Preaching from the Epistles

In this article, Andy Peck explores the challenges and the rich potential of preaching from the New Testament letters. Insightful, practical, and encouraging for preachers at every stage.

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Like hearing one end of a phone conversation

The first man who ever invited me to preach went to be with the Lord aged 97 recently. He was Church Secretary at the time in the church I grew up on the Isle of Wight, and was kind enough to say some nice things afterwards. I was 18 and hoped I had done OK. His words encouraged me to keep going. 

He wasn’t unusual in reading his Bible daily, but Dave Thomas would have readings twice a day, using The Living Bible in the evening to supplement his staple NIV used in the morning and he was a particular fan of the Epistles, a truth mentioned by one of his granddaughters at his thanksgiving service in Ferndown,  Dorset, where he and his wife had lived for some decades 

He would have enjoyed this latest issue.  Among the interesting elements of the reading and interpreting the Epistles is the fact that as many scholars have noted: ‘reading the Epistles is like hearing one side of a phone conversation.’ 

Where do we look?

In one sense we are encouraged to be good detectives in discerning what may have been going on, as we look at other parts of scripture, notably the book of Acts to interpret. But at times this is quite frustrating:  

For example 1 Corinthians 11 is a mystery to many as Paul seems to be contradicting things he says in other Epistles.  

‘A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of god; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.’ (11:7-10) 

The whole chapter seems to be anti-women even though much of Paul’s teaching and indeed activity promotes and supports women’s ministry. What does he mean by ‘because of the angels’? Doubtless this refers to teaching he had given, which the Corinthians had understood, but is unclear to us. 

In her book  ‘Women and Worship at Corinth’,  Lucy Peppiatt argues that Paul is interacting with a Corinthian view that is shared throughout 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. It is a brilliant explanation. It is commonly understood that Paul quotes from letters to him from the Corinthians and so maybe this extends to this chapter? 

Who is Paul speaking to?

But puzzles in this Epistle are not over. In 1 Corinthians 15 he says in verse 29, ‘Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?’ He doesn’t commend baptism for the dead, but who is doing baptism for the dead, and what do they think they are doing? 

This idea of an ‘interlocutor’ (someone Paul argues with) is believed to unlock our understanding of parts of Romans. It seems clear that Paul is quoting his opponents in Romans 6:1-2 ‘What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer.’ Clearly some, latching onto the grace Paul expresses in his Gospel have suggested that we can ‘go on sinning’. Paul refutes this.  

But is Paul also quoting others, and in particular ‘heretical teachers’ in the long section 1:18-3:20.  Douglas Campbell in his book, The Deliverance of God, suggests this long passage contradicts Paul’s central theology and so believing he is quoting opponents and arguing with them is the only way he makes sense. It’s an interesting view, but wouldn’t Paul have made this clearer had he intended this?  

Peter’s spirit riddle

It’s not just Paul that is occasionally unclear to us. In 1 Peter 3:19, Peter writes of Christ preaching to the ‘spirits in prison’, and this has also garnered considerable scholarly debate. 

Does this mean that Jesus was alive before his physical resurrection and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, or Jesus announced to rebellious angels after his death that their attempt to corrupt humans had failed or is this referring to The Spirit of Christ through prophets or through Noah, preaching to his contemporaries? 

Who are the ‘spirits in prison’? Are they fallen angels?  Are they the spirits of people who rejected Noah's preaching or are they earlier generations who ended up in the prison of judgment? 

Reading the Epistles is like hearing one end of a phone conversation, but we don’t always know who exactly is being addressed!  

I have of course deliberately selected the tricker verses. These are such a small percentage of Paul’s overall work, but what do we make of the fact that frankly ‘the scriptures are not always clear’? 

Rather than undermining the Bible, I think such verses , enhance  our sense of their genuineness. The Epistles express truth often from and to people who knew each other. If God had anticipated every tricky verse and passage and given footnotes, where would he have stopped?! The Epistles are like every genre found in the Bible, requiring appropriate interpretation and humility. If we struggle we simply add them to the pile of ‘not sure what this means’ and rejoice in the much that we can grasp. Praise God for the much that is clear and that we can rejoice in. 

David Thomas was not the least perturbed when he came across them in his devotionals. And you and I shouldn’t be either.  

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Andy Peck is sub-editor of Preach magazine.