Epistle of Jude

The Epistle of Jude, often abbreviated to Judas, is the penultimate book in the New Testament and is attributed to Judas, the brother of James the Just. The epistle of Jude is the last of the "general" or "catholic" epistles.

Authorship
The author of the epistle gives his name as Judas and calls himself a servant of Jesus and brother of James. There is good evidence that Jude and James were brothers of Jesus although none of them refer to it as such in his letters. The epistle was written about AD 66 or AD 67. Some scholars question the authorship of Judas speculating it is a pesudepígrafe, but the evidence is strong in defense of Judas, the Lord's brother, was the author of this book. Eusebius, Origen and Clement of Alexandria respectful mention the Epistle.

Structure
a. Greetings (1-2)

b. The purpose of the epistle: the danger (3-4)

c. The dangerous man (5-16)


 * i. Apostasy is not new (5-7)


 * ii. Description of the Gnostic heretics (8-13)


 * iii. Prophecy of Enoch about the wicked (14-16)

d. Practical advice (17-23)

e. Blessing, Doxology (24-25)

Commentary
This epistle is addressed to all believers in the gospel. His goal seems to be to save the believers against the false teachers who had begun to pop in the Christian church. It is possible that one of the reasons for writing this epistle was the appearance, among Jude's readers, of an alarming heresy of immoral tendencies, perhaps the Gnosticism.

Ancient manuscripts
One of the oldest copies of the Epistle of Jude is preserved in Papyrus 72.