1 John
To accompany a series I’m doing on 1 John I thought I’d give some background notes on the website to help us understand this ‘letter’ as a community.
Contents:
This letter is a set of variations on two main themes: right faith and right conduct.
Prologue: 1:1-4, reality of incarnation
First Part – 1:5-2:27, the two main themes
1:5-2:17, walking in the light, warning against falling into sin; brotherly love is the proof of walking in the light
2:18-27, confession of Jesus as the Christ, attack on false teachers who teach otherwise.
Second Part – 2:28-4:6, the same themes continued
2:28-3:24, doing righteousness: the theme of brotherly love is expanded
4:1-6, Jesus Christ has truly come in the flesh
Third Part – 4:7-5:13, love and faith
4:7-21, love based on faith and…
5:1-13, …faith based on love are the marks of the true Christian
Conclusion – 5:14-21
Nature of the Writing:
As it lacks an address and final greetings, and as it has no personal references it is not truly a letter as it stands but more of a tract or short treatise intended for all Christians.
Purpose:
The author gives sharp warnings against heretical teaching that seems to be a general danger to the church rather than confined to a particular area. False teachers who have had their own spiritual experiences have arisen and denied that Jesus was the Son of God and that He came in the flesh. This was a variety of Christian Gnosticism, but it cannot be more closely defined with certainty. Many scholars suggest that the heresy was Cerinthianism ie the teaching of Cerinthus who lived at the end of the first century of Asia Minor. However, there is no trace of some of his distinctive doctrines, for example that the Christ was only temporarily joined with the man Jesus. It is a more developed Gnosticism, however, than the heresy attacked in Colossians, the Pastorals, Jude and 2 Peter, it includes wrong teaching about the person of Christ. In attacking the heresy the author uses terms that the heretics used and thought forms that are found in the Gospel of John.
Authorship:
There are clear similarities in language, style and thought with the Gospel of John, which has led most scholars to believe that they were by the same author. However, some have noted differences that lead them to propose a different author, though one who moved in the same circle of thought or was influenced by the Gospel. The arguments are:
Language: Some detailed differences in vocabulary have been noted. However I don’t think these are sufficient to prove another author, it is more plausible that it is the same author writing at different times.
Different Ideas: Examples. (1) future eschatology is emphasised (1 Jn 2:28, 3:2, 4:17) and (2) it is Jesus Christ, not the Holy Spirit who is described as the parakletos in 1 Jn 2:1. On the other hand (1) there are future eschatological references in the Gospel (Jn 5:29, 12:48, 14:3) and (2) Christ is referred to indirectly as a parakletos in Jn 4:16. The earliest tradition says that the evangelist was the author of 1 John and there is little reason to doubt it. The range of opinions is therefore the same as for the Gospel: there is no conclusive reason why John the apostle should not have written it, though some support John the Elder and some say the author is unknown.
Date and place of Writing:
It is not possible to say whether the Gospel or Letter was written first, but they were certainly written around the same time. The usual date is in the period 90-100. There is no tradition or other indication of the place of writing, though it may well have been the same as for the Gospel, traditionally Ephesus. However, Antioch in Syria and Alexandria have also been suggested.