Epistle of Jude
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The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the New Testament and of the Christian Bible. The Epistle of Jude claims authorship by Jude, identified as a servant of Jesus and brother of James (and possibly Jesus), though there is scholarly debate about his exact identity, literacy, and the letter’s date—most likely written in the late first century, with some considering it pseudonymous.
Jude urges believers to defend the faith against false teachers who distort Christ’s grace and warns of their destructive consequences by recalling examples of divine judgment on the unbelieving and rebellious. He encourages steadfastness in God’s love despite scoffers, uses vivid imagery to describe these opponents, and supports his message by quoting the Book of Enoch. The Epistle of Jude references both canonical books like Zechariah and non-canonical works such as the Book of Enoch and the Assumption of Moses, indicating its author’s familiarity with a range of writings. The Epistle of Jude condemns vague opponents—variously interpreted as rebellious leaders, heretics rejecting divine or ecclesiastical authority, proto-Gnostics, or critics of Pauline teachings—but their exact identity remains uncertain due to the epistle’s ambiguous and limited descriptions. The Epistle of Jude, a brief, combative, and impassioned letter of 25 verses likely intended as a circular letter to Jewish Christians familiar with Hebrew Bible and Enochian references. It concludes with a doxology.
The one aspect of the potential ideology discussed in the letter is that these opponents denigrate angels and their role. If this was indeed a part of the ideology of this group the author opposed, then the epistle is possibly a counterpoint to the Epistle to the Colossians. Colossians condemns those who give angels undue prominence and worship them; this implies the two letters might be part of an early Christian debate on Christian angelology. The phrase “heap abuse on celestial beings” may reflect early Christian tensions between more Jewish-aligned figures like James and Jude and the Pauline tradition, which emphasized believers’ authority over angels and rejected strict adherence to Jewish law.
Many scholars believe that the strong similarities between Jude and 2 Peter—particularly in 2 Peter 2 and Jude 4–18—indicate that one borrowed from the other or both used a common source, with most favoring Jude as the earlier text. The Epistle of Jude was disputed but gradually accepted as canonical by most churches by the late second century, despite early doubts about its authorship and content due to its rare citation and use of apocryphal sources. Its formal inclusion in the New Testament canon was solidified by the late fourth century.