September 8th, 2020 
Letters to Churches
The NT letters to churches were written to encourage, correct and generally teach the early church what it meant to be the church.
For two of the NT letters assigned (Galatians, Ephesians, James, 1 John), carefully reread the biblical text and the Introductory article in the New Oxford Annotated Bible. Then, based on those readings and your own observations, answer the questions below for each of the two letters you chose.
1. Name the letter and the recipient(s) and author of the letter (answer as list or bullet points is fine)
2. Identify the main themes of the letter (answer as list or bullet points is fine)
3. What does it mean to be the church* in this letter? Describe in detail and at length the characteristics, actions, attitudes, task(s) and role of the church in this letter. (answer in essay format)
4. What issues or problems addressed in this letter are relevant today? (answer in essay format)
5. What are the parallel situations in our world today? (answer in essay format)
6. How is the world today like or different than the historical world of your letter? (answer in essay format)
Posted in 