Other Epistles of the New Testament: Jude

In this addition to the well-received Paideia series, two respected New Testament scholars offer a practical commentary on James and Jude that is conversant with contemporary scholarship, draws on ancient backgrounds, and attends to the theological nature of the texts. This commentary, like each in the projected eighteen-volume series, proceeds by sense units rather than word-by-word or verse-by-verse. Paideia commentaries explore how New Testament texts form Christian readers by: attending to the ancient narrative and rhetorical strategies the text employs; showing how the text shapes theological convictions and moral habits; commenting on the final, canonical form of each New Testament book; focusing on the cultural, literary, and theological settings of the text; making judicious use of maps, photos, and sidebars in a reader-friendly format. Students, pastors, and other readers will appreciate the historical, literary, and theological insight that John Painter and David deSilva offer in interpreting James and Jude.

Neyrey builds upon the excellent scholarship of the pst,and introduces into the discussion factors that were rarely understood of considered in earlier times:the social,political,and economic setting in which the New Testament Epistles were written and read-the church as a community within the larger context of the vast Roman Empire of the late first and early second centuries.And while these letters are often considered peripheeral or marginal to the New Testament,they nevertheless reveal and interpret one of the murkier eras in the life of the church.They reflect the hard times and difficult circumstances of the faithful,beset by treacherous comrades within and malevolent enemies without.But all the while,these documents express the constancy and commitment of those who found salvation and the renewal of life in the one Lord,Jesus Christ.

First and Second Peter, James, and Jude have existed on the edge of the canon throughout the centuries. In this volume, Pheme Perkins casts light on these often neglected writings, ably demonstrating that they have, in fact, much to offer to today's readers.

Crisis in the Church is not a new phenomenon. In fact, the Church has always been (and probably always will be) involved in some kind of crisis. Even in the apostolic period, which is regarded by many as the Church's "golden age," there were serious crises coming from both the outside (as in 1 Peter) and from the inside (as in Jude and 2 Peter). The three short New Testament letters treated in this volume illustrate the kinds of problems that early Christians faced, as well as the rhetorical techniques and theological concepts with which they combated those problems.

Jude. Address and salutation (vv 1-2) ; Occasion and theme (vv 3-4) ; Three Old Testament types (vv 5-10) ; Excursus : the background and source of Jude 9 ; Three more Old Testament types (vv 11-13) ; The prophecy of Enoch (vv 14-16) ; The prophecy of the apostles (vv 17-19) ; The appeal (vv 20-23) ; Closing doxology (vv 24-25) --
2 Peter. Address and salutation (1:1-2) ; Theme : a summary of Peter's message (1:3-11) ; Occasion : Peter's testament (1:12-15) ; Reply to objection 1: (a) apostolic eyewitness (1:16-18) ; Reply to objection 1: (b) the value of Old Testament prophecy (1:19) ; Reply to objection 2 : the inspiration of OT prophecy (1:20-21) ; Peter's prediction of false teachers (2:1-3a) ; Reply to objection 3 : the certainty of judgment (2:3b-10a) ; Denunciation of the false teachers (a) (2:10b-16) ; Denunciation of the false teachers (b) (2:17-22) ; Peter's prediction of scoffers (3:1-4) ; Reply to objection 4 : (a) the sovereignty of God's word (3:5-7) ; Reply to objection 4 : (b) the forbearance of the Lord (3:8-10) ; Exhortation (3:11-16) ; Conclusion (3:17-18).

Purity and polemic : a reassessment of Jude's theological world / Darian Lockett --
Bourdieu reads Jude : reconsidering the Letter of Jude through Pierre Bourdieu's sociology / Jeremy F. Hultin --
Postcolonial pollution in the Letter of Jude / Betsy Bauman-Martin --
Polemic and persuasion : typological and rhetorical perspectives on the Letter of Jude / J. Daryl Charles --
The rhetorical function of visual imagery in Jude : a socio-rhetorical experiment in rhetography / Robert L. Webb.

Second Peter and Jude are among the most neglected books of the New Testament. But alert readers have long noted an unmistakable family resemblance between these two letters. Like orphans reunited, in this commentary 2 Peter and Jude show themselves to be robust theological siblings, charged with a keen, no-nonsense desire to warm young believers of the false spiritual guides that are out to beguile them. This commentary is a skillful exposition of these two letters within their original setting. More than that, it narrows the gap between our day and that day, between our cultural and spiritual setting and that setting, and allows the Spirit-driven message to arc between then and now. Wherever Christians face or anticipate the destabilizing and destructive influence of misled teachers and subverters of truth, these letters will speak today.

This book proposes new and comprehensive chiastic structures as well as new unifying themes for the often-neglected New Testament letters of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude. In accord with these structures, which organize the oral performance of these letters in a context of communal worship, the subtitle of the book, "Worship Matters," expresses the letters' main concern. By "worship" is meant not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it for a holistic way of worshiping God. "Matters" refers not only to the "matters" or issues regarding worship in these letters but also to the fact that worship "matters" in the sense of making an all-important difference to Christian living, not only for the original audiences of letters, but equally for their contemporary audience. Accordingly, this book proposes that: 1 Peter exhorts its audience to worship for life, both present and eternal, through the sufferings of Jesus Christ; 2 Peter exhorts its audience to worship in the knowledge regarding the final coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and Jude exhorts its audience to worship in the mercy and love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This volume is dedicated to the study of three late, little-known biblical works that historically have been relegated to the lesser works of the New Testament. Reading 1 Peter, Jude, and 2 Peter underscores the light that these letters shed upon one another and focuses on the snapshots they provide of early Christian communities as they encountered the social and religious environment in which they were situated. Careful reading of 1 Peter reveals the complex world of the post-apostolic period. Jude and 2 Peter provide a sober look at the early community's evolution in doctrinal and moral terms.