Y Not I

Something that I have been thinking about often enough lately to now bring before you in a post is the idea of that the content can be different based upon to whom the content is written to. Very often when referring to Old Testament (Tanakh) Christian might be led to say that certain passages are speaking not to them, but to the Jews of the time. In other words the message was intended for a different audience and the Christian believers can read it, but should not think it to be a direct command to them. This, of course is very convenient since the Tanakh contains many laws, regulations and commands.

Now, I am not necessarily saying that this is something that is wrong, however I am curious as to why this practice does not really continue with the books of the New Testament (Brit Hadashah)? Looking at the books, many of them are addressed to certain people or peoples. Others historically we know that there was an intended audience. Lets go through them and see what we can find.

• Matthew – Written for a Jewish audience (via What Do The Scriptures Say? site)
• Mark – Written for a Roman audience (via What Do The Scriptures Say? site)
• Luke – Theophilus
• John – Appears to have been written as a gospel aimed at a universal audience (via What Do The Scriptures Say? site)
• Acts – Theophilus
• Romans – To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints
• 1 Corinthians – To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours
• 2 Corinthians – To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia
• Galatians – To the churches of Galatia
• Ephesians – To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus
• Philippians – To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons
• Colossians – To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae
• 1 Thessalonians – To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
• 2 Thessalonians – To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
• 1 Timothy – To Timothy, my true child in the faith (Timothy’s mother was a Jewess, his father a Greek)
• 2 Timothy – To Timothy, my beloved child
• Titus – To Titus, my true child in a common faith (Titus was of Greek ancestry)
• Philemon – To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house
• Hebrews – Addressed to Jewish Christians of the first century
• James – To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion
• 1 Peter – To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia
• 2 Peter – To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ
• 1 John
• 2 John – To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth
• 3 John – To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth
• Jude – To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ
• Revelation – To the seven churches that are in Asia

Just studying this has been interesting, informative and a blessing. Now could it be possible that books that were written to Jew or Jewish believers might have a certain application to Jewish believers and not necessarily the same exact application for non-Jewish believers, just as the Tanakh portions? And the same for parts written expressively toward non Jews. Possibly it is telling them things that are not necessarily true for Jewish believers. Once again this does not mean that there is not wisdom that everyone can get from the Scripture, just that the commands, regulations, etc. might be just for the group it was written to. I am not necessarily advocating this idea, but proposing it. I think the reason many Christians do not do this is because they look at all Christians as exactly the same, something I just do not see. I do not know why so many of these books have the call written out very plainly to certain groups of believers if all believers are exactly the same. Why, for example would James have written “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion” if the same words were for Jews and non-Jews equally and in the exact same manner. If I wrote a letter to fellow musicians encouraging them to practice their instruments, would that mean that I want everyone that might read the letter to practice an instrument? Surely non-musicians might get a lesson about how practicing a craft is a good thing and could be encouraged, but to take the letter and say that it means we all need to play instruments seems a bit far fetched to me. Once again, James could have written it to all believers everywhere. Certainly we know that all of Scripture is there for a reason and it is all useful for instruction, so possibly God had these introductions of the audience to give us insight into the application of the instructions contained and to whom should pay close attention to the exact details and to whom should get a broader lesson from the words.

Once again just a theory. I would certainly be interested in seeing your opinions. Certainly I know many might reject this theory and I might as well ultimately. Then again I might accept it and use it as a basis for examining Scripture, especially Brit Hadashah Scripture (since it seems quite natural to look at Tanakh Scripture this way).

B”H