Thursday, February 26, 2015

Jude and II Peter

Please read *all* of Jude and II Peter (only four chapters total) and respond to *both* of the following prompts:

1.  In what ways are Jude and I Peter similar?  How are they different?  How do you account for these similarities and differences?

2.  Pick out one verse from Jude and one verse from II Peter that you find particularly interesting, important, or hard to understand, and comment below on what you find interesting, difficult, or important in those verses.

8 comments:

  1. Jude and II Peter have a lot of similarities. They both start out with kind of an introduction of who is writing and then they both go into talking about false teachers/prophets. They then go into different warnings and stories about Christ's second coming. II Peter differs from Jude in that it is a little longer and II Peter also talks about eye witnesses of Christ's glory.

    The verses from II Peter that I found interesting were 1:8-9. Here it is talking about the different qualities that a Christian needs and if you don't have them, then you are shortsighted. I found this passage to be helpful in finding out exactly how you need to be as a Christian.

    In Jude, I picked verses 18-19. Here it talks about how when the last days are here, people will come and criticize the Christians and make fun of their religion. They will also come and cause division in the church. This just made me think about if we are perhaps at that stage in the world today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jude and 1 Peter are very similar because they are like a preaching. They are both talking to people that already have faith. It is a reminder of what people should be doing. They are different by length. They are also different because Peter is talking what you should be doing day to day. Jude talks about sinners. They are different because of the early points of view and later faith.
    I chose Peter 2:11-13 "Dear friends, you are like foreigners and strangers in this world. I beg you to avoid the evil things from bodies want to do that fight against your soul. People who do not believe are living all around you and might say that you are doing wrong. Live such good lives that they will see the good things you do and will give glory to God on he day when Christ comes again." This verse is important because it says do good for your soul. Follow God.
    Jude says, "God is strong and can help you not to fall. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you an can give you great joy. He is the only God, the one who save us. To him be glory, greatness, power saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and forever. Amen." This is an interesting verse because it says God is everything. This sums up what Jude is saying throughout his teaching

    ReplyDelete
  3. Right from the start, you can see similarities between II Peter and Jude. They both start off their respective books with almost the same blessing about grace and peace. Another similarity between the two books is the mention of false prophets and teachings. When it comes to differences, II Peter is a longer book (3 chapters) than Jude (1 chapter).

    The verse I chose from II Peter was 2 Peter 2:22 - "It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, "a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud"." I found this interesting because of the comparison between someone who finds Jesus but goes back to sinning and a dog going back to vomit.

    The verse I chose in Jude was Jude 1:17-19 - But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; they told you: "In the end time there will be scoffers walking according to their own ungodly desires." These people create divisions and are unbelievers, not having the Spirit." I found this verse important because it is an important warning for all of us to keep in mind. We as Christians need to stay strong and have faith in God when the unbelievers come and create divisions among the church.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Both Jude and 1 Peter talk about the end of days. They talk about the sin and doom of the Ungodly people. I feel that Jude is a much more aggressive letter than 1 Peter. Not aggressive in a bad way, but more of a "Listen people, this needs to be done now, or else ya'll screwed".

    1 Peter seems more poetic, or at least differently poetic. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:24-25.

    Both books are written for a specific audience in mind and both have a specific purpose, basically the same purpose, repentance.

    Just like Ian said, the biggest difference is the length of the books.

    The verse I took from Jude is Jude 1:3-4 . Jude is talking about certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago. Who are these certain individuals? Is this an easy answer?

    I chose 1 Peter 2:23, When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. This is an extremely powerful statement. How many times in our lives do we have insults thrown at us? How many times are we suffered? Jesus has all of this happen and he didn't retaliate nor did he threaten those persecuting him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read this wrong and wrote about 1 Peter rather than II Peter. After class I will fix this. My bad.

      Delete
  5. I think it’s interesting how both books feel as if they could have been written for a Jewish audience. Peter mentions Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Balaam. All things a Jewish audience would recognize and understand. Jude talks about coming out of Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, Balaam, Korah and Enoch, again things that a Jewish audience would get.

    I like verses 12-15 of 2 Peter 1. This makes it pretty clear why he’s writing the letter - to keep reminding Christians of the things he talks about, and to have more of a concrete form of that, he writes them a letter. He’s also really comfortable with the fact that he’s going to die soon - that really puts things in perspective.

    In a similar fashion, Jude says he’s writing the letter because his audience is losing their faith. Verses 3-4 mention this - certain people are coming in and causing others to lose their faith. Jude is warning people to keep what they have believed and to not lose heart.

    It’s good to see both letters have such a specific purpose as to why they were written.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I. 2nd Peter and Jude are very similar in message and stories. They both use the stories of the angels being cast out of Heaven, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the false prophet Balaam. Peter goes on to include Noah and the Flood, while Jude has a couple different stories. Korah's Rebellion, the archangel Michael arguing with Lucifer, the Exodus from Egypt, and a reference to Cain. The reason they may be so similar is piggy backing. I would agree with my Self Study NIV Bible that Jude was written first, then Peter used Jude's letter and added to it.

    II. "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning." (2 Peter 2:20 NIV)

    "Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear- hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 22-23 NIV)

    I like both of these verses. I like in 2 Peter that one who finds God through Jesus and goes back to an unholy existence, that is worse than never finding the Lord in the first place. I love how Jude goes in a bit of the opposite direction and says we should do our best to help those who have doubts, which is self explanatory.

    Petra- Magnet of the World
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djEf88ijJZo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jude and 2nd Peter are similar to one another because they do involve the same subject matter. And they both discuss the matter of false teachers. And in some parts the wording is nearly identical between them, therefore there is some debate on whether one was the source for the other. However, there are also some significant differences between the two. One being that 2nd peter discusses "your apostles" and Jude discusses "the apostles."Another difference between them would be that Jude has a much stronger writing style than Peter. And lastly, the events to which they are referencing conflict with one another because Jude mentions that the age of apostles has ended, and if that were the case than 2nd Peter could not have been written.

    My favorite verse from 2nd Peter would have to be 3:14, because Peter uses this verse as a nice warning to his followers that they need to be on their "best behavior" when the Lord comes. And because they don't know exactly when this is they need to do it all the time. My favorite verse from Jude was Verse 22. And because it was very simplistic and easy to understand I felt that it was a rather important verse. Especially since it is towards the conclusion of Jude as well.

    ReplyDelete