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John's Letters John, the beloved apostle of Jesus Christ, had a strong love for righteousness. This helped give him a keen insight into the mind of Jesus. We are therefore not surprised that the theme of love dominates his writings. He was no sentimentalist, however, for Jesus referred to hm as one of the "Sons of Thunder." (Mark 3:17) In fact, it was in defense of truth and righteousness that he wrote his three letters which are placed toward the end of the Bible, for the apostasy foretold by the apostle Paul had become evident. John's three letters were indeed timely, for they were an aid in strengthening the early Christians in their fight against the encroachments of "the wicked one." (2thess 2:3+4; 1John 2:13+14; 5:18+19) Judging from the contents, these letters belong to a period much later than the Gospels of Matthew and Mark - later, also than the missionary letters of Peter and Paul. Times had changed. There is no reference to Judaism, the big threat to the congregations in the days of their infancy, and there does not appear to be a single direct quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures. On the other hand, John talks about "the last hour" and the appearance of "many antichrists." (1John 2:eighteen) He refers to his readers by expressions such as "my little " and to himself as "the older man." (1John 2:1, 12+13, 18, 28; 3:Seven, 18; 4:4; 5:21; 2John 1; 3John 1) All of this suggests a late date for his thee letters. Also, 1John 1:3+4 seems to indicate that John's Gospel was written about the same time. It is generally believed that John's three letters were completed about 98 C.E., shortly before the apostle's death, and that they were written in the vicinity of Ephesus. That the First of John was actually written by John the apostle is indicated by its close resemblance to the fourth Gospel, which he unmistakably wrote., e.g., he introduces the letter by describing himself as an eyewitness who has seen "the word of life...., the everlasting life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us," expressions strikingly similar to those with which John's Gospel opens. Its authenticity is attested by the Muratorian Fragment and by such early writers as Irenaeus, Polycarp and Papias, all of the 2nd century C.E. (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol 2, 1982, edited by G.W. Bromiley, ps. 1095-6) According to Eusebuius (c. 260-342 C.E.), the authenticity of First John was never questioned. (The Ecclesiastical History, III, xxiv, 17.) However, it is to be noted that some older translations have added to chapter 5 the following words at the end of verse 7 and the beginning of verse 8: "In heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth." (King James Version) This text is not found in any of the early Greek manuscripts and has obviously been added to bolster the Trinity doctrine. Most modern translations, both catholic and protestant, do not include these words in the main body of the text. (1John 1:1+2) John writes to protect his "beloved ones," his "young ," against the wrong teachings of the "many antichrists" that have gone out form amoung them and that are trying to seduce them away from the truth. (1John 2:Seven, 18) These apostate antichrists may have been influenced by Greek philosophy, including early gnosticism, whose adherents claimed special knowledge of a mystical sort form God. (New Bible Dictionary, second edition, 1986, edited by J.D. Douglas, ps. 426, 604) Taking a firm stand against apostasy, John deals extensively with three themes: sin, love and the antichrist. His statements on sin, and in support of Jesus' sacrifice for sins, indicate that they(the antichrists) were without sin and had no need of Jesus' ransom sacrifice. Their self-centered "knowledge" had made them selfish and loveless, a condition that John exposes as he continually emphasizes true Christian love. Moreover, John is apparently combating their false doctrine as he expounds that Jesus is the Christ, that he had a prehuman existence, and that he came in the flesh as the of God to provide salvation for believing men. (1John 1:Seven-10; 2:1+2; 4:16-21; 2:22; 1:1+2; 4:2+3, 14+15) John brands these false teachers plainly as "antichrists" and he gives a number of ways in which the of God and the of the devil can be recognized. (1John 2:18, 22; 4:3) Since no particular congregation is addressed, the letter was evidently intended for the entire Christian association. The lack of a greeting at the beginning and a salutation at the end would also indicate this. Some have even described this writing as a treatise rather than a letter. The use of the plural "you" throughout shows that the writer directed his words to a group rather than to an individual. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Second of John is short - it could have been written on a single sheet of papyrus - but it is full of meaning. It is addressed "to the chosen lady and to her ." Since "Kyria" (Greek for lady) did exist as a proper name at the time, some Bible scholars feel that an individual by that name was being addressed. On the other hand, it is thought by some that John was writing to a Christian congregation, referring to it as "the chosen lady." This may have been done in order to confuse persecutors. In that case, the greetings of "the of your sister" mentioned in the last verse would be those of the members of another congregation. So the second letter was not intended to be as general in scope as the first, for it evidently was written either to an individual or to one particular congregation. (2John 1) There is no reason to doubt that John wrote this letter as the writer calls himself "the older man." This certainly fits John not only because of his advanced age but also because, as one of the "pillars" (Gal 2:9) and the last surviving apostle, he was truly an "older man" in the Christian congregation. He was well-known, and no further identification would be required for his readers. His writership is also indicated by the similarity in the style to that of the first letter and John's Gospel. Like the first letter, the second letter appears to have been written in or around Ephesus, about 98 C.E. Concerning the Second and Third John, McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia, 1981 reprint, Vol. IV, p 955 comments: From their general similarity, we may conjecture that the two epistles were written shortly after the 1st Epistle from Ephesus. They both apply to individual cases of conduct the principles which had been laid down in their fullness in the 1st Epistle." In support of its authenticity, the letter is quoted by Irenaeus, of the 2nd century, and was accepted by Clement of Alexandria, of the same period. (New Bible Dictionary, second edition, 1986, edited by J.D. Douglas, p 605) Also, John's letters are listed in the Muratorian Fragment. As was true of First John, the reason for this letter is the onslaught by false teachers against the Christian faith, John wants to warn his readers about such ones so they can recognize them and stay clear of them, while continuing to walk in the truth, in mutual love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Third of John is written to Gaius, a faithful Christian whom John truly loved. The name Gaius was a common one in the days of the early congregation. It appears four times in other parts of the Christian Greek Scriptures, referring to at least three and probably four different men. (Acts 19:29; 20:4; Rom 16:23; 1Cor 1:14) There is no information available that would definitely identify the Gaius to whom John wrote with any of these others. All that we know of Gaius is that he was a member of a Christian congregation, that he was a special friend of John's and that the letter was addressed to him personally, for which reason the word "you" appears always in the singular. Since the style of the opening and closing greetings is the same as that of Second John and the writer again identifies himself as "the older man," there can be no question that the apostle John also wrote this letter. (2John 1) The similarity of contents and language also suggests that it was written, as in the case of the other two letters, in or near Ephesus, about 98 C.E. Because of its brevity, it was seldom quoted by early writers, but along with Second John, it is to be found in early catalogues of the inspired Scriptures. ( See chart "Outstanding Early Catalogs of the Christian Greek Scriptures," p 303) In his letter John expresses appreciation for Gaius' hospitality shown toward travelling brothers, and he mentions some trouble with a certain ambitious Diotrephes. The Demetrius mentioned seems to be the one who brought this letter to Gaius, so it is possible he was sent out by John and was in need of Gaius' hospitality on his journey, which the letter should secure. As in the case of Gaius, we know nothing about Diotrephes and Demetrius beyond what we read here. The letter gives an interesting glimpse of the close international brotherhood of the early Christians. Amoung other things, this included the custom of receiving hospitably those travelling "in behalf of the name," although these might not be personally know to their hosts. (3John 7) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once again I pray that these wonderful insights into the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures aids your understanding of Bible knowledge. Katidid. |
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