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(1st century)
Biographical
In the address of the Epistle of St Jude, the author styles himself 'Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James'. 'Servant of Jesus Christ' means 'apostolic minister or labourer'. 'Brother of James' denotes him as the brother of James kat exochen who was well-known to the Hebrew Christians to whom the Epistle of St Jude was written. This James is to be identified with the Bishop of the Church of Jerusalem, spoken of by St Paul as 'the brother of the Lord', who was the author of the Epistle of St James. Most Catholic commentators identify Jude with the 'Judas Jacobi'— also called Thaddeus— referring the expression to the fact that his brother James was better known than himself in the primitive Church. This view is strongly confirmed by the title 'the brother of James', by which Jude designates himself in the address of his Epistle. If this identification is proved, it is clear that Jude, the author of the Epistle, was reckoned among the Twelve Apostles. Beyond this we find no further information concerning Jude in the New Testament, except that the 'brethren of the Lord', among whom Jude was included, were known to the Galatians and the Corinthians; also that several of them were married, and that they did not fully believe in Christ until after the Resurrection. From a fact of Hegesippus told by Eusebius, we learn that Jude was 'said to have been the brother of the Lord according to the flesh', and that two of his grandsons lived till the reign of Trajan.
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