An Introduction to the book of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John.
A striking quality of these small books was pointed out in an old college press commentary. How does one develop from "the son of thunder" (Mark 3:17) to the apostle of love as John was so well known in later years. No matter how we see that change coming about, it did happen and this is one of the greatest evidences as to how a Christian matures.
The three epistles (1st, 2nd and 3rd John) are often referred to as the "general epistles," since they were not written to a specific congregation.
John apparently had a very special relationship with the Lord Jesus. He called himself "the disciple that Jesus loved" (John 21:7). He was one of the select three, Peter, James, and John at the transfiguration. He shared a lonely night together in Gethsemane prior to the trial and crucifixion.
At least to my knowledge, John the apostle has been accepted as the author of all three of these small books but as all NT books there has been controversy. The style of 1st John is different than the other books and some claim that it was a later writing. There is no evidence to support this allegation and the evidence for its authenticity seems to be overwhelming. 1st John is found in all the very early writings of the church. The internal evidence is also strong. John claims that he was an "eyewitness" (1 John 1:1-3). While there may be some apparent differences in style between the three books, the grammar in all three books is compatible with the idea that they were all three written by the same person. For that reason and others there is no real cause to challenge the books.
Date and Occasion
It is suggested that these three books were written toward the end of the apostle's life. If this is the case, that accounts for the brevity of the books and a certain psychological element found in the books that usually only comes with maturity. It is usually thought that the books were written in the middle 90's from Ephesus. This is where John spent his final years. There is abundant outside evidence to support this.
When the books were written, the church was being persecuted by the Roman Empire. This is also the context behind one of John's writings we know as the Apocalypse. But in the case of these small letters, false teachers had entered the church in the form of Gnostics. Read all about the Gnostics from original sources. These people were the "false teachers" and the "Anti-Christs" of John's writings.
There
can be no doubt as to why John wrote these letters. He tells us in
1st John 5: 13. "I write these things to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal
life." These false teachers (the Gnostic s who John will
refer to as the "Anti-Christ") have unsettled the
congregation and made people doubt their salvation.
In 3rd John
11, John summarizes the content of his thoughts. "My friends,
do not imitate what is evil but what is good."
RECIPIENTS
Were
1st, 2nd and 3rd John circular letters? The letters themselves are
not addressed to a specific group but very generally to simply
"Christians." To say anything more about the
recipients is speculation. We know nothing else outside of what is in
the text.
It is commonly supposed that the primary recipients were
the churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) based on Jesus
charging John with the keeping of Mary. The traditional tomb of Mary
is still found at Ephesus.
GNOSTICISM AND DOCETISM
Gnosticism has survived these many centuries and is still with us today in varied forms. After the discovery of the Nag Hammadi text ( here) in 1945, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud established Gnostic schools all over Europe. These schools were secular but as time passed the Gnostic ideas moved into religion. Most notably we find those ideas today in what is commonly called "the Evangelical Movement," although to be fair, even Martin Luther who founded the Protestant movement had Gnostic tendencies. He read the book of Romans and developed his doctrine of Sola Fide (only faith) but a careful examination of his work exposes what amounts to a very selective reading with a Gnostic twist. As the Lutheran doctrine of salvation by faith alone has been interpreted over the years, it came to mean that a person is saved based on some mental cognition separate and apart from that person's physical body doing anything. ( here ) What Luther and others did not mention as they discussed the book of Romans was that those to whom Paul wrote in this letter had already be baptized (Romans 6:34) and they obeyed a form of doctrine (6:17), which was baptism. The book of Romans pre-supposed baptism. Different forms of Gnostic doctrine will always be around and there is really "nothing new under the sun."
Gnostic teachings were a giant problem during the NT era. Paul referred to their teachings as "falsely-named knowledge" (1st Tim. 6:20). Gnosticism probably had its ancient roots in Zoroastrianism, Platonism, and other religions of Persia. (here) In short, most all believed that the physical elements of earth (dirt, water, etc) were evil since they were made by the evil God of the OT. The God of the NT was good and was "spiritual." Jesus was not a real physical body but only "appeared" to be human, thus doceticism.
Modern Gnostics, as Sigmund Freud, claimed to have a special knowledge. Special insight into the human soul and mind was their gift. Freud even went so far as to write a book called The Interpretation of Dreams. The ancient Gnostics were no different. They also had a special knowledge. In later church history we see the formation of the Roman Catholic doctrine of Apostolic Succession was in part a defense against Gnostic beliefs. The Gnostics claimed they talked to God directly (Montanism) and that idea eliminated the need for the church and the Bible. After all, if a person can talk to God directly that really cuts into the authority of the church! To protect the authority of the church it was decided that the Bishops had secrets they heard directly from the apostles. It was impossible for the Montanist to know everything since only the Bishops had these secrets and these secrets were passed on through succeeding generations of Bishops. In this case we have one heresy inventing another heresy.
A short list of what the Gnostics believed:
1. They had a special knowledge.
2. They separated the physical from the spiritual. Physical stuff was evil.
3. They had a very unusual concept of creation and the creator called the Demiurge.
4. Jesus was not really a human, He only appeared to be human.
5. Humans have no free will. People are more less predestined (that is the idea behind 1st John 1:8). After all, if people believe they don't have a free will, whatever behavior they find themselves participating in is normal and natural (not sin).
6. Gnosticism in the NT shows up in two different manners. Some people just withdrew from everything (all that evil stuff) and Paul speaks against these people in Col. 2: 20-22. Others embraced all that evil stuff since it was natural and nothing could be done about it. We find those people in Revelation 2:20. John speaks of those who embraced what is known as Jezebel. Note, Jezebel was not a person but a set of teachings (2:24).
A General Outline of the Book is as follows (from College Press).
I. THE WORD OF LIFE--1:1-4
II. LIFE WITH GOD AND THE WORLD--1:5-2:27
A. The way of Light and Darkness---1:5-7
B. Admitting we are sinners---1:8-10
C. The Atoning Sacrifice---2:1-2
D. Keeping God's Commandments----2:3-6
E. A New Commandment ---2:7-8
F. In the Light or in the Darkness---2:9-11
G. John's Reason for writing---2:12-14
H. Christians and the World---2:15-17
I. Warnings against the Anti-Christ---2:18-27
III. GOD'S LOVE FOR US/OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER---2:28-34
A. Children of God---2:28-29
B. God's Love for His Children---3:1-3
C. Warnings against Sin---3:4-10
D. Love One Another---3:11-24
IV. TESTING THE SPIRITS/TRUSTING GOD---4:1-5:12
A. Testing the Spirits---4:1-6
B. God's Love and our Love---4:7-21
C. Faith in the Son of God---5:1-5
D. The Three Witnesses---5:6-12
V. Concluding Remarks---5:13-21