Abstract
Unfortunately, it is still true that (p. 2) ‘the Catholic Epistles have not traditionally received the attention they deserve, somewhat standing in the shadow of the Gospels and Paul’s letters.’ Darian R. Lockett’s regretful remark applies in particular to 2 Peter, Jude and 1-3 John. And this is all the more problematic, as all the seven letters Lockett deals with offer ‘theological and practical riches’ (p. 2). Consequently, Lockett intends to introduce the individual Catholic Letters according to their content and within their context and he wants to point out common topics, motifs, and, above all, the interrelations between the seven texts. Lockett, thus, regards the Catholic Letters as ‘a coherent collection’ (p. 6) and, moreover, as a canon within the canon.
In his monograph Lockett adheres to a clear structural pattern: after a very brief introduction (pp. 1-8), the next six chapters are dedicated to the Letter of James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2-3 John and Jude, and eventually a concluding chapter. The book comes with an index of modern author, a scripture index, a list of abbreviations and short acknowledgments. As usual James (pp. 9-50) and 1 Peter (pp. 51-94) receive most attention so that the chapters are not of even length with the treatment of 2-3 John as being the shortest (pp. 170-185).
Lockett structures his introduction according to a few guiding questions, which he answers rather shortly. It might be surprising that exactly the key issues, i.e., the notion that the Catholic Letters are to be regarded as a common corpus and the explanation of the importance of these seven writings, are treated rather shallowly and too brief. Lockett does not really present controversial positions, hardly enters into the discussion with differing hypotheses or attempts to supply full reasoning and/or evidence for his positions. For instance, he rightly refers to The Biblical Canon by Gallager and Meade for support (p. 3), but neglects manuscript evidence for certain collective constellations of the Catholic Letters also in relation to the Pauline Letters or to other New Testament texts. Be that as it may and, by taking into account Lockett’s overall conception ‘to complement one’s own reading of the Catholic Epistles’ (p. 6) and by realizing that the book is more or less nothing more than a presentation of answers to introductory questions (every chapter addresses ‘occasion and setting’, ‘structure’ and ‘outline’ and offers a narrative hermeneutical explanation of the text) with a focus on the interrelations between the seven letters, such a brevity and limitation is certainly both, pardonable and justified. The same may be true for the very subjectively rated recommendations for further reading and the two sorts of ‘boxes’ Lockett provides for his readers (‘Going Deeper’ sections and boxes with topics and themes that may interlink the Catholic Letters), which are just asservative.
However, taking the title under review here as an introductory workbook on the Catholic Epistles for teaching students or non-specialists, who are interested in these writings and do not have much knowledge of Greek and philology, this book will certainly serve its purpose. Due to the fluent way of writing and the quick approaches to key issues, it has the potential to attract more people to texts that are neither regarded as central, nor as being defining essential features of Christian faith. Besides, after having worked through the book, some readers might even be in the position to critically evaluate and challenge those aspects which Lockett points out as common traits of the Catholic Letters in every chapter and in his conclusions.