Introducing the Johannine Epistles

     In addition to his Gospel and the book of Revelation, the apostle John reportedly contributed three epistles (or letters) to the New Testament canon. The documents known as 2 John and 3 John are the shortest books of the NT, while 1 John lacks the characteristics of a typical Greek letter and is more akin in form to Hebrews than to the other NT epistles.

Authorship

     In none of these epistles does the author explicitly identify himself. First John does not have the conventional opening address where the author’s name would normally appear, although the author does clearly write as an eyewitness (1:1-5; 4:14; 5:6-7) and the writing “contains an unmistakable air of authority” (D. Guthrie, NT Introduction 866-67). Note the frequent references to the readers as teknia (“little children”) (2:1, 12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:21), expectations to be obeyed (cf. 4:6), and the emphatic condemnation of error (cf. 2:18 ff.; 4:1 ff.).

     In 2 John and 3 John the author simply identifies himself as ho presbuteros (“the elder”). First John shares a number of striking similarities in theme, vocabulary, and syntax with the Gospel of John, and the other two epistles are closely linked with 1 John in vocabulary and theme, suggesting common authorship of all four documents.¹ The term menō (“abide”) occurs sixty-eight times in the Johannine writings, and a combined total of only fifty-one times in the rest of the NT.

     No ancient source ever ascribes the three Johannine epistles to anyone other than the apostle John, son of Zebedee. Allusions to these letters are found in the writings of Clement of Rome (1 Clem. 49.5), the Didache (10.5-6), the Epistle of Barnabas (5.9-11; 12.10), and Polycarp (Phil. 7.1). Specific references to the epistles are found in Papias (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.39.17), Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 3.16.18), Clement of Alexandria (Strom. 2.15.66), and Origen (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 6.25.10). The first epistle has greater attestation than the other two, simply because 2 and 3 John are substantially briefer and less theologically quotable. 

Questioning Johannine Authorship

     In the absence of any conclusive evidence to the contrary, the most reasonable conclusion is that the apostle John did in fact author these epistles. Nevertheless, many critical scholars are reluctant to accept this conclusion. Alternative suggestions for authorship include a Johannine School, a disciple of John, and an obscure figure simply known as the Elder John.

     There are subtle differences between John’s Gospel and 1 John in vocabulary and teaching, including words and expressions in 1 John that are not found in the Fourth Gospel, and vice versa.² The author of 2-3 John identifies himself as ho presbuteros (“the elder”), not as the apostle John.

Responses To These Objections

     While the similarities far outweigh the differences and the respective genres of the documents reflect different purposes, D. A. Carson and D. J. Moo correctly respond: “We should speak of complementarity of vision and thought, of differentiation in application, not of mutual contradiction” (An Introduction to the NT 773).

     John would have been so well known to the initial recipients of his writings that an explicit mention of his name was unnecessary. Moreover, John seems to have favored descriptive terms over personal names, e.g. “the beloved disciple,” and “the mother of Jesus.” The apostle Peter describes himself as sumpresbuteros (“fellow-elder”) in 1 Pet. 5:1, and according to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist. 3.39.4), Papias referred to Philip, Thomas, James, John, and Matthew as presbuteroi (“elders”).
     Historically there were no attempts to differentiate among the “Johns” in the respective titles of the canonical Johannine documents, presumably because readers already knew who was intended (see D. Trobisch, First Edition of the NT 55).

Provenance, Date, Audience, and Destination

     Because of their connection with the apostle John and their relationship with the Fourth Gospel, the most likely place of origin of these epistles is Ephesus (see Introducing John's Gospel). According to tradition, John moved to Ephesus during the Jewish War (66-70) and eventually died there at the end of the 1st century (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 3.31.3; 5.24.2; Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.1.1).

     Most scholars understand the Johannine epistles to have been written after the Gospel of John. The chief opponents in John’s Gospel are “the Jews,” whereas the main concern in 1-2 John involves deceivers who are antichristos (“antichrist” or “against Christ”). As the epistles seem to be confronting a form of proto-gnosticism, a reasonable date is sometime in the decade of the 90s, ca. 90-95. Among the more liberal scholars who reject Johannine authorship, these epistles are dated as late as 100-110 (S. L. Harris, Understanding the Bible [7th ed.] 513-14) or even into the 120s-130s (L. M. White, From Jesus to Christianity 316, 416).

