As to its destination, the salutation is quite general. From this fact some critics have deduced the conclusion that the Ep. is a circular letter (so Ewald), others that the letter-form is purely arti- ficial (so Jiilicher, Deissmann, Bibelstudien, p. 244). But although the destination is not named in the salutation, the situation with which the letter deals is too concrete to be universally applicable.
A brief examination of the evidence which the letter supplies as to the condition of its intended readers will supply a clue^probable, not certain — to their identification. (1) The doctrine of Qod'a grace had been taught among them (v.*). They were probably, therefore, men among whom St. Paul had worked. (2) They had received oral instruction from the apostles generally (v."). Tliey probably, therefore, lived at no great distance from Jerusalem. (3) They were in danger of being leavened by certain false brethren, against whom the Ep. is designed to warn them. What was the character of these false brethren ? (a) There is nothing in the Ep. to lead to the supposition that they were teachers, or that their error was doctrinal ; (/3) they were grossly immoral in lite.
JUDE, EPISTLE OF
JUDE, EPISTLE OF
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TV.*- '■ ">'• (BaXaoV) "■ '■" ; (7) they were essentially offe/Sffs, — wholly destitute of godly fear, — and in (larticular they profaned the d^dTrai (v.'-) and the associated Eucharist by their reckless participation (avvfvwx. atpdfiws ; of. 1 Co 11"") and their selfish greed {iawoit iroi^ali'oiTet ; cf. 1 Co !!''"''■); (5) in word and deed they were insubordinate against divinely constituted authority,* \t.»- '»• " {Kop4) " {yoYytaTal) ; (e) they fomented schisms, v."; (f) they practically perverted the doctrine of grace, v.* (cf. C.'a". 5", Ko o'- ").
All these points (except the last) have parallels in St. Paul's picture of the Corinthian Church. The same dangers from pagan associations and sur- roundings are emphasized also in Ac IS-"- **, 1 Th 4'-», Ko 16""-, Ph 3»- ""■, Eph 4"«; Rev 2'^- ^ 3«, and again in the Didachf. (lii. 3, 6). The men, therefore, against whom St. Jude warns his readers appear to have brought the vices and the unchas- tened selfishness of paganism within the Christian body. The Church, accordingly, to which the letter is addressed was, it would seem, predominantly a Gentile Church. This is confirmed by an inciden- tal phra.se, which yet has a con.spicuous jilace in the Ep. — irepl T^j Kotr^j ritiwv ffdrrrjpias (v.^). Jude writes as a Hebrew Christian to Gentile Christians. The Church which best fulfils these conditions is the Church in the Syrian Avtioch (cf. Be3'schlag, Neri- test. Theol. ii. p. 484), where St. Paul taught early and late in his missionary career, a Cliurch in constant comniiiTiiration with the Church at Jer- u.salem (r.rj. Ac 15', Gal 2"), visited, as we learn incidcntaliy, by one of the older apostles (Gal 2"), and exposed to the same dangers from heathenism as the Cliurch at Corinth. It is of course quite possible that the Ep., with its general salutation, was intended to be circulated among a group of Churches connected with Antioch (cf. Ac 1.5^).
It is not hard to conjecture the circumstances under w/iirh the letter, such being its scope and such its probable <lestination, was written. We may su|ipose that members of the Church of Anti- och came to Jerusalem with news that the leaven of *eatlien lawle.ssness was sjireading there. St. Juue, one of the original 'elders' of the mother Church, and therefore now (especially if St. James was dead) in a position of peculiar authority, feels the gravity of the occasion, the danger attend- ing a ]ierversion of St. I'aul's doctrine of grace, as St. James had realized that involved in the perversion of the true doctrine of faith. The messengers are returning. St. Jurle wouhl glailly have sent by them a lett<!r dealing with the bb'ss. ings of salvation common to Hebrew and (ientile Christians alike. The crisis, however, of which he has heard forces him to narrow his subject to an earnest appeal that, in the present accentuation of the perils which were inseparable from the jwisition of a Gentile Church, they would ]ireserve tlie purity of the faith in matters of life and conduct.
7. Summary of tiik Epistle. — A necessarily brief paraphrase will bring out the connexion of thouglit.
The salutation of .lude (v."-). The treacherouB entrance into your Church of certain depravers of God's grare iu Christ and practical di^niers of Jesus a* Lord, forve me to make my letter a simjile <all to you to contend for the one faith (v."). 1 need only remind you of the ancient examples of the danger of faithlessness and lleshly sin — Israel (the primary type of the Christian society), the angels who fell, and (like these last in sin and punish- ment) the Cities of the I'lain (vv.»-'). Despite
* In r.' mufrrrrm (c(. Oiilarhf Itr. 1^ !• •Ulnwl : It la thi; prim-tple of aiithorily In kphithI which tnf y rv]r*-t«l The woni S«f«( protwilily iMtliitjt U> a«'tiiikl nlll.-fi* of RUlhonty In tin' Church (cl. t'lfin. Al. Strtnix. vl. 13, l>. 7»J, i>«j(r«r«x*i'*' *• »^#3w»mm» aara v^MMn;> da{«t<' 2*i« yA^ i»im iimfi^\
such examples, these men, ever j'ielding to their own wayward fancies, are guilty both of llohlj' sin and of rebellion. They deny the principle of authority; they malign tliose set to rule. Lnlike the archangel in his controversy with the devil, they do not fear to malign even the dread realities of authority which are too high for their compre- hension, while in the low region of their own animal instincts they corrupt them.selves (vv.*"'"). Scrip- ture (v.") and nature (v.'-'-) prefigure their mani- fold sins and their doom. Nay, tliey are the true subject of the ancient patriarch's prophecy (v."'). Be not as they are. I'hey are unrestful-— discon- tented, selfish, boastful, intriguing flatterers. Do yoxi be calm, remembering that the apostles, when they visited you, used to tell you that such men would arise (vv."-"). Again, these men, having only natural aims, cause divisions. Do you buUd up your society on the foundation of the faith, the Spirit helping j'our prayers, the love of the Father being your protection, the final mercy of Jesus Christ being your hope (vv. '*■■"). Such is your duty to yourselves. What is it to these men ? Towards some, still wavering, cherish a hopeful compassion ; others you must try to save by desperate eti'ort ; towards others you can only feel a compassion paralyzed by fear of contamination (v.''"-). To God the Father, who can preserve you from these snares, and finally place you in His own presence untainted and exultant, to Him through the mediation of Jesus Christ be glory for ever (v."').