Jude, Epistle of

The author is the brother of James, and one of the “brethren of the Lord.” The epistle is addressed to certain people in danger, owing to the presence among them of professing Christians who were giving themselves up to the immorality of pagan worship and claiming to be above the moral law. Jude wishes to rouse his “beloved” to a sense of their danger, and also to help them through it by bidding them keep close to the “faith once committed to the saints.” There are some striking resemblances between this epistle and 2 Peter. Some notable passages in Jude are verse 6, recounting the war in heaven and the expulsion of Lucifer and his angels during the “first estate” or premortal existence (see also Abr. 3:26–28); verse 9, speaking of an otherwise unknown event involving Michael (Adam) and the devil contending over the body of Moses; and verses 14–15, citing a prophecy of Enoch.