New Century Bible Commentary: James, Jude, 2 Peter (The New Century Bible Commentary Series)

The Letter of James demonstrates a stream of the earliest Christian thinking which appears nowhere else in the New Testament. In particular, it presents a special opportunity to study the distinctive character of this early teaching and its differences from Hellenistic moralism. The Letter of Jude and the so-called Second Letter of Peter are primary examples of thought in the sub-apostolic Church. This was how Christianity appeared after the flame of Paul had died down, and how the leaders of the early Church struggled to maintain the continuity of the Christian tradition.This commentary uses many sources to authenticate the dates of the writing of these letters and concludes that the Letter of James was written when Paul was at the height of his powers, and the Letter of Jude and the Second Letter of Peter after the close of the first century.