The Letters of Jude and Second Peter: An Introduction and Study Guide Paranoia and the Slaves of Christ

This Guide surveys the more important historical, socio-cultural, theological, and literary factors we must grapple with in understanding the two letters of Jude and Second Peter, between which there are very strong similarities. It appears that the letter of Jude was almost entirely 'plagiarized' by the letter of Second Peter. George Aichele's main approach is the method of semiotics, examining signifying mechanisms in each of the texts both independently and when they are read together.

In both of the letters, Jesus Christ is called the 'master', with a Greek word that means 'slave-owner', and the authors of both books refer to themselves and other Christians as the slaves of Christ. Furthermore, both writings report situations of paranoid fear within Christian communities of their time as they picture heretical infiltrators who threaten to pervert and perhaps even destroy the community.
In addition to this, in an adventurous excursion, the letter of Jude is read intertextually with the classic science fiction/horror film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Siegel 1956), in order to explore the dynamics of paranoia.

Preface: The View from Mars

1. Critical Issues in Jude and 2 Peter, or What the Martian May Not Know
Codes and Canon
Authors, Dates, Locations
Terminology Matters
The Good Guys
The Bad Guys
Appendix: Some Obscure Language

2. A Paranoid Gospel: Jude and the Abolition of Difference
You're Next
They're Gonna Get You
We Know your Little Secret
UR NXT

3. Taming Paranoia: 2 Peter Rewrites Jude
Creative Rewriting
Second Peter's First Chapter
Second Peter's Second Chapter
Second Peter's Third Chapter
What Has 2 Peter Done to Jude?

4. The Christian Body and the Christian Mind
Organ-izing the Christian Body
Canon Effect
Theology and the Gospel
Reading with Different Assumptions

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