Friday, May 30, 2008

The Contradiction of Ungodliness (4): Jude 14-15

14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

In v14-15, Jude says that there is judgment coming. He quotes the book of Enoch, which is a pseudopigraphical book, meaning that Enoch didn’t write it. It was probably given his name hoping for more credibility, much like the Gospel of Thomas, or the Gospel of Judas. There are two thoughts on the book. First, it was possibly written and popular during the sub-apostolic period (say, 65-85 AD), that is, after many of the apostles died and their followers were leading the way. Second, it could have been an ancient book, surviving even the flood on the ark with Noah and popular among the Jews to this time period. Either way, it was likely a book that these false teachers would have used at this time to show their own authority. And Jude probably quotes it mocking them, showing that even their own “sacred text” rebukes them.

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