Please read *all* of Jude and II Peter (only four chapters total) and respond to one of the following prompts. You can do *both* prompts for extra credit, but it's easier for me if you add separate comments for each prompt.
1. 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.
2. Both Jude and II Peter deal with division withing the church, division
caused by two different forms of Gnosticism. I'll be talking about
Gnosticism in some detail later in the course. For now, though, just note how Jude and Peter deal with doctrinal divisions withing the church.
An important verse from Jude I think is verse 3 where he urges believers to "contend for the faith." This shows that faith, to Jude, is not passive - it requires effort, awareness, and sometimes even confronting those that distort the truth. In 2 peter chapter 3, I think verse 16 caught my attention the most. it mentions that some people twist Paul's writings (which Peter also calls scripture in the same verse, showing how fast the apostles' writings were already being accepted), which is still an issue today.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of division, both Jude and Peter take strong stances against false teachers. Jude dedicates practically his entire book to this topic, and Peter too. They directly call out the problem and warn their audiences of the danger. At the same time, they also encourage their audience to stay grounded in the truth amidst false teachers and that their best defense against them and against division is strong, well-rooted faith.
One verse from Jude that I find especially important is Jude 1:22: “Be merciful to those who doubt.” I like this verse because it reminds Christians that not everyone has strong faith all the time. Instead of judging people who have questions, Jude says they should be treated with kindness and patience. I think that is important because many people struggle with doubt, and this verse shows that helping them is better than criticizing them.
ReplyDeleteOne verse from Second Peter that I find interesting is 2 Peter 3:8: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” This verse is a little difficult to understand because it talks about time in a way that is very different from how humans think. I think Peter means that God does not experience time the same way people do. What seems slow to us may not be slow to God, which is an important idea when people wonder why God’s plans do not happen right away.
One verse from the book of Jude that I found important was Chapter 1 verse 4 “I say that some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” I found this important because today this verse resonates with some of my friends. Some of them think they can live however they want and not try to live for the Lord but still receive his grace.
ReplyDeleteThe verse I chose for 2 Peter what Chapter 2 verse 19 “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you” I found this verse really interesting because I never viewed sin this way but it makes complete sense. Sin feels like freedom but it's really not.
Jude and Peter both deal with division. One way judges deal with it is by talking about false teachers. The advice he gives Christians on how to deal with this is in Chapter 1 verse 22-23 “And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others,” Peter also deals with division in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse one peter writes “but their will be false prophets in israel, Just as their will be false teachers among you” But earlier writes how to deal with negativity in a positive way in Chapter 1 verses 5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” - Joseph