old Greek church she arranged a before Paul's letters, the Slavic Orthodox churches handle the same today; in most churches today, including today's Greek Orthodox Church, they come to Paul's letters.

In early manuscripts of the Bible that are not yet contained the entire New Testament in a single document, the Catholic letters were usually housed with the book of Acts together in one manuscript. Such a manuscript is referred to in the biblical tradition as science Corpus Apostolicum.

The term " Catholic Letters" is used since the third century, for example, by Dionysius of Alexandria, Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea.

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