1, 2, and 3 John: An Introduction and Study Guide

This insightful study engages the debates and interpretations of the brief and somewhat elusive writings known in the Christian canon as 1, 2, and 3 John.Chapter 1 identifies six unknowns about the origins of the three writings: authors, relationship to John’s Gospel, order, date and location of the writings, and their audiences. Chapters 2 and 3 delineate the debate concerning the relationship of these writings to a purported “Johannine tradition” and “Johannine community” in which a schism is claimed to have occurred. An alternative view recognizes that while there are some connections with John’s Gospel, it is more compelling to see the writings as independent rather than derivative, as internally not externally directed, as pastoral not polemical, and as schism-free. Chapters 4-7 discuss important aspects of 1 John. Chapter 4 argues that its structure or organization is based on rhetorical and conceptual links among the writing’s small units. Chapter 5 reads 1 John as a pastoral “in-house” writing, rather than a polemical attack on opponents. Chapter 6 identifies the genre of I John as not a letter or sermon but an epideictic speech that seeks to strengthen the identity, commitments, and practices of its believing recipients. Chapter 7 outlines theological understandings that underpin the writing’s pastoral work. Chapters 8 and 9 focus on 2 and 3 John as writings that provide two different approaches to itinerant teachers. The narrative fiction in 2 John presents the elder’s warning and skepticism about itinerant teachers whereas the author of 3 John, by contrast, advocates reception and welcome for itinerant teachers. This work discusses aspects of the interpretation of these three New Testament writings. The opening section engages the debate concerning the relationship of these writings to a purported “Johannine tradition” and “Johannine community.” Against this approach, it argues that while there are some common connections, the three writings are best interpreted not as derivative but as largely independent. The second section addresses interpretive questions concerning I John, drawing attention to the importance of its disparate units, arguing that it employs epideictic rhetoric and functions pastorally rather than polemically to secure the identity and lifestyle of its addressees. The third section highlights the different approaches to itinerant teachers advocated by the narrative fictions in II John (skeptical) and III John (welcoming).