Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church (Bloomsbury Academic Collections)
Overview
This volume is an original and important contribution to the study of the earliest Palestinian Jewish Christianity. For the first time all the evidence for the role which relatives of Jesus played in the early church is assembled and assessed. Dr. Bauckham discusses a wide range of evidence, not only from the New Testament but also from the Church Fathers, the New Testament Apocrypha, rabbinic literature and Palestinian archaeology. The letter of Jude, in particular, proves to have much to teach us about the theology of the brothers of Jesus and their circle. It illuminates their exegetical methods and their Christology and shows both to have been influential contributions to the development of early Christianity.
This study shows that this neglected New Testament book is far more important for the study of early Christianity than has hitherto been recognized. By setting the letter of Jude within the context of the evidence for the role of relatives of Jesus in the early church, new light is thrown on the letter and on early Jewish Christianity.
Top Highlights
“The conclusion which took me most by surprise during my work on this book was the discovery that the genealogy of Jesus recorded in Luke’s Gospel can be shown to derive from the same circle as Jude. Properly understood, it is a sophisticated theological document, a precious relic of the messianic-apocalyptic Christology which the brothers of Jesus preached on their missionary travels throughout Palestine.” (Pages 3–4)
“Mark 6:3 names four brothers of Jesus: James, Joses, Judas and Simon. In the Matthean parallel (13:55) the names are: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas.” (Page 6)
“We conclude that it is unlikely that any of the twelve were related to Jesus.” (Page 18)
“Of the three views the Hieronymian is the least plausible.” (Page 20)
“the Clopas of John 19:25 is likely to be the same person as the Cleopas of Luke 24:18.41” (Page 17)
Richard Bauckham is Professor of New Testament Studies, St Mary's College, University of St Andrews. He is also co-author of Scripture, Tradition and Reason: A Study in the Criteria of Christian Doctrine, available from Logos as part of the Hermeneutics Collection (12 Vols.).
Reviews
4 ratings
Charles C.G. Miller
11/15/2020
I am not an Academic in any sense. I am a lay member of the United Methodist Church. I stumbled across this book due to the excellent search tools provided by Logos. I was most interested in the material related too the title, specifically, the influence of the Jesus's brothers on the early church. I stumbled across the discussion of Clopas in the NT which had been discussed in a Bible study I attend. I found his treatment of these topics to be well expressed and well thought through. I cannot judge the quality of his scholarly work but I suspect it is also very good. Slightly challenging for a lay person I still found the material useful and not overwhelming. He did not overwhelm me with Greek but used it so to benefit scholars and laity. Expect to find involved analysis and proofs that involve multiple steps. He also works on several proofs simultaneously when the evidence bares on several points.Glenn Crouch
5/15/2017
This was a far more involved examination of the family of Jesus (excluding James) than I expected - which of course adds value to the book. To me it seems almost like 2 books + 1 booklet. The first two chapters looks into what information we have regarding Jesus' family and their impact/influence on the early church. The Author thoroughly examines New Testament Sources, as well as Early Church History and Pseudepigrapha. I found this to be a fascinating examination. He then embarks on several chapters examining the Epistle of Jude from the New Testament. The Author puts up a good argument for its priority to 2 Peter - and for a reasonably early date, but what is well done is his thorough examination of Jude's use (or influence by) the Pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch - as well as examining the Testament of Moses and the Assumption of Moses. So, this has been a more scholarly examination of Jude then I have ever been through - and that has been welcomed. The book concludes with an examination of Luke's Chronology of Jesus (thus the booklet I referred to earlier). This was also quite a scholarly examination and has given me material to ponder more on - especially the argument of an influence from Enoch that I can't recall hearing before. I did feel a bit of discontinuity between the three "sections" mentioned above - and the extensive coverage of The Epistle of Jude seemed to dwarf the goals that appeared to be laid out in the introduction and the first section. Still a worthwhile read, especially if like me, you appreciate good examination of Pseudepigraphical Literature.
David Sloan
8/26/2014
Gordon Jones
10/23/2013