Recipients of the three epistles

     No addressee is mentioned in 1 John, therefore the document is legitimately regarded as a “general epistle.” Second John is addressed to “chosen lady and her children.” This may have been a Christian woman with believing children who was accustomed to showing hospitality to traveling evangelists. Some have suggested that the address is metaphorical, referring to a local congregation. In v. 13 greetings are sent either from the nephews and/or nieces of the “chosen lady” or from a sister congregation (in Ephesus?).

     Third John is addressed to “Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth.” Since “Gaius” was a fairly common name throughout the Roman Empire (cf. Acts 19:29; 20:4; Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14), no specific identification is possible here. It is notable that Gaius is described as “the beloved” by “the beloved disciple” himself.

     Since John’s other writings appear to have originally been intended for the benefit of those living in the vicinity of Ephesus, i.e., Asia [Minor] (cf. Rev. 1:11), the same may be the case for his epistles.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ See Introducing John's Gospel. See also R. E. Brown, The Epistles of John 755-59; An Introduction to the NT 383, 397-98, 401; D. A. Carson and D. J. Moo, An Introduction to the NT 671-75; D. Guthrie, NT Introduction  867; also A. E. Brooke, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Johannine Epistles i-xix, 235-42; R. Law, The Tests of Life 341-63. 

     ² For examples, see R. E. Van Voorst, Reading the NT Today 516; R. E. Brown, An Introduction to the NT 389.

Related Posts: General Epistles: Introduction

Helpful Resources: G. Goswell, "Johannine Corpus," JETS 61.4 (2018): 717-33.

Image credit: http://www.plainbibleteaching.com/2015/04/07/a-letter-to-little-children/

The General Epistles: An Introduction

     Since at least the 4th century, the seven NT epistles of James, Peter, John, and Jude have been collectively known as the “catholic” or “universal” or “general” epistles, mainly to distinguish them from the writings of Paul. This joint designation is intended to convey the sense of a broad, indefinite address to all Christians as opposed to a particular congregation or individual. C. R. Holladay suggests that one of the reasons these epistles were collectively so designated early on was because they were accepted and read by the church in general (A Critical Introduction to the NT 469).  

     Apparently 1 John was the first to receive the appellation that was eventually applied to all seven epistles for the sake of convenience (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.23.25; 5.18.5; 7.25.7), although 2-3 John were not initially written for the universal church and 1 Peter has a geographically limited address (cf. also 2 Pet. 3:1). The General Epistles bear the respective names of their authors, in contrast to the Pauline letters which bear the names of the recipients. While some have included Hebrews in this list, most recognize as the “General Epistles” only James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. The writings of James and 1 Peter are principally ethical, Jude and 2 Peter eschatological, and the Johannine epistles christological and ethical.

     B. M. Metzger observes that “our New Testament would be infinitely poorer without the variety of emphases supplied by the general letters…. As sunlight is composed of a variety of colors, so the spectrum of early Christian theology represented in the New Testament letters is remarkable for its diversity of emphases as well as for its unity in fundamentals” (The NT: Its Background, Growth, and Content 283).

  

Book	Approx. Date	Writer(s)
James	45-50	James the Lord’s brother (1:1)
1 Peter	64-65	Peter and Silvanus (1:1; 5:12)
2 Peter	64-65	Peter (1:1)
Jude	65-67	Jude the Lord’s brother (1:1)
1, 2, 3 John	90-95	John the apostle

     Five of these writings were contributed by apostles of Jesus Christ, while the other two were written by the Lord’s half-brothers. Chronologically they comprise the earliest and among the latest of the NT documents.¹

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnote:
     ¹ For more chronological details, see K. L. Moore, A Critical Introduction to the New Testament 201-21.

Related Posts: Epistle of Jacob, Epistle of Judas, Distinctive Features of 1 Peter, Distinctive Features of 2 Peter, Introducing the Johannine Epistles

Image credit: http://stpaulsucc.org/fellowship-groups/bible-studies/