The author of the Epistle of Jude claims to be the brother of James. The only real candidate for his brother would be the author of the Epistle of James. Why would he say he was the brother of someone no one knew? If this is logical and true, then Jude must also be one of the Twelve. Many scholars would suggest there is no proof of this, but what kind of proof would be needed, or what proof would be accepted? No one really says, but everyone seems happy to create questions. Questions are good, if they lead to answers, but when the questions don’t lead anywhere, why not set the questions aside and simply accept what seems logically so in the context of its surrounding works?
Like each of the other general epistles, Jude was written to stem the tide of the great falling away, which had begun in the wake of the third and final persecution by the Jewish authorities from Jerusalem. Spies had been planted within the believing community, and with Paul sent to Rome in chains, the time seemed ripe to bring the churches in the Diaspora under the influence of the high priest in Jerusalem. So this was the time, to which Jude referred by saying: “…you should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
A Context for Jude’s Epistle:
The Study of the Epistle of Jude
- Jude, the Brother of James
- Jude and Peter
- Jude, the Apostle, to the Beloved of God
- Contend for the Faith Once Delivered
- Saved Out of Bondage Once and for All
- Who Are Jude’s Angels?
- They Kept Not Their First Estate
- Everlasting Chains of Darkness
- The Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah
- False Prophets and Dreamers of Dreams
- Who Is Michael the Archangel?
- Blasphemy Defiles One’s Walk with God
- Clouds of Dust and Wandering Stars
- Jude and the Book of Enoch
- Jude and the Mockers
- Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
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