Epistle of Jude

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The brief Epistle of Jude is a book in the Christian New Testament canon.

1 Author and date
2 Style
3 Apocryphal references
4 Popular culture
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Author and date

The epistle is titled as written by "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James" (NIV), although that authorship is doubted by many scholars.

Most scholars, including consider the letter a pseudonymous work written between the end of the first secuntry and the the first quarter of the 2nd century, arguing from the references to the apostles (verse 1:17-18), tradition (1:3); the book's competent Greek style and the opposition to Gnosticism. However, this reasoning has not found universal acceptance and some scholars date it between 66 to 80.^[1]^[2]

The authorship was called into question when Origen first spoke of the doubts held by some—albeit not him. Eusebius classified it with the "disputed writings, the antilegomena,. On the other hand, the Muratorian canon included the letter. The letter was eventually accepted as part of the canon by the Church father Athanasius and the Synods of Laodicea (c. 363) and Carthage (397). Doubts regarding Jude's authenticity were revived at the time of the Protestant Reformation.

The debate has continued over the author's identity as the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. Many scholars have argued that since the author of that letter has not identified himself as an apostle and actually refers to the apostles as a third party, he cannot be identified with the Jude who is listed as one of the Twelve (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13; cf John 14:22). The person intended is most commonly identified as another Jude, named in the gospels among the relatives of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), and the James referred to as his brother James, to whom the Letter of James is attributed. Little is known of this Jude, which would explain the apparent need to identify him by reference to his better-known brother.^[1]

[edit] Style

The Epistle of Jude is a brief book of only a single chapter with 25 verses. It was composed as an encyclical letter—that is, one not directed to the members of one church in particular, but intended rather to be circulated and read in all churches. The form, as opposed to the earlier letters of Paul, suggests that the author knew Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians or even that the Pauline epistles had already been collected and were circulating when the text was written.

The wording and syntax of this epistle in its original Greek demonstrates that the author was capable and fluent. The epistle is addressed to Christians in general (1:1), and it warns them about the doctrine of certain errant teachers to which they were exposed. Examples of heterodox opinions that were circulating in the early 2nd century include Docetism, Marcionism, and Gnosticism.

The epistle's style is combative, impassioned, and rushed. Many examples of evildoers and warnings about their fates are given in rapid succession. The epithets contained in this writing are considered to be some of the strongest found in the New Testament.

The epistle concludes with a doxology, which is considered to be one of the highest in quality contained in the Bible.

The fact that the Epistle of Jude is notably similar to Second Epistle of Peter indicates the possibility that the writing of one of the epistles was influenced by the content of other. Because this epistle is much shorter than 2 Peter, and due to various stylistic details, the scholarly consensus is that Jude was the source for the similar passages of 2 Peter.

[edit] Apocryphal references

The book of Jude contains information that is elsewhere found only in apocryphal writings: The dispute between Michael the Archangel and the devil about the body of Moses (Jude 1:9) can be found in the Assumption of Moses, while the referenced prophecy of the antediluvian patriarch Enoch (Jude 1:14-15) is included in the Book of Enoch ^[3] Some authors object against the letter because of these references.

[edit] Popular culture

The song "Wandering Star" from the Portishead album Dummy has lyrics derived from verse 13 of the epistle.

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/jude/jude.htm
^ Norman Perrin, The New Testament: An Introduction, p. 260
^ Note that the Book of Enoch is not considered canonical by any Christian church but the Ethiopian Orthodox church.