유다서의 우주론

Cosmology in Jude

The Epistle of Jude is among the most neglected books of the New Testament. However, Jude is important to have an understanding of the nature of false teachers and the eschatological mission of the church. The purpose of this study is to investigate the overall function of cosmology presented in Jude in order to appreciate its literary and theological strategy. In terms of how cosmology functions in Jude, I attempt to read the epistle as a whole and consider the Old Testament and Jewish apocalyptic traditions of cosmology (e.g., the heavenly world, the heavenly courtroom, and the places of punishment and mercy). A close reading of Jude's cosmological language and how it functions in his narrative reveals first of all the problem and fate of the false teachers whose ethical libertinism is expressed as transgressed their proper places or overstepping their bounds (v. 6; cf. 1 En. 10:4-6). These false teachers, as dreamers, justified their lifestyle, by boasting that they received the divine revelation in the heavenly realm (vv. 8, 16, 18). It means that they blasphemed the glorious ones (the angels) in heaven, who functioned as the guardians of God's law and the created order (vv. 8-10). The problem of the false teachers is seen by the distinction between their behavior and Michael who kept his proper position in the heavenly courtroom and who did not bring the verdict, God's prerogative (v. 9). Like the fallen angels who are imprisoned in the place of darkness, the false teachers will be sent to the place of punishment which is represented by the images of darkness and fire (vv. 6, 13, 23). The author implies the heavenly courtroom at the last judgement when the Lord comes with a myriad of angels (vv. 14b-15; cf. 1 En. 1:9; Dan 7:9-14; Matt 16:27). In contrast to the destiny of the false teachers and those who are influenced by them, those who wait for the mercy of the Lord will stand before his glorious presence with great joy which will be experienced in the heavenly court or throne room (v. 24). The eschatological mission of the readers is to snatch some from the place of punishment to the realm of great joy (vv. 23-24). The author thus repeatedly highlights the problem and fate of the false teachers and the eschatological mission of the church by using the structure of the cosmos as the spatial setting for his narrative plot and theology (e.g., eschatology and salvation history). Jude's use of cosmology for eschatology and soteriology manifests his Jewish apocalyptic worldview.