Ch. iii. 2, 3. Μνησθῆναι τῶν προειρημένων ῥημάτων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων ἡμῶν ἐντολῆς, τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος. Τατο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, ὅτι ἐλεύσονται ἐπ ̓ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐμπαῖκται, κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμίας πορευό

μενοι.

Ver. 17, 18. Υμεῖς δὲς ἀγαπητοί, μνήσθητε τῶν ῥης μάτων τῶν προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Κυρίου ή μῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὅτι ἔλεγον ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἐν ἐσχάτῳ χρό νῳ ἔσονται ἐμπαῖκται, κατὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίας πορευόμενοι τῶν ἀσεβειῶν.

In the firft of thefe paflages the Παρεισέδυσαν of St. Jude has a plain refemblance and reference to the Παρεισάξουσιν of St. Peter: both words are formed upon the fame notion, and are meant to defcribe the craft and subtle infinuation of the new falfe teachers. The turning χάριν εἰς ἀσέλγειαν in St. Jude, anfwers the αἱρέσεις απωλείας in St. Peter; and for the reft, the paffages are nearly the same, and refer to Gospel notions.

If the fecond paffage of St. Peter be read, as it ought to be, according to the Alexandrian manufcript, which has αγάπαις inftead of ἀπάταις, it agrees exactly with St. Jude's; and the feafts peculiar to Christians are meant in both places. The third paffage relates to the Apoftles of Chrift; and it is the principal paffage to incline one to think that St. Jude had St. Peter's Epiftle before him; for he feems to take what is proper to his own purpose, and the fubject of his Epiftle, and to leave that which has a peculiar reference to the former part of St. Peter's Epistle, and to which there is nothing in his own to anfwer. St. Peter, in the firft chapter of this fe

cond Epiftle, and likewife in his firft Epiftle, tells the Chriftians of the ancient prophecies, forefhewing the deliverance near at hand: he warns them likewise against the new false teachers in this fecond Epiftle. Therefore, collecting the purpose of his Epiftles, he says, that he wrote to them to remind them, 1. Of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets: 2. And of the command of the Apoftles, which command refpected the fcoffers in the last days. But St. Jude, who had faid nothing of the ancient prophecies, and had spent his whole Epistle in describing the iniquity of the falfe teachers, reminds them only of the words spoken by the Apoftles of Chrift Jefus, who had, together with the doctrine delivered to them, forewarned them, that there should be mockers in the last time.

I fee no inconvenience in fuppofing, that St. Jude had as well the Epiftle of St. Peter, as the old Jewish book, which contained the description of the ancient false prophets, and the prophecy of Enoch concerning them, before him at the fame time. If these laft paffages prove that he had St. Peter's Epiftle, his express quoting of Enoch fhews that he had the other. In following the old book, and enlarging from thence the inftances made ufe of by St. Peter, and expreffing in words of his own the fentiments of the original author, without confining himself to the verfion of St. Peter, he did no more than it is natural for any man to do in a like cafe. But perhaps there may be another account to be given of this agreement between these two Epiftles, by referring them to fome further common fource or original.

St. Jude calls upon the Chriftians to whom he

wrote, to remember τῶν ῥημάτων προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, the words which were spoken before of the Apoftles of Chrift. They who do not place St. Jude in the number of Apoftles, are under no difficulty here; it was natural for one of a lower rank to refer to the authority and predictions of Chrift's Apoftles. But what muft we fay for St. Peter, who makes the fame appeal, and was undoubtedly an Apoftle of Chrift himself? -Did he think that he had lefs authority, or was lefs to be regarded than other Apoftles? Or for what reason did he appeal to that authority in others, which he had right to infift on himself? This matter is fomething mended by our English verfion, Be mindfulof the commandment of US, the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour. But the order of the words in our Greek copies will not bear this rendering, Tv aσTÓλων ἡμῶν : to anfwer our Verfion we muft read ἡμῶν τῶν ἀποστόλων. Thus St. Paul often fpeaks, ἐγὼ Παῦλος, I Paul, but never Пauλos yw, Paul I. And fince there is evidently a diflocation of the word uw in St. Peter, and it must be placed elsewhere, it ought probably to be placed as St. Jude has placed it, after Kupíou; and then the English verfion must be thus: -The commandment of the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour.

