The book of James is only 5 chapters long but it is one of the most beautiful books in Scripture. Unfortunately, his writing style is so choppy and disorganized that it’s easy to lose his train of thought, and it can come across as a bunch of random pontificating.

 

In this class we take a completely new approach. We gather everything James has to say about Faith, Perseverance, and Humility by theme and by topic. Through this lens his message is breathtaking. James echoes the words of Jesus as he paints a picture of our merciful, compassionate God who calls us out of our consumerism and jealousy into a life of peace and righteousness.

We take this time to trace the path of Simon Peter, a stable, successful businessman in partnership with another family as they manage boats and hired hands as commercial fishermen on the Sea of Galilee.

 

We follow as his life is utterly upended by Jesus. We watch as Peter rises to leadership among the disciples and then has his faith shaken to the core. It is a remarkable journey.

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We cover:

• Matthew 16:13-17; 17:24-27; 26:30-56; 28:16-20

• Mark 1:20, 29-31; 8:27-33; 9:2-9; 14:26-52; 16:1-8

• Luke 5:7-10; 9:18-20; 22:8, 31-53; 24:9-53

• John 1:35-42; 13:3-38; 18:1-11; 20:1-10; 20:19-21:19; 21:25

• 1Corinthians 15:5

We finish up the story of Peter’s life and begin our look at 1 Peter, a letter he wrote from Rome (“Babylon”) to believers in exile from Jerusalem who are undergoing persecution.

 

Peter uses a lot of words like “elect” and “chosen” and talks about destiny. He encourages the believers to remember that God knows where they are and who they are. He reminds them of the salvation that is on the way, and the healing that is now.

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We cover 

• 1Peter 1:1 thru 2:8

• 1Peter 5:12-14

 

and lots more passages about Peter's life (see full list on the Full Index of Classes above)

We finish 1 Peter today. About half of this part of the letter talks about how to act as a believer. It includes the typical household code of the time: slaves obey your masters, wives obey your husbands, and husbands treat your wives well.

 

One really interesting part is when Peter brings in material from the pseudepigraphal letter of 1 Enoch. It was a very famous, pious treatise in which Enoch (the father of Methuselah, way back in Genesis) is taken on a grand tour of the universe. Of course, Enoch couldn’t possibly have written the book or done the things in it because he’d been taken from this life thousands of years before the book was written.

 

We take a close look at how Peter incorporates this material and make a good stab at separating the cultural wrapping paper from the more enduring gift--Peter’s understanding of God’s mercy.

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We cover:

• Isaiah 53:4-6;

• 1Peter 2:9 thru 5:11

• 2Peter 2:4

• Jude 6

 

With reference to 1 Enoch which is not in the Bible

2 Peter and Jude are pretty much carbon copies of each other so we cover them together. Then we move on to 1 John. 2 John is a repeat and 3 John is basically a personal letter with no new theology, so we don’t cover them.

 

1 John, however, is a letter of encouragement. It’s definitely written in the Johannine tradition and uses terms that are unique to John and his followers. It’s directed at believers who are feeling a little shook up by teachers who pull them this way and that. They don’t know who they should believe.

 

The author of 1 John gives them tips for staying grounded and being confident as Christians and beloved children of God.

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Note: 2 John is a repeat of material in 1 John. 3 John is a personal letter with no new theology in it. Each are only a page long so we do not cover them in class.