Revised by Matthew L. Skinner, 10/23
The Letter of Jude was accepted by many as Christian Scripture relatively early. The early church considered it to have been authored by the brother of James, Jesus’ brother or half-brother. The book is included in the Muratorian CanonA canon is a general law or principle by which something is judged. The body of literature in the Old and New Testaments is accepted by most Christians as being canonical (that is, authentic and authoritative) for them. (a late second-century document that names and discusses Christian writings deemed authoritative by some) and was acknowledged by several influential Christian authors during the second and third centuries, including Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. Points of affinity have been suggested between Jude and writers as varied as Athenagoras of Athens (late-second century), Polycarp (mid-second century), and the author of the EpistleAn epistle, simply, is a letter or message. As many as twenty-one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are epistles, letters written to churches or persons for instruction, pastoral care, or discipline. of Barnabas (late-first or early-second century). The Letter of Jude has gone through periods of considerable neglect in modern times, but it is not difficult to see why (with its sense of vivid urgency) it was highly valued by some in the early church.
There is some overlap between this book and 2 Peter, which is commonly thought to have been written later, employing material and perspectives from Jude.