There must be something particular in this cafe; otherwife, for an Apoftle to appeal to the authority of Apoftles, as fomething fuperior to his own, is not very natural. But if we fuppofe that the Apoftles had a meeting upon this great cafe of the new falfe teachers, and that they gave jointly, by common confent and deliberation, precepts proper to the oc

cafion, to be communicated to all churches, no finglé Apostle would, or could, in this cafe, call the common injunction his commandment, but would certainly call it, in the language of St. Peter, the commandment of the Apoftles of our Lord. St. Paul was an Apostle, yet was it no difparagement to him to carry the decree of the council of Jerufalem to the churches of

his plantation; and in writing or fpeaking he could not but have called it the decree of the Apoftles. The cafe might be the fame here.

We have fome evidence to fhew that this was the cafe. That there was fuch a tradition, at least in the church, is evident from the Apoftolical Conftitutions in which there is mention made of a meeting of the Apoftles upon the very account of these falfe teachers, so particularly defcribed by St. Peter and St. Jude. In the thirteenth chapter of the fixth book, thefe falfe teachers are defcribed to be fuch as πολεμοῦσι Χριστῷ καὶ Μωσεῖ, fight againft Chrift and Mofes, pretending at the fame time to value both. And thus the falfe teachers, mentioned in both Epiftles, communicated with the church, whilst they corrupted its faith. They were ἐν ταῖς ἀγάπαις σπιλάδες, Spots in the churches' feafts, Jude, ver. 12. They are ordered to be expelled in the Apoftolical Conftitutions, that the lambs might be preferved ὑγια καὶ ἄσπιλα, Jound, and without spot. They are reprefented in the Apoftolical Conftitutions as the falfe Chriftians and falfe Prophets foretold in the Gospel.-eòv Brac¢H= μοῦντες, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καταπατοῦντες ; which agrees exactly with St. Jude's account of them, that they had been foretold by the Apostles, and that they denied the only Lord God, and our Lord Jefus Chrift

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ver. 4. And with St. Peter's likewife; Who bring in damnable herefies, denying the Lord that bought them, chap. ii. ver. 1.

At this meeting, it is faid, inftructions were given to be communicated to all churches by their refpective apoftles and bishops: there were probably then many circular letters fent upon this occafion; the fecond Epiftle of St. Peter, and St. Jude's Epiftle, feem to be of this fort; and, being drawn upon the fame occafion, and upon the fame inftructions, it is no wonder they agree fo well together.

There are in the Epiftles themselves fome marks which confirm the foregoing account: the very word (ivrons) ufed by St. Peter, when he makes mention of the Apoftles' authority, points out fome particular and distinguished precept: for he does not seem to refer to the general preaching or doctrines of the Apostles, but to fome fpecial command or form of doctrine relating to the falfe teachers. This is that ἐντολὴ παραδοθεῖσα mentioned in the clofe of the foregoing chapter, the commandment delivered to the faithful, to guard them against the corruptions of the falfe teachers, and to few them τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης, the way of righteoufnefs. This warning, fo folemnly given, would, as the Apostle infifts, be an aggravation in the cafe of all fuch as, having been made thus acquainted with the way of righteousness, should nevertheles turn afide ἐκ τῆς παραδοθείσης αὐτοῖς ἁγίας ἐνα Toans, from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

St. Jude plainly fays, that his Epiftle was wrote purely upon the account of the falfe teachers: that his intentions were to have written to them gì tõs κοινῆς σωτηρίας, of the common doctrines of falvation