Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church

by Richard Bauckham

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 insights can be revealed into the letter and early Jewish Christianity.

Genres: Biblical Studies, Christianity, Theology, Religion, Christian, Church History

472 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

About the author

Richard Bauckham (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge University, in Cambridge, England, where he teaches for the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges. He is also a visiting professor at St. Mellitus College, London, and emeritus professor of New Testament at the University of St. Andrews. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the author of numerous books.

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bauckham is the bomb!

Despite an interrupted read over several weeks, I found this book easy to follow even though it waded through some pretty heavy material. That speaks to Bauckham's clarity when writing and structuring his arguments.

I was interested in reading more about early Palestinian Christianity - what actually happened in Galilee (for example) after Jesus' resurrection. With that in mind, the opening few sentences from Bauckham's conclusion are revealing,

"It has been no part of the purpose of this book to create as complete a picture of early Palestinian Jewish Christianity as the evidence permits. For that purpose, much other evidence would have to be discussed and synthesized. Rather, the aim has been to shed new light on this subject by a concentrated focus on the role of the family of Jesus (excluding James) and on the evidence of the letter of Jude. When the scattered evidence about the relatives of Jesus is critically assessed and its implications considered, when the letter of Jude is restored to its true historical context and thoroughly examined, when the Lukan genealogy of Jesus is made to reveal its surprising secrets, and when all three of these areas of investigation are seen in relation to each other, valuable fresh insight into early Palestinian Jewish Christianity results.

Both in Jerusalem and in Galilee, until the Bar Kokhba war, the family of Jesus—the desposynoi—were the most influential and respected leaders of Jewish Christianity, at first along with members of the twelve, later more exclusively..."

I also found Bauckham's outline of the book of Jude very helpful for this confusing little book. While he had written a full commentary already (in the Word Biblical Commentary series in 1983), this short summary of the structure of the book as four commentaries on four successive "texts" (vv.5-7, v.11, vv.14-15, and vv.17-18) highlight its purpose - to combat false teachers who are promoting licentiousness by rejecting God's authority. He also highlighted the relationship between Jude and the apocryphal books of the book of Enoch and, probably, the Testament (not the Assumption) of Moses. I must say that, though this study helped me understand the historical context of the book, I am still struggling to think through how I would teach it in a way that is relevant for today.

The last major chapter was a study of the Lukan genealogy. He traces the pre-Lukan source to a similar context to that which Jude was written in and outlines the parallels between the genealogy and the book of Enoch. (Proving that Jesus is greater than David and greater than Enoch). He then highlights the redactions Luke made of his source to highlight his concerns - the descent of Jesus from David and his miraculous birth as the Son of God as the foundation for his earthly ministry. Most interesting is the evidence he cites for the keeping of genealogies by Jews in the first century, esp. those who believed themselves to be descended from King David.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jude and the Relatives of Jesus by Richard Bauckham

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This is a fascinating book that looks at early Christianity through the perspective of Jesus’s often overlooked relatives, namely Jude and other obscure relatives, collectively known as the “desposynoi” (“those who belong to the Master.”) The term “desposynoi” itself implies something like a royal household. (p. 126.)

Bauckham begins by addressing the different views of the relationship of Jesus to his family, i.e., the Helvidian (Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary and his brothers were brothers), the Hieronymian (Jesus’ brothers were cousins of Jesus who was the son of Mary), and the Epiphanian (Jesus’s “brothers” were the son of Joseph from a prior marriage.) Bauckham does not give much credit to the Hieronymian view promoted by St. Jerome in opposition to the view of Helvidius. Bauckham’s position is that the references in the Passion narratives to various women who were not Mary as the mothers of James and Jude (and the others) are probably referring to another set of James and Jude who were not the same people described as “brothers of the Lord.” He particularly relies on Eusebius who seems to give credit to the idea of Symeon as a cousin, but leaves James as a brother of the Lord.

On the other hand, Bauckham argues that the Epiphanian view has as much going for it as the Helvidian position – notwithstanding the belief of many Evangelicals that the Helvidian position is obviously the correct answer. Bauckham writes:

“In conclusion, the Epiphanian view has a better claim to serious consideration than it often nowadays allowed. The second century tradition could preserve an accurate historical memory. (p. 31.)

The second century includes the Protoevangelium of James as well as a passage from Hegesippus to the effect that James was Joseph’s firstborn son. (p. 31.)

