_I Peter_ has been somewhat severely handled in recent times, Harnach regarding it as the work of some unknown disciple of St. Paul. But the growing perception of a _rapprochement_ between the two great Apostles, which is seen in recent scholarship, points to the conclusion that St. Peter, who was evidently a man of a most impressionable nature, may not have felt himself above receiving influences from the great Apostle of the Gentiles; and it is not to be denied that there are features of the epistle which link it more closely with St. Peter's speeches in Acts than with the writings of St. Paul. On the other hand _2 Peter_ is the one book of the New Testament now almost universally treated as not genuine; it was the latest to be accepted in the primitive church.[52] [52] Still it is vindicated by Dr. Bigg, _International Commentary_. _James_ is regarded as a genuine work of the head of the Church at Jerusalem by its chief English commentator,[53] although most German and American scholars who have written about it recently assign it to a very late date.[54] [53] J. B. Mayor, _The Epistle of St. James_. [54] _E. g._, Pfleiderer, Holtzmann, Jülicher, Harnach, the last regarding it as a collection of sermon notes put together by some unknown James in the second century. But are not its very archaic features against this view? The _Epistles of John_ are now almost universally admitted to be the work of the author of the fourth gospel. Little can be said as to the _Epistle of Jude_ except that its free use of Apocryphal books has been clearly demonstrated. But, lastly, a flood of light has been thrown on the _Revelation_ by recent studies in Jewish Apocalyptic literature, and even in Babylonian mythology.[55] It has been shown that this mysterious book, which many had regarded as unique in literature, may be associated with a school of Jewish and Christian Apocalyptic writings from some of the former of which it draws its materials. Then, as the inquiry is pushed further back, some of the most remarkable imagery is traced through these Jewish writings to Babylonian legends. While this interesting process may help to account for the form of the book, it does not touch its essence and that marvelous inspiration by virtue of which it soars above all possible rivals and it is to us _the_ Apocalypt, the one book in which the Spirit of God unveils the springs and purposes of the providence of history. [55] As expounded by Gunkel, Bousset, and Charles. IV.--EXEGESIS