Broader Literary Context Assignment

Take your outline of the book of Jude (from last week's discussion post) and merge it into 1 paragraph with continuous running sentences tied together with logical linking words (e.g., in view of, instead, in any case, to enhance, as support, to illustrate, all the more). Make sure to connect the relationship dots between each portion of Jude's letter.

You've already written at least 10 initial impressions from Jude. Modify this list as needed based on what you have learned in this activity. In 40 words or less, state your impression of the overarching textual movements and connections in Jude.

Prose Outline of Jude Jude begins by greeting his fellow true Christians as ones “called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” In view of these traits that mark the believer, Jude exhorts them to contend for the faith in light of false teachers - marked by their distortion of the gospel - who had crept into their midst unnoticed. In the hope that they will take this situation seriously, he warns of God’s judgement earned by these ungodly people and others like them in the Old Testament and how his audience may recognize them by their behavior. To clarify this, he includes descriptions of their manners/methods, comparable historical examples and metaphors to further characterize them. Moreover, he emphasizes the rightful judgement of the Lord against them and further urges his audience to recall the predictions and warnings about these people. In light of all of this, he exhorts these true Christians on how to persevere and live amidst these circumstances. In keeping with his earlier affirmation of his audience’s security in Christ in his opening greeting, he closes with a doxology pointing back towards Jesus Christ and their secure righteousness in him. (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2016)

Jude appears to begin/end with a concept of perseverance of true Saints by the mercy/keeping of Jesus Christ in light of the false teachers among them whom he builds his warning about and judgement of in the middle text.

References:

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Crossway Bibles.