1 & 2 Peter and Jude

  The epistles of 1 & 2 Peter and Jude provide Christians with guidance on how to rightly respond to suffering, trials and persecution; provide instruction to church leaders on how to shepherd the congregations under their care; offer inspired teaching regarding God's intended consummation of history; and respond to those teachers who criticize the Christian doctrine presented by Jesus and His apostles.  In fact, it has been said of 2 Peter that few documents in theological literature contain such a depth of the Christian message and its ramification for history:  the source of “true knowledge;” inspiration, revelation, and inerrancy; creation, fall, restoration, and redemption; Christ as lord and the authority of His chosen apostles; and the three “ages” – or epochs – of earth’s history. The Introductory Studies work through key issues unique to these epistles.  Should 2 Peter even be in our New Testaments given its relatively weak external support versus its quite strong internal