Smoodock's Blog

The epistles of Jude and 2Peter have many similarities, leading many scholars to assume one author copied the other, or they both have a common source for the similar material. However, this doesn’t have to be so, at least not in the manner that is assumed by the scholars and those who are influenced by their arguments. For example, if you are like most people you’ve never heard of the Ardennes Counteroffensive. It was the last major German offensive campaign to occur on the Western Front during World War II. Its better known name is The Battle of the Bulge! The popular name comes from the Western press who described the way the battle line curved inward on wartime news maps. While the correct military term was the Ardennes Counteroffensive, it is much more widely known in the West as The Battle of the Bulge.

Many books have been written about The Battle of the Bulge, and, although they use the name coined by the Western press, the same names for military men and for the places in which the campaign took place, no one accuses the authors of these books of copying the press releases about the campaign. What’s my point? Let’s suppose several leading disciples were at the same meeting that must have occurred in the first century AD just prior to the writing of the general epistles. One could expect that after the meeting these same folks would use similar terms to describe what the meeting was intended to address.

During the first century AD, the Jewish authorities used several methods to prevent the disciples of Jesus from broadcasting the Gospel. This is what the Mark of the Beast is all about in the Apocalypse. The business concerned was not world finance in the Roman Empire. Rather it pertained to who could and who could not conduct religious business—i.e. who could and who could not reach out to others in the name of the God of Israel. The Jewish authorities were adamant that no one but they could teach the Torah etc. to others.

We need to keep in mind that the only persecutors of the disciples of Jesus, prior to the Nero persecution (which was quite local) were the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem.[1] There were three major persecutions against liberal, moderate and conservative believers respectively. Stephen was a Hellenist Jew and a liberal believer, and the great persecutions of the Church began with his stoning in Acts 7. That phase ended a few years later (Acts 9:31), but it was resumed to include the moderate believers, which included the Apostles (Acts 12:1-3) cir. 42-43 AD. The conservatives under the leadership of James, the Lord’s brother, were still tolerated at Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Josephus records the killing James[2] (cir. 62-63 AD) just a few years prior to the Jews’ war with Rome. This was the beginning of the third and final persecution of Jesus’ disciples by Jewish authorities. Each persecution was begun, while a member of the Annas family officiated the high priesthood.

Peter mentions a very organized persecution that erupted in several Roman provinces that are a part of modern Turkey (1Peter 1:1, 6-7; 4:12).[3] All of what is known today as the catholic or general epistles were written about this time. James wrote to the Diaspora (James 1:1), which is probably the same area to which Peter wrote, as did Jude. The epistles attributed to John don’t mention the author’s name, perhaps to keep his identity secret from his enemies. James was murdered probably not long after he wrote his epistle, and Peter was martyred not long afterward as well. We know nothing of Jude, but the anonymous Elder, who was probably well known by insiders was able to hide his identity from his enemies, at least for awhile, by using that title.

What I’m saying is that there was a very dangerous spiritual battle going on, and James, Peter, John and Jude wrote to believers to warn them of what was occurring. Common terms would have been used, especially if all four disciples met together to plan what they needed to do. Being in such close relationship with one another, some may have been apt to use common terms to address a common problem. So, we can probably say, since all the epistles were written near the same time, and there probably was a meeting wherein it was decided by the four what they needed to do, even a probable list of topics to be covered generally in their respective epistles, common words and subject matter may have been used by Peter and Jude. Seeing things in this context, it doesn’t mean one had to copy the other. It simply means the common content owes itself to a common and very dangerous threat to the Church.

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[1] I’m referring to organized persecution efforts that often ended in death. Obviously, gentiles throughout the Empire persecuted believers in the sense that life was uncomfortable, perhaps believers were abused physically etc. but by and large most gentiles were satisfied in humiliating believers, not tracking them down in order to slay them.

[2] Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1

[3] See my study in first Peter: The Persecution in Asia Minor.