Introducing the New Testament
A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey
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28. Jude
Discussion Prompts
- What evidence is there in Jude that the canon of Jewish scriptures is still open or fluid (see text pp. 509–10)?
- Who is Jude? What is the biblical evidence for his being part of Jesus’ earthly family? What might we learn about Jesus’ family from his brother Jude? From their brother James’s letter?
- What do you make of the polemical language in this letter? Did you expect to read such language in the Bible? How is this scriptural? How are modern Christians to read and understand the use of such language, particularly in light of the recent “culture” wars in the US and the polemical language used in world politics to talk about people of other religious points of view?
Pedagogical Suggestions
Jude Reading Jewish Scriptures
1. What references to the Hebrew Bible stories do students recognize in this letter? Try to brainstorm, as a class, as many of the references to these writings as students can come up with. (You can supply some of the references too, or many study Bibles will point to the references in the notes to Jude.) Students may work in groups or on their own. Ask each group (or student) to read the biblical story that Jude alludes to and to compare the way Jude references that story, the details he emphasizes, the main point Jude draws from that story, and the tone that he uses to frame the story in its new context in Jude’s letter.
Does Jude change the point of the original story? (For example, Sodom and Gomorrah are condemned by God for abuse of hospitality—the sexual nature of the abuse is secondary to the crime against hospitality in the ancient world. This will be one of the harder points for students to see, as two thousand years have shifted the interpretation away from hospitality toward sexual immorality.)
Does Jude add details that are not in the texts we have but may have been part of oral Jewish tradition?
What can we learn about first-century Judaism and Christianity from the way Jude interprets these passages?
Rationale
Jude offers students another opportunity to flex their analytical muscles. They can identify first-century ways of reading the Hebrew scriptures (compare with Hebrews, 1 Peter, Matthew, and Galatians). They can also see the breadth and depth of the debt Christianity owes to Judaism and the difficulty many followers of Christ had in negotiating this debt in traditions.
Assets
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Hyperlink 28.1. Which Jude? Jude Confusion in the Bible and in the ChurchDownload
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Hyperlink 28.2. Jude in the Christian CanonDownload
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Hyperlink 28.3. Bibliography: JudeDownload
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Box 28.1. Infamous Sinners of the PastDownload
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Box 28.2. On Keeping and Being KeptDownload
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PowerPoint Chapter 28Download