Epistle was addressed; but the commendation of the hospitality of Caius seems to imply that he was in a private station, and that he was possessed of some substance. It is supposed to have been written soon after the two former, that is, about the year 69.

III. The design of this short Epistle was to commend Caius for having shown kindness to some Christians, as they passed through the place where he resided; to censure Diotrephes, who had arrogantly assumed some authority to himself; and to praise the good conduct of Demetrius. It is not known who Diotrephes and Demetrius were.

IV. This, and the foregoing Epistle, are supposed to have been written from Ephesus; and it is probable that the persons to whom they were addressed lived at no great distance from that city, as St. John expresses a hope of seeing them shortly. These Epistles are improperly called catholic, as they are written to private persons; which circumstance may account for their not being generally known in the primitive church.

PART II.

CHAPTER THE THIRTIETH.

OF THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF ST. JUDE.

I. HISTORY OF ST. JUDE.-II. GENUINENESS OF THIS EPISTLE. III. ITS INSCRIPTION AND DATE. SUBSTANCE OF IT.

- IV.

I. JUDAS, or JUDE, called also Lebbæus and Thaddæus, was the son of Alphæus or Cleophas, the brother of James the Less, the cousin-german of our Saviour, and one of the twelve Apostles. His call to be a disciple of Jesus is not recorded; and, except in the catalogues of the Apostles, he is mentioned only once in the Gospels: after Christ's interesting discourse to his disciples not long before his crucifixion, "Judas saith unto him (not Iscariot), Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world ?" From which question it is inferred, that at this time Judas had the common prejudice of the Jews concerning the kingdom of the Messiah. Jude is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, nor is a single circumstance recorded of him in any ancient author, upon which we can depend. He is generally reckoned among those Apostles who did not suffer martyrdom.

a Luke, vi. 16. Acts, i. 13. Matt. x. 3. Mark, iii. 18. Matt. xiii. 55. Mark, vi. 3. John, xiv. 22.

b

a

II. This Epistle is quoted by Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, Dionysius of Alexandria, and most of the later fathers. Jerome says, "Jude, brother of James, left a short Epistle, which is one of the seven called catholic. But because of a quotation from a book of Enoch, which is apocryphal, it is rejected by many; however, at length it has obtained authority, and is reckoned among the sacred Scriptures." Upon this subject it has been remarked, that Jude does not in fact quote any book of Enoch; he only says, that "Enoch prophesied,” and that prophesy might have been traditional.Þ And, moreover, the book of Enoch mentioned by Origen was probably not known in the time of Jude, as it is believed to have been a forgery of the second century. It is difficult to ascertain to what Jude does really refer; but whatever it was, it does not afford a sufficient reason for setting aside the genuineness of this book, in opposition to the authorities which were just now cited.

III. This Epistle is addressed, "To them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called;" that is, to all Christians, without any distinction. From the following passage, "Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: How that they told you, there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after

a De vir. Ill. cap. iv.

b The Arabians and the Indians have certainly preserved the tra

dition. Vide Gibbon and Maurice.

< Verse 1.

their own ungodly lusts;" it is evident that this Epistle was written some time subsequent to St. Peter's Epistles, and St. Paul's Epistles to Timothy, in which these prophecies are contained; and therefore we may place its date, with most commentators, about the year 70.

IV. St. Jude, after saluting the Christian converts, and praying for divine blessings upon them, exhorts them earnestly to contend for the genuine faith, as originally delivered to the Saints, in opposition to the erroneous doctrines taught by false teachers; he reminds the Christians of the severity of God's judgments inflicted upon the apostate angels and unrighteous men of former times; from these examples he warns them against adopting the seducing principles of those who were endeavouring to pervert them from the truth, and denounces woe against all persons of impious and profligate character; he reminds them of the predictions of the Apostles concerning mockers in the last days, and exhorts them to preserve themselves in the true faith and love of God, and to use their best exertions for the preservation and recovery of others. He concludes with an animated doxology, suited to the general design of the Epistle.

The language of this Epistle is nervous, and the figures and comparisons are bold, apt, and striking.

Verses 17, 18.

chapter of St. Peter's second Epistle.

"There is a great similarity between this Epistle and the second

I. THE testimonies in favour of the book of the Revelation being a genuine work of St. John the Evangelist, are very full and satisfactory. Andrew, bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia in the fifth century, assures us that Papias acknowledged the Revelation to be inspired. But the earliest author now extant, who mentions this book, is Justin Martyr, who lived about sixty years after it was written, and he ascribes it to St. John. So does Irenæus, whose evidence is alone sufficient upon this point; for he was the disciple of Polycarp, who was the disciple of John himself; and he expressly tells us, that he had the explanation of a certain passage in this book from those who had conversed with St. John the author. These two fathers are followed by Clement of Alexandria, Theophilus of Antioch, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, Lactantius, Jerome, Athanasius, and many other ecclesiastical writers, all of whom concur in considering the Apostle John as the author of the Lib. iii. cap. 3. lib. iv. cap. 7.

a

a