In the desire to understand epistles it is very important to understand the literary and historical context so that they can be appropriately interpreted. The literary content in epistles are in form of letters. These letters consisted of six different parts. The name of the writer, the name of the recipient, a greeting, prayer wish, the body, and a final greeting or farewell(Fee pg. 56,57). These letters were on occasion, and brought about by special circumstances. He answers specific questions, or addresses certain behavior.

The historical context of epistles need to be looked at in a different way. It is very important to know the background of Corinth, so a bible dictionary may be needed. These letters must be read in one sitting. It must be reread over again without speculation or educated guesses. These letters were meant only for the person to whom they were addressed. Since these letters were meant for the people to whom they were addressed, we cannot ever fully interpret their meaning(Fee Pg 74). We still need to try to understand the literary and historical context in which the letter was written. We must realize that though the times are different, the answer is still the same, because God's word stands the test of time and lives forever. Through epistles Paul answers questions that churches have. He also uses the letters as a means to rebuke them when they are doing wrong. It is deceptive that epistles are easily understood, but if we read them carefully and get the history on, we can get a good understanding.