Friday, October 31, 2008

Out loud Musings on Jude

Good commentaries on Jude are few and far between. Richard Bauckham's in the Word Biblical series is the best I have seen. Of course there are numerous mediocre commentaries but the good ones are a little rarer to find. There are a number of helpful articles on Jude out there too.

There are a number of issues that surround this small letter. Significant issues in fact. I have come to the conclusion, based both on the actual character of the work and v. 17 that the readers of Jude are second or third generation folk in the Christian faith. Thus this book dates probably after A.D. 80 and perhaps later. The content of the book reflects, in my view, the beginning of what became the gnostic heresy (Kummel calls it "libertine-Gnostic[ism], Intro to the NT, p. 426). The mention of Cain is interesting in light of the trend of some Gnostics that turned Cain into a hero (they were called "Cainites"). But we must be careful of reading things back into the text yet if Jude is late first century then there is a connection with the teachers that Ignatius is concerned about too.

Keeping firmly grounded in the historical context helps us not to abuse v.3 and make it a proof text on instrumental music. Jude is concerned about the heart of the faith. Often we overlook the marvelous "envelope" that clothes the letter. The front of the envelope is v.1b in the phrase "kept by Jesus Christ". The back of the envelope is the doxology in vv. 24-25 ... "to him who is able to KEEP you from falling ..." It is indicative perhaps of an imbalance when we can recite v. 3 in our sleep and have never heard of v.1b or 24-25.

Three big "critical" issues surround Jude. The first one is the relationship to 2 Peter 2. If you have never done this xerox 2 Pt 2 and Jude and lay them side by side. You are in for an interesting read. Clearly somebody "used" somebody here. Most today believe it was 2 Pt that used Jude.

The other two issues regard Jude's use of the Assumption of Moses and First Enoch. These are not books most will find in the table of contents of their Bible's. In fact most today simply have never heard of them ... even though at one time they were some what popular among Christians.

Now if it is gnosticism that is the ultimate root of the problem in Jude then v.9 makes some sense. It was the "body" that Michael disputed with Satan about. This is important. Gnostics believed the body (human flesh) was worthless and redemption for them was the ultimate shedding of flesh/body. But Jude shows it was not the SPIRIT of Moses that was in dispute but the BODY of Moses. God cared about the body of Moses.

Themes from First Enoch undergird the entire epistle not simply v.14. Some folks have a really difficult time with Jude quoting First Enoch. And there are some issues that it raises. One person I read tried to down play the issue by pointing out that Paul also quoted Greek poets. This is shallow thinking. Paul does quote the poets. However Paul does not say that the poets "prophesied" about the current situation of a congregation. Therein lies the issue.

Jude first refers to Enoch though in v.4. Jude reads, "For certain men whose condemnation was WRITTEN ABOUT long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign Lord."

Jude indicates here that there is a "written" source for discussing the false teachers. First Enoch 67.10, which in context is talking about some evil men, says "the judgment shall come upon them, because they believe in the debauchery of their bodies and deny the spirit of the Lord."

Interestingly enough v.12 mentions Michael, which comes up soon in Jude too. Jude finds this text and applies it to his own situation. Later he not only refers to Enoch but directly quotes the text in v.14. "Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, 'See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

First Enoch 1.9f reads: "Behold he {the Lord} will arrive with ten million of the holy ones in order to execute judgment upon all. He will destroy the wicked ones and censure all flesh on account of everything they have done, that which the sinner and the wicked ones committed against him."

I have not made up my mind about the significance of Jude's use of Enoch. His application of the book to the beginnings of the gnostic controversy is interesting and revealing. The little book challenges us to really understand the nature of our own faith. The faith that was delivered "once" to the "saints" is Jewish in orientation. It was born, bred and matured in a Jewish matrix. We need to embrace the full wealth of that heritage. Probably the biggest reorientation that will occur if this takes place is our conception of "spirituality." Greek philosophy and Gnosticism defines spirituality as "immateriality." Such a belief lead to two extremes in the early church that remains with us to this very day:

1) If spirituality is concerned only with "spiritual things" or "immaterial things" (souls) then what is done in the body does not matter. There were Gnostics that were both ascetics and some that were libertine ... two sides of the same coin. Both deny the value of the material or see it as tainted and worthless ... to be shed because it has no "eternal" value. This Jude rejects explicitly.

2) The historic church, while rejecting Gnosticism, has failed to screen out all the stuff that makes it possible. Thus monasticism and the attendant denial of "things" is at the most fundamental level a rejection or a radical downplaying of the spirituality of the material. Contemporary Christians still buy into this when they assume they are doing something spiritual by praying but not by feeding the poor.

Jude embraces the full wealth of the Jewish heritage of Christianity. He does it by embracing the doctrine of creation (i.e. remember it was the BODY of Moses that Michael was after). He also does this by using Jewish tradition ... even outside the canonical Hebrew Bible to address his readers.

May we also embrace our Jewish heritage ...

Shalom,

Bobby Valentine

Posted by Stoned-Campbell Disciple at 11:15 PM

Bobby always has keen insights that make you think. That's one reason I like to read his stuff.

Pax.