early Christian works forming part of the New Testament and having an epistolary form; church tradition ascribes them to the Apostles.
The Epistles are addressed to Christian communities, to individuals, or to all Christians. They deal with questions of dogma, worship, and the organization of Christian communities. The authenticity, authorship, and dating of the Epistles are in dispute. They are dated between the second half of the first century and the middle of the second. Some of the Epistles are not considered authentic even by a number of theologians. Of the many apostolic epistles, only 21 are included in the New Testament—14 are ascribed to Paul, three to John, two to Peter, one to James, and one to Jude.