JUDE

JUDE, Epistle of, is placed by Eusebius among the controverted books, having been rejected by many of the ancients. It is, however, cited by Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. iii. 431), by Origen (Com. in Matt., &c., &c.), and by Tertullian (De Habit. Fac.). It is also included among the books of the New Testament in the ancient catalogue discovered by Muratori, a work of the second century. It is found in the catalogues of the Councils of Laodicea, Hippo, and Carthage, and in the apostolical canons, but is wanting in the Peshito or ancient Syriac version. It is, however, cited as of authority by Ephrem. In modern times its apostolic source at least, if not its canonicity, was called in question by Luther, Grotius, Bolten, Dahl, Berger, and Michaelis, but it is acknowledged by most to be genuine. Indeed, the doubts thrown upon its genuineness arose solely from the writer having cited two apocryphal books. In regard to the authorship moderns are divided in opinion between Jude the apostle and Jude the Lord's brother, if indeed they be different persons; Hug and De Wette ascribe it to the latter. The author simply calls himself Jude, the brother of James, and a servant of Jesus Christ. This form of expression has given rise to various conjectures. Dr. Lardner supposes that Jude's Epistle was written between the years 64 and 66, Beausobre and L'Enfant between 70 and 75 (from which Dodwell and Cave do not materially differ), and Dr. Mill fixes it to the year 90. If Jude has quoted the apocryphal book of Enoch, as seems to be agreed upon by most modern critics, and if this book was written, as Lücke thinks, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the age of our Epistle best accords with the date assigned to it by Mill.