If Jude said the faith was once delivered, could Revelation be included if it was written after Jude?
Question:
I have a question about whether Jude was written before Revelation or not. If everything was once and all delivered to the saints does that make Revelation a newer testament or is it ok because it coincides with the rest of the Bible? Sorry, something came to mind about the dating of Jude and Revelation. I was wondering what your take is with the date of Jude and Revelation. Could there be more stuff after that because John was an apostle?
Answer:
"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).
Jude is an epistle that we know very little about. There are long drawn out arguments over which Jude, the brother of James, wrote the letter (there are two strong possibilities). Nor are we certain as to when it was written. Many people place it late in the era when the New Testament was written, but they do so mostly because it contains themes very similar to II Peter and we know that one was written just before Peter's death (II Peter 1:13-15). But since both II Peter 2 and Jude deal with the rising tide of false teachers, it is likely they were written about the same time. Most scholars put it a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem, generally around A.D. 64.
There are two contending dates for Revelation, either just before A.D. 70 or A.D. 92. The later has better evidence in my opinion.
When Jude states that the faith was delivered "once for all" it does not imply that the entire revelation came in one sitting. The New Testament seems to have been written between A.D. 40 and A.D. 92. Most of the books were done before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but there are several that probably were written afterward. In relative terms, especially considering that the Old Testament was written over a 1,500-year span of time, this was a short, one-time writing session.
Though Jude wasn't the very last book written, he could with the confidence given by the Holy Spirit declare that the writing was a done deal. Such is seen in the use of the past tense. The past tense is frequently used in prophetic writings to indicate that something is so certain to happen that it can be spoken of as having had taken place. You can see this in Paul's writings when he declared, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ..." (II Timothy 3:16) even though at the time of the writing some parts were still yet to be written.
So Jude is talking about a short era in which the Holy Spirit delivered the message of God through the apostles. This writing was delivered only once and would stand for all Christians for all time. It would include some of the writings that came shortly thereafter, such as Revelation, but it would clearly exclude claims of later prophecies, such as those by Mohammad, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, or Ellen White.