I was disappointed that Bauckham did not have a real discussion on Jude’s identification of himself as “the brother of James.” Bauckham uses this formula to conclude that Jude was therefore the brother of Jesus since James the brother of Jesus was the only person sufficiently well-known to be identified only as “James.” (p. 172.) But one wonders why Jude didn’t identify himself as the brother of the better known “Jesus.” Bauckham explains that the “brothers of Jesus” downplayed family relationship to the Lord. (p. 128.) James begins his letter without mentioning his role as “brother of the Lord” while Jude identifies himself as the “brother of James.” (Id.) Likewise, neither referred to themselves as “apostles.” Bauckham concludes that the point was that this was not about “modesty” but about modeling the basis of their authority was not their natural relationship but their role as “servants” of Christ. (p. 129.)

Bauckham points out that the earliest bishops of Jerusalem appear to members of the desposynoi, although this line ends with the destruction of Jerusalem. Members of Jesus family were still around in the first half of the third century, according to Julius Africanus, and that they preserved the family genealogy, which they interpreted on their travels – apparently missionary travels – through Palestine. (p. 60-61.) Grandsons of Jude were also interviewed by agents of the emperor Domitian. (p. 94-95.) These grandsons were small farmers with callused hands, who attested to end of the world and the return of Christ. (Id.)

This information is fascinating. It suggests various sources of information outside of the New Testament. It is also interesting how the desposynoi don’t seem to play a role in the New Testament. Bauckham denies that this was a way of keeping the desposynoi from forming a “Christian Caliphate.” (p. 125-126.) Bauckham points out that the desposynoi would not “see themselves as successors to Jesus in the strict sense, as though Jesus himself were just one more successor to the throne of David, who could be succeeded by the next in line to the throne.” (p. 126.) Likewise, the authority of the desposynoi came from the commission they received from Christ himself. Their authority was apostolic, not dynastic. (p. 127.)

Bauckham also deconstructs the letter of Jude. The letter is almost impenetrable, in part because it assumes a familiarity with texts that were never brought into the canon, and which, in fact, have been lost. Bauckham’s analysis of Jude’s short letter is a deep dive which contains a lot of insights. It is largely corrective to the confusing understanding that a superficial reading might leave. Bauckham’s position seems to be that Jude is opposing gnostic/docetic claims of not being subject to the moral rule of God.

The final section of the book involves the Lukan genealogy. Given the long time that Jesus’ family was around and the emphasis that they apparently placed on their own genealogy, this section defends the accuracy of the genealogy in Luke as accurate by explaining how the various difficulties in the genealogy can be resolved. These are all deep inside game issues, but this book is a useful resource if one is challenged by those issues.

Overall, I was fascinated by the idea that Jesus’s family had a continuity that attested to Jesus’s historicity. That fact tends to puncture Jesus mythicism and arguments that assume that Christian sources simply made-up historical facts to fit theology. The sources were available to Christian writers. More importantly, the sources were available to contradict Christian writers who made things up merely to fit theology.

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very interesting work by Richard Bauckham--this one focuses on the other brothers and relatives of Jesus outside of the heavily written about James. The second half of the book is mostly a close reading of the book of Jude, which while providing some interesting insights, is not so engaging as the first half, but that first half was very much illuminating in ways I never expected.

I first came across mention of this book in another work in that author's discussion of the family of Jesus in Ctesiphon in the second century. I had been aware of this claim in primary works, but I hadn't given it much thought until mentioned there. I was, like, I've got to check out what Bauckham had to say about that, and I'm glad that I did. The reason: Bauckham, in his focus on Jesus's family, sees possible ties to Jewish Christian settlements in the East (not heavily covered here, but not really covered anywhere) but also in Galilee, which until now, based on other reading, I'd largely figured was mostly devoid of Christians after the first century. By tracing where such people as Symeon (James's successor in Jerusalem) actually came from, he's able to show the likely continuing influence of Jesus's family in the region of Galilee.

The section on the book of Jude goes heavily into the way it interacts with the book of Enoch and the Testament of Moses and traces its views of Christ as God, which is a high Christology. Alas, I kind of figured Bauckham would tie the two things--the relatives and the book together--at the end, but it didn't really come together as I hoped or thought it would. He tries to do it via a discussion of the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew and most especially Luke, and while he certainly shows that the genealogies had rhetorical purposes (ties to specific individuals, to David but not through the kingly line, numbers of generations, etc.), the discussion didn't for me really tie things together as much as I'd have liked. Still, much of this book blew my mind in terms of the observations I hadn't yet considered.