We’ve successfully finished Paul’s letters and are now in the homestretch. This week we explore letters from other early Church leaders.

Interestingly, both Hebrews and James are very Jewish works. While Hebrews is the only letter we have that is written by an anonymous author, we do know the primary audience consisted of first-century Jewish Christians living under persecution.

Similarly, James is another deeply Jewish book, and, besides the Gospels and Acts, James is the only other book in the New Testament that is not a letter. James would have been the first work in circulation amongst first-century churches. It’s a summary of sermons and messages that James gave while leading the church in Jerusalem. It was produced by someone who had been steeped in the stories of the Old Testament, especially the wisdom books.

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