Letters to the Church: A Survey of Hebrews and the General Epistles

Written by Karen H. Jobes Reviewed By Mariam J. Kamell

Karen Jobes's introduction to Hebrews and the General Epistles begins with a short introduction, “How to Use This Book,” with directions for both students and professors. That sort of user-friendliness marks the entire book, which she clearly wrote as a classroom tool. I mean that as a compliment, for it takes great awareness and experience to write a book of this size that is neither a commentary nor simply a recapitulation of other NT introductions. From its welcome to its concluding lexicon of all the boldface terms throughout the text and its bibliographies as the end of each chapter, this book is a lesson in pedagogy by an experienced professor.

Following a twenty-page general introduction, the book is divided into four parts: (1) four chapters on Hebrews; (2) four chapters on “Letters from Jesus' Brothers,” namely, three chapters on James and one on Jude; (3) the Petrine correspondence, with a similar divide of three chapters on 1 Peter and one on 2 Peter; and (4) two chapters on the “Letters from John.” These divisions alone bear witness to Professor Jobes' more conservative position, from assuming authorship by the Lord's brothers for James and Jude, to retaining the companionship of 1 and 2 Peter. These moves, however, do not mean a blind pedagogy, but with her usual care and clarity, Jobes introduces the issues and the history of scholarship on these issues. For instance, she allows regarding 2 Peter that “unless further historical evidence comes to light, it is unlikely that we will ever settle these issues with great certainty” (p. 367). Such academic humility is refreshing and forces the reader to take Jobes's work with great seriousness, for where she states a conclusion, it is on the basis of careful work.

The book is laid out well, from its wide margins useful for note-taking to its clear sectional divides and summaries. Perhaps one of the highlights of the book is the plethora of illustrations, photographs, maps, and break-out boxes with quotes, further definitions, or clarifications. Nearly every page has something of interest, whether a discussion of the Apostles' Creed, and in particular the line “he descended into hell,” in the section on 1 Pet 3:18-22, to maps describing the ministry areas of Peter or John, to medieval paintings illustrating the “tree of vices” based on the seven deadly sins in a discussion on perfection and holiness in Hebrews. Likewise there are short quotes by other authors-and even pop singers-scattered throughout the margins, and breakout boxes with longer quotes, such as John Walton on what the Sabbath means for Christians today (p. 130), or showing (somewhat cheekily) how when Luther wrote on Romans, he defined “saving faith” exactly as James did (p. 221). All of these various elements serve to hold the attention of the distracted student while also revealing the breadth of Jobes's knowledge.

To take a brief look at one section, her section on James (a surprising three chapters, which warms this James scholar's heart!) divides perhaps not into the most expected categories. Reasonably the first of her three chapters asks the traditional questions of authorship, genre, themes, canonicity, and structure. She refuses, however, to allow the traditional (Pauline)questions posed James to force her hand regarding the major themes. Rightly, if unusually, her second chapter after the introductory questions examines the Christology of James, revealing James as a profoundly Christian document dependent upon the teaching of Jesus. She acknowledges that Q may have been a resource for James but refuses to assume Q-dependency, concluding, “James was expressing a form of Jesus' teaching that predates the Gospels and was therefore preserving an important early snapshot of Jesus' teaching” (p. 192). From Christology, she moves into a chapter on the “Royal Law,” under which she rightly includes her discussion of faith and works: unless one understands what James means by the “royal law of freedom,” one is likely to fall into the misreading of the epistle that caught Luther. Jobes demonstrates that by reading James on its own terms, one is much less likely to misread it! This last chapter begins with extended discussions of ethics and the Greek Philosophers and of Jewish Wisdom-including a comparison chart with Proverbs, Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon. She introduces the discussion of faith and works in this context, beginning with a quotation of Jas 3:13, and she ends with a warning: “James' most challenging and countercultural exhortation, then and today, is the call to repent of the false values that a love for increasing wealth and possessions instills” (p. 231).

That brief look through her work on James reveals this book to be a combination of textbook introduction and biblical theology. Regarding each major question, she provides a model for students of working through the various critical issues and then drawing a conclusion. The result of many years of teaching, this book is a valuable addition to the oft-neglected books at the back of the Bible, and I hope there are many institutions that build the space in their curriculum for the course for which this text calls.


Mariam J. Kamell

Mariam J. Kamell
Regent College
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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