No consensus exists from the time of the earliest Church fathers onward on who Jude was and, relatedly, who wrote the Epistle of Jude. Part of this stems from the ambiguity of the Greek words for brothers and cousins, another part due to the fact the New Testament mentions Jude only six times but used the terms Jude, Judas, Thaddeus, Judas Thaddeus and Lebbaeus, often due to the popularity on the name James and Judas in New Testament times. In terms of his parentage, one view rejects the virgin birth and holds all Jesus’s brothers and sisters were full-blooded siblings, all were children of Mary and Joseph. A second view is that Jesus was virgin birth born but afterwards Mary and Joseph added half-brothers and sisters to the family. Helvidius, who wrote around 380AD, favored this as he was opposed to the growing glorification of celibacy and the monastic movement. Many Protestant churches hold this view.
Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus in the fourth century AD, held the brothers and sisters were sons of Joseph from a previous marriage. Hence, they are stepbrothers and stepsisters of Jesus. This is the official position of the Eastern Orthodox Church. A fourth view is from Jerome, the celebrated Roman Catholic theologian of the fourth century, that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were the offspring of Mary the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and who was married to a man named Clopas. That makes them cousins or nieces. This is the Roman Catholic view; Lutherans agree Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus and probably was a virgin ever afterwards, but it is not a core doctrine of the church. A current variation of this holds Clopas is the brother of Joseph and married a woman named Mary, who was not related to the virgin Mary. This union produces James the Less, Joses, Simon and Jude. Thus, the two Marys become sisters-in-law and Joseph and Clopas are brothers, but their offspring remain cousins or nieces.
Who wrote the Epistle of Jude and when has been debated since the earliest days of the church. Essentially, an educated person wrote the letter, using a polished Greek style yet one tradition holds Jude came from peasant-farmer ancestry in the Caesarea Philippi, about thirty miles north of the Sea of Galilee. That assumes a semi-literate person at best, one who was not the apostle. When it was written ranges from 50AD to 110AD.The epistle, despite questions and reservations on authorship, gradually was accepted into the biblical canon by the end of the second century though Origen of Alexandria raised opposition as he noted the almost verbatim similarity of the epistle with 2 Peter 2.
Little is known about Jude’s life. Tradition holds he was married and had offspring but le_ them to follow Jesus on his ministry. But how and when he was called, we know nothing. His only reference is at the Last Supper where he asks Jesus why you manifest yourself to us alone and not to the world. Jesus responded that the Father’s love is for all who love his Son.
(Eusebius, the third century church historian, quotes Hegesippus, a second century church chronicler, on a meeting two of Jude’s grandchildren had with the Emperor Domitian, who started the second persecution of the Christians in the 80s AD. He ordered all the descendants of David be slain and the two were brought before him confessed they were of that lineage. They also revealed they were peasants with a total worth of 39 acres and their rough and calloused hands reinforced that claim.
Domitian despised and dismissed them and afterwards called off his persecution, one consequence of which was to free the apostle John from the island of Patmos. The two, as relatives of the Lord, subsequently had roles in the church and the persecution of Christians stopped until the Emperor Trajan reinstitute it in 110AD).
He reportedly traveled widely in his ministry: Judea, Samaria, Persia, Libya, Syria, Turkey, Persia, Armenia and other places outside of Roman control in the east. Eusebius, the church historian, holds Jude returned to Jerusalem after the Jewish leaders killed James, the first bishop of the Christian church, and voted to elect his brother St. Simeon as the new bishop sometime after 62AD. (One of his first acts was to move the Christian church to Pella beyond the Jordan shortly before the war with Roman began in 68AD. After the Zealot defeat and utter destruction of the city, his Christian church returned and rebuilt. He ruled there for about 43 years until he ran afoul of the Roman authorities for being a Christian, was tortured prior to being crucified yet withstood both with patience so much so that he won the admiration of all. Still, he did not escape death and it came in 107 or 116. He was reportedly 120 years old).
Jude also was martyred but where and when is uncertain. Some say Beirut, Lebanon in 65AD, others Babylon around 72AD, still others say Armenia in 66AD. He is often pictured with an ax and club, signifying how he died, being beaten then having his skull crushed by a broad ax or simply beheaded. Today, he is known as the saint of lost or desperate causes and some of his relics are in Rome and Chicago.
Copyright © 2025 Jim Dewar
