Why did a tiny, mysterious New Testament letter quote a banned, non-canonical book?

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The Epistle of Jude is a brief, fiery warning against unnamed intruders threatening the early church. It is famous for its combative tone and its surprising reliance on the Book of Enoch, an ancient text excluded from most modern Bibles. Who was Jude, and why did he cite forbidden literature?

The Epistle of Jude is one of the shortest books in the New Testament, consisting of only 25 verses. Its author identifies himself as a servant of Jesus and a brother of James, a description traditionally interpreted as identifying him as a brother of Jesus. However, scholars have long debated this identity. Because the author writes in sophisticated, fluent Koine Greek and shows a deep grasp of complex rhetoric, some argue it is unlikely to have been written by a common Galilean laborer. This has led to theories that the letter is pseudepigraphical—written by an unknown author using a famous name to lend the text authority.

The core of the letter is a fierce condemnation of 'certain intruders' who have infiltrated the Christian community. Jude describes these opponents with vivid, disparaging imagery, calling them 'clouds without rain' and 'wandering stars.' While the letter is impassioned, it is also notoriously vague. It accuses these figures of rejecting authority and 'heaping abuse on celestial beings.' Scholars have proposed various identities for these rivals, ranging from proto-Gnostics to critics of Pauline teachings who may have held differing views on the status of angels. Because the descriptions are so limited, the true nature of the conflict remains a mystery.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the epistle is its use of non-canonical sources. Jude explicitly quotes the Book of Enoch, a work largely excluded from the biblical canon, and references an incident involving Michael the Archangel and the devil quarreling over the body of Moses—a story likely drawn from the lost Assumption of Moses. These references, along with the letter's similarity to 2 Peter, caused significant discomfort among early Church Fathers. Figures like Eusebius and Jerome expressed doubts about its authenticity, and it was only gradually accepted into the canon by the late fourth century.

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