Introduction - 1, 2, and 3 John

From AbideinChrist.com

AUTHOR

Merrill Tenney observes: "If the criteria of vocabulary and style are ever adequate for pronouncing judgment on authorship, these three short letters must be attributed to one author who is also the author of the Fourth Gospel. All four of these writings were probably produced about the same time and at the same place."

Although none of these three short letters attributed to John actually bear his name, the similarities within all the writings and a strong early church tradition identifies the author as the Apostle John, "whom Jesus loved." The strongest evidence is for John the Apostle as the author of all three letters, the Gospel of John, and Revelation. He was the son of Zebedee. Some scholars argue for another John (the elder or presbyter). Every piece of evidence points to John the elder being the same person as John the apostle and author of this letter.

DATE

All three were written about A.D. 85, or late 80’s and early 90’s. These letters were probably written after the Gospel of John and before the persecution under Domitian in A.D. 95.

PLACE OF WRITING

Probably from Ephesus because there is a strong tradition that John spent his old age in Ephesus. He had been exiled not far away on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:9).
The first epistle opens by summarizing the Fourth Gospel (I John 1:1; cf. John 21:31). The stated purpose of the First Epistle is found in 5:13, and carries the reader one step beyond the Gospel. "The Gospel was written to arouse faith; the First Epistle was written to establish certainty," observes Tenney.

E. J. Goodspeed suggests the Second and Third Epistles may have been written as "covering letters," one to the church, addressed under the figure of the "elect lady" (II Jn. 1), and the other to Gaius, the pastor (III Jn. 1). They were intended to be private notes of counsel and greeting, whereas the main body of teaching was contained in the Gospel and in the First Epistle.

INTRODUCTION: FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN

RECIPIENTS

The lack of personal references in this letter indicates that it was written in sermonic style to Christians all over Asia Minor. It was probably a circular letter, much like Ephesians.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this letter was to tell believers how they might know they have eternal life. This epistle deals with the same heresy that Paul confronted in his Epistle to the Colossians: Gnosticism. The readers were preoccupied with a secret "knowledge" which is evident by how many times John uses the word "know" in this letter. He writes to strengthen their faith and fellowship and warn them about the false teachers with their "secret" knowledge.