I was once told: “one of the characteristics of a scholar seems to be a love for questions and the absolute abhorrence for answers.” With all due respect, that is probably an overstatement and, perhaps, a somewhat biased observation. That said, Jude was considered one of the disputed books of the Bible. Reasons offered include its quoting the Jewish apocryphal book, Enoch, its brevity, its mention of the apostles (verse-17), as though they were no longer living, and its apparent similarity to Peter’s second epistle! I don’t wish to sound over simplistic, but perhaps I am. Nevertheless, why **must** Jude be non-canonical for any of these reasons? Moreover, are the reasons offered accurate? For example, is Jude implying the Apostles are no longer alive? How should the verse be understood, if the author of the epistle is, in fact, one of the Apostles? If I quoted a kind of truism from a work of fiction, would that mean what I am writing couldn’t be non-fiction? I believe men are often prone to nitpick, and sometimes this includes the scholars.
The author of the Epistle of Jude introduces himself as the servant of Jesus, the Messiah, and the brother of James (Jude 1:1). Nevertheless, we need to ask ourselves which James did the author intend for us to take as his brother? Could it have been James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Mark 4:21; Acts 12:2)? Might this James be the son of Joseph and Mary (Mark 6:3)? Finally, could he be the other Apostle named James, who is always listed with Jude Thaddeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15-16; Acts 1:13)?
It certainly couldn’t have been James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John. As far as we know James and John were the only sons of Zebedee. Moreover, how widely known could this James have been, if he was slain 20 years prior to Jude’s letter? Could Jude’s James be the James mentioned in Mark 6:3, which would make both of them the half-brothers of Jesus? I suppose this could be the same James, but it would be odd to say “James, my brother” but not acknowledge Jesus as such. Why would Jude state his case that way, when he could have simply stated something like: “Jude the servant of Jesus to them that are sanctified by God, the Father…” just as James, his brother, did, when he wrote his own epistle (James 1:1)? Moreover, Jesus’ family after the flesh were unbelievers prior to his resurrection (John 7:2-5; Acts 1:14), and nothing is ever said of them being evangelists. So, how could that James have been known to Jude’s readers?
Peter, Philip and James the son of Alphaeus, were leading Apostles,[1] each heading one of three small groups of four Apostles each among the Twelve. So this James would have been quite well known among believers, simply because of his position within the Twelve. Jude is always listed as his brother, although some critics say he was James’ son, not his brother. Nevertheless, this is simply a guess. There simply isn’t a compelling reason to believe the two weren’t brothers.
Finally, we need to ask ourselves: did the author of the Epistle of Jude really intended to identify himself by saying he was James’ brother? If so, then we need to look for a well known James, and the only well known James living at the time of Jude’s epistle was James, the Less, an Apostle of Jesus and the writer of the Epistle of James! If we put any stock in what Jesus says, we need to remember that he told his disciples, who had been with him from the beginning of his ministry, that they would be his witnesses to the whole world as that pertained to what he said and did (John 15:27). Therefore, both the authors of the epistles of Jude and James would have had to have been among his original disciples. So, if this is logical and true, despite the doubts of many scholars, James, the Apostle and author of the Epistle of James, is the only real candidate for being the brother of the author of the Epistle of Jude (Jude 1:1).
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[1] See my earlier study: One Spirit One Body.
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