95 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
95 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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<html><head>
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<script src="../../../js/basepath.js"></script>
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<script src="./js/nav.js"></script>
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<script src="./js/MainHeader.js"></script>
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<style>
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li, p {line-height:150%;}
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</style>
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<div class="head">Executable Outlines</div>
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<div class="subhead">Introduction to Jude</div>
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<div class="main-just"><div class="pad30">
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">INTRODUCTION TO JUDE</div>
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<p>In several passages throughout the New Testament, we find serious warnings about impending apostasy…</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Jesus warned that false prophets would arise, the love of many would grow cold, and only those who endure to the end would be saved - <a id="si_1" onclick="return mV('Mat',24,'11-13');">Mat 24:11-13</a></li>
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<li>Paul foretold of many disciples being drawn away - <a id="si_2" onclick="return mV('Act',20,'29-30');">Act 20:29-30</a></li>
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<li>Peter warned about the rise of false teachers, and how many would follow their destructive ways - <a id="si_3" onclick="return mV('2Pe',2,'1-3');">2Pe 2:1-3</a></li>
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</ul>
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<p>By the time the epistles of John and Jude were written, the danger was no longer pending, it was very much in existence…</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Antichrists were present, and false prophets were in the world - <a id="si_4" onclick="return mV('1Jo',2,18);">1Jo 2:18</a>; <a id="si_5" onclick="return mV('1Jo',4,1);">4:1</a>; <a id="si_6" onclick="return mV('2Jo',1,7);">2Jo 1:7</a></li>
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<li>Jude was forced to change his original purpose to deal with the crisis - <a id="si_7" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'3-4');">Jde 1:3-4</a></li>
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</ul>
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<p>If the danger of apostasy was already present in the 1st century A.D., we should not be surprised that the danger exists in the 21st century. We would do well to pay close heed to those epistles written to tell us how to deal with apostasy, and that makes <b>The Epistle of Jude</b> especially relevant.</p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">AUTHOR</div>
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<p><b>Jude</b>, as stated in the salutation (<a id="si_8" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,1);">Jde 1:1</a>). That he does not identify himself as an apostle, and appears to distinguish himself from the apostles (<a id="si_9" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,17);">Jde 1:17</a>), suggests he was not the apostle Jude (cf. <a id="si_10" onclick="return mV('Luk',6,16);">Luk 6:16</a>; <a id="si_11" onclick="return mV('Act',1,13);">Act 1:13</a>). His self-identification as "the brother of James" leads many to believe the author to be Judas, brother of James and also of the Lord Jesus (cf. <a id="si_12" onclick="return mV('Mat',13,55);">Mat 13:55</a>). Like James, Jude chose not to accentuate his physical relation to Jesus, but his spiritual one ("a bondservant of Jesus Christ," cf. <a id="si_13" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,1);">Jde 1:1</a>; <a id="si_14" onclick="return mV('Jas',1,1);">Jas 1:1</a>).</p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">RECIPIENTS</div>
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<p>The letter is addressed "to those who are called" (<a id="si_15" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,1);">Jde 1:1</a>) without any specific designation as to who they were or where they lived. The references to Old Testament incidents and extra-biblical sources (cf. <a id="si_16" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'5-7');">Jde 1:5-7</a>, <a id="si_17" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,9);">Jde 1:9</a>, <a id="si_18" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,11);">Jde 1:11</a>, <a id="si_19" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,14);">Jde 1:14</a>) strongly suggests that the original readers were <b>Jewish Christians</b>, perhaps living in Palestine.</p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">DATE</div>
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<p>Similarities between the <b>Epistle of Jude</b> and the <b>Second Epistle of Peter</b> indicate one author may have influenced the other. Since Peter wrote of false teachers who were to come (cf. <a id="si_20" onclick="return mV('2Pe',2,1);">2Pe 2:1</a>) and Jude warned of those who had already "crept in unnoticed" (cf. <a id="si_21" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,4);">Jde 1:4</a>), it is possible that that Jude wrote after Peter.</p>
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<p>Peter's death in during the reign of Nero (which ended in 68 A.D.) places his own epistle sometime before 67 A.D. The lack of any mention of the destruction of Jerusalem (which occurred during the fall of 70 A.D.) suggests that Jude wrote before that notable event. If so, then the date of composition may have been between <b>67-70 A.D.</b></p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">PURPOSE AND THEME</div>
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<p>Jude's original purpose in penning this epistle was to write of the common salvation he and his readers shared (<a id="si_22" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,3);">Jde 1:3</a>). But the presence of ungodly men and the danger of them leading Christians astray forced a change in <b>purpose</b>:</p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center">
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To encourage his readers to contend earnestly for the faith that had been delivered to the saints (<a id="si_23" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,3);">Jude 1:3</a>)
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</div>
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<p style="font-weight: bold">As for the theme, Jude's first admonition serves us well:</p>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center">
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<b>Contend earnestly for the faith</b>
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<br /><br />
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</div>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">OUTLINE</div>
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<p>Here is a simple outline of the book…</p>
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<ul style="list-style: none;">
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<li><b>Greetings (<a id="si_24" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'1-2');">Jde 1:1-2</a>)</b></li>
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<li><b>1. Purpose for writing (<a id="si_25" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'3-4');">Jde 1:3-4</a>)</b></li>
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<li><b>2. God's judgments in time past (<a id="si_26" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'5-7');">Jde 1:5-7</a>)</b></li>
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<li><b>3. Character and doom of false teachers (<a id="si_27" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'8-19');">Jde 1:8-19</a>)</b></li>
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<li><b>4. Exhortations to build their faith (<a id="si_28" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'20-23');">Jde 1:20-23</a>)</b></li>
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<li><b>Concluding doxology (<a id="si_29" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'24-25');">Jde 1:24-25</a>)</b></li>
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</ul>
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<div class="levI" style="color: 324395; font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold; text-align: left">REVIEW QUESTIONS</div>
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<ol>
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<li><b>Who is author of The Epistle of Jude? (<a id="si_30" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,1);">Jde 1:1</a>)</b>
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<ul>
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<li>Jude, brother of James (likely the half-brothers of Jesus, <a id="si_31" onclick="return mV('Mat',13,55);">Mat 13:55</a>)</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><b>Who were the recipients of this epistle?</b>
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<ul>
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<li>"Those who were called", possibly Jewish Christians</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><b>When was it written?</b>
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<ul>
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<li>Most date it between 67-70 A.D.</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><b>What has been suggested as its purpose?</b>
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<ul>
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<li>To encourage his readers to contend earnestly for the faith that had been delivered to the saints</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><b>What has been suggested as its theme?</b>
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<ul>
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<li>Contend earnestly for the faith</li>
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</ul></li>
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<li><b>What are the main divisions of this epistle as outlined above?</b>
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<ul>
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<li>Greetings (<a id="si_32" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'1-2');">Jde 1:1-2</a>)</li>
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<li>Purpose for writing (<a id="si_33" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'3-4');">Jde 1:3-4</a>)</li>
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<li>God's judgments in time past (<a id="si_34" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'5-7');">Jde 1:5-7</a>)</li>
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<li>Character and doom of false teachers (<a id="si_35" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'8-19');">Jde 1:8-19</a>)</li>
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<li>Exhortations to build their faith (<a id="si_36" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'20-23');">Jde 1:20-23</a>)</li>
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<li>Concluding doxology (<a id="si_37" onclick="return mV('Jde',1,'24-25');">Jde 1:24-25</a>)</li>
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</ul></li>
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</ol>
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<p style="font-size: 100%; margin-top: 25px; text-align: center">
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Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2003</p>
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