In the historical context, the word catholic probably signified that the letters were addressed to the general church, and not to specific, separate congregations or persons, as with the Pauline epistles.
[citation needed] Some historians therefore think that the label catholic was originally applied to just 1 John, and expanded to all other non-Pauline epistles later on.
There are several different traditional Christian interpretations of other New Testament texts which mention a James, brother of Jesus.
However, most modern scholars tend to reject this line of reasoning, since the author himself does not indicate any familial relationship with Jesus.
A similar problem presents itself with the Epistle of Jude (Ἰούδας Ioudas): the writer names himself a brother of James (ἀδελφὸς δὲ Ἰακώβου adelphos de Iakóbou), but it is not clear which James is meant.