The study of the so-called General or Catholic Epistles has been hampered, argues Ben Witherington, by the failure to properly discern their genre. Several of these "letters" are much better understood as homilies--although, like the rest of the New Testament, they are situation specific. In this first of three volumes, Witherington extends his innovative socio-rhetorical analysis of New Testament books to the latter-Pauline and non-Pauline corpora, placing each text within its socioreligiousmilieu and illuminating the particular issues that confronted each congregation as well as the rhetorical strategies employed by each author in addressing those issues.Throughout, Witherington shows his thorough knowledge of recent literature on these texts and focuses his attention on the unique insights brought about through socio-rhetorical analysis that either reinforce or correct those gleaned from other approaches. Strikingly, based on his rhetorical analysis of the Pastorals, he makes the case for Luke as Paul's amanuensis for these letters. He also makes a strenuous argument against New Testament pseudepigrapha. "Bridging the Horizons" sections point to the relevance of the text for believers today, making this volume of special value to pastors and general readers as well as to students and scholars.

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He has written over forty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, bothof which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. His books also include The Indelible Image, Women and the Genesis of Christianity, The Gospel Code, A Week in the Life of Corinth, and commentaries on the entire New Testament.