Julian Pe- ried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is re- Italy or riod, 4779, served for ever. Vulgar Æra, 66. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and, The sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. § 6. 2 PET. iii. 1—7. The Apostle shews that his design in Writing his two 1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; 2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of our Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, Rome. Julian Period, 4779. Vulgar Era, 66. 4 And saying, where is the promise of his coming? for Italy or since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they Rome. were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. § 7. 2 PET. iii. 8—13. The Apostle exhorts the Christian Brethren not to be de- 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent Julian Pe riod, 4779. Vulgar Era, 66. heat; 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righte ousness. § 7. 2 PET. iii. 14, to the end. As all Christians are promised the Inheritance of the ever- 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such 15 And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own de struction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things Rome. riod, 4779. Julian Pe- before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error Vulgar Era, 66. Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Italy or now and for ever. Amen. SECTION XV. Jude writes his Epistle to caution the Christian Church 30 Jude, or Judas, the writer of this epistle, is considered by the generality of commentators to be the apostle of that name mentioned in the catalogue of the apostles given by St. Luke, chap. vi. 14, 15, and in Acts i. 13. and by St. Matthew, chap. x. 3. and Mark iii. 18. as Lebbeus and Thaddeus; from whence it is naturally inferred, as the evangelists unite in confining the number of the apostles to twelve, that Jude, Lebbeus, and Thaddeus, was the same person, known by these different names. As he expressly declares himself to have been the brother of James, he may have borne the same relation to our Lord as James did. His call to the apostleship is recorded by St. Luke, chap. vi. 13. and he is mentioned also by John, xiv. 21, 22, 23. Therefore, as the promise contained in this passage implies, as an apostle he was endowed with the spiritual gifts of the Holy Ghost, Christ through the Spirit dwelling with him. Lardner supposes that James was originally an husbandman, from the expression in the apostolical constitutions-" Some of us are fishermen, others tent-makers, others husbandmen." He conjectures that the latter part of the sentence peculiarly referred to St. Paul and St. Jude; which supposition is further corroborated by Hegesippus, as quoted by Eusebius, who asserts, "That when Domitian made inquiries after the posterity of David, some grandsons of Jude, called the Lord's brother, were brought before him. Being asked concerning their possessions and substance, they assured him that they had only so many acres of land, out of the improvement of which they both paid him tribute, and maintained themselves with their own hard labour. The truth of what they said was confirmed by the callousness of their hands." From which account, if it may be relied upon, it necessarily follows that this apostle was married, and had children. Jerome, in his commentary on Matthew x. 35. says, "That the Apostle Thaddeus, called by the evangelist Luke, Judas the brother of James, was sent to Edessa, to Agbarus, king of Osroëne." And Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 1. 1. c. 13.) says, that Thomas, one of the twelve, sent to Edessa, Thaddeus, one of Christ's seventy disciples, to preach the Gospel in these countries. The canonical authority of this epistle has been disputed, particularly because the apostle is supposed to have quoted the apocryphal book of Enoch. To which objection it is replied, Julian Period, 4779. Vulgar Æra, 66. The Apostle addresses his Epistle to all who are called and Probably there is no good evidence that in Jude's time there was any book extant entitled Henoch, or Henoch's Prophecy. The book that existed in the second and third centuries, of that name, is generally supposed to have been composed on the mention of this prophecy by Jude, and was consequently ever regarded as a forgery. We cannot conclude, from the reference made by Jude, that such a book necessarily existed. For, throughout the apostolical writings, there are many facts alluded to which are not related in the Jewish Scripture. The sin and punishment of the evil angels, 2 Peter ii. 4.; Noah's preaching righteousness to the people before the flood, 2 Peter ii. 5.; Abraham's seeing Christ's day, and being glad, as declared by Christ himself, John viii. 56.; Lot's vexation at the iniquity of the Sodomites, 2 Peter ii. 7.; the emblematical purpose of the slaying of the Egyptian by Moses, Acts vii. 25.; the names of Pharaoh's magicians, 2 Tim. iii. 8.; Moses's exclamation on the mount, Heb. xii. 21. with many others; which things seem to prove, beyond a doubt, that the inspired writers of the Old Testament did not record all the revelations made to them by God, any more than they related every event in the lives of those persons whose histories they have written. Some explication was given with the revelation, which, being of the greatest importance, was transmitted by uninterrupted tradition from father to son; and the Spirit of God taught the apostles to discern those which were authentic. Macknight observes, "the Spirit of God, who inspired the evangelists and apostles, may have directed them to mention these traditions in their writings, and to allude to them, to make us sensible that many important matters, anciently made known by revelation, have been preserved by tradition. And more especially, that the persuasion, which history assureth us hath prevailed in all ages and countries from the most early times, concerning the placability of the Deity, the acceptableness of sacrifice, the existence of the soul after death, the resurrection of the body, the rewards and punishments of the life to come, with other matters of a like kind, was founded on revelations concerning these things, which were made to mankind in the first age, and handed down by tradition. The truth is, these things being matters which, by the utmost efforts of their natural faculties, men could not discover, the knowledge and belief of them, which prevailed among all nations, whether barbarous or civilized, cannot be accounted for, except on the supposition of their having been originally discovered by revelation, and dispersed among all nations by tradition. Wherefore, in no age or country, have mankind been left entirely to the guidance of the light of nature, but have enjoyed the benefit of revelation in a greater or in a less degree." But granting that Jude really quoted from the book under consideration, it no more proves that he was not an inspired writer, than that St. Paul was not one, because he makes use of the heathen poets, Menander and Epemenides, 1 Cor. xv. 33.; |