First epistle of John - wikipedia First epistle of John Books of the New Testament Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts of the Apostles Epistles Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Apocalypse Revelation New Testament manuscripts Part of a series of articles on John in the Bible Johannine literature Gospel Epistles First Second Third Revelation Events Authorship Apostle Beloved disciple Evangelist Patmos Presbyter Related literature Apocryphon Acts Signs Gospel See also Johannine Christianity Logos Holy Spirit in Johannine literature John 's vision of the Son of Man New Testament people named John The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. It is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Johannine epistles. This epistle was probably written in Ephesus in AD 95 -- 110. The work was written to counter docetism, which is the belief that Jesus did not come `` in the flesh '', but only as a spirit. It also defined how Christians are to discern true teachers : by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love. Contents 1 Content 1.1 Comma Johanneum 2 Style 3 Authorship 4 Purpose 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Notes 6.2 Footnotes 6.3 Bibliography 6.4 Further reading 7 External links Content The main themes of the epistle are love and fellowship with God. The author describes various tests by which readers may ascertain whether or not their communion with God is genuine, and teaches that the proof of spiritual regeneration is a life of active righteousness. It also distinguishes between the world ( which is full of evil and under the dominion of Satan ) and the children of God ( who are set apart from the world ). The main themes of the epistle are discernible in the writer 's sectional organisation of his contents. There are four sections ( arranged in the chiasm ABB'A ' ) : 1 : 1 -- 2 : 14 ; 2 : 15 -- 3 : 10 ; 3 : 11 -- 4 : 13 ; 4 : 14 -- 5 : 20. The first, A, speaks of `` the witness '', given and received, to God who is `` light '' and the exhortation is `` to live in his light ''. The second, B, is an exhortation `` to love not the world '', with earthly motives, in earthly ways. The third, B ', a balance to B, emphasizes ( rather ) `` love one another ''. The fourth, A ', again begins with `` the witness '', but this time it is to God who is `` love '' ; `` life eternal '' is theirs who live a life of loving God. The key requirements of Ancient Rhetoric, Purpose and Structure are clearly evidenced in this letter. So too are the other requirements of Style and Memory. Comma Johanneum Main article : Comma Johanneum Philip the Apostle. The visible text ( in Old Church Slavonic ) in the book is : `` Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love... '' Among the most controversial verses of the Bible is what some consider an explicit reference that supports the doctrine of the trinity, the Comma Johanneum : `` For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost : and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood : and these agree in one. '' ( 1 John 5 : 7 -- 8, King James Version ). Verse 7 does not appear in any version of the Greek text prior to the ninth century, and first appears in most of the Latin manuscripts, especially in the Vetus Itala ( Old Latin predating Jerome ) before being translated into Greek and added to later Greek manuscripts. It was included in the King James Bible, something Isaac Newton commented on in An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture. This is sometimes used as evidence to counter the King - James - Only Movement. Bart Ehrman suggests in his book Misquoting Jesus that the King James Version would not have included the passage if Desiderius Erasmus had not given in to pressure to include it in the Textus Receptus even though he doubted its authenticity. The majority of modern translations ( for example English Standard Version and New American Standard Bible ) do not include this text, or ( for example the New Revised Standard Version ) include it as a footnote. Albert Barnes ( 1798 -- 1870 ) said regarding its authenticity : On the whole, therefore, the evidence seems to me to be clear that this passage is not a genuine portion of the inspired writings, and should not be appealed to in proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. Style The epistle is not written in the same form as the other biblical epistles, lacking an epistolary opening or conclusion. The epistle is written in a simple style, without syntactical flourishes, and makes frequent use of asyndeton, where related thoughts are placed next to one another without conjunctions. In contrast to the linear style used in the Pauline epistles, John 's thought moves in loops or circles forming a slowly advancing sequence of thought. This is similar to the parallel structure of Hebrew poetry, in which the second verse of a couplet often carries the same meaning as the first, though in the epistle the frequent recapitulations of already expressed ideas serve also to add to what has previously been said. In summary, the epistle may be said to exhibit a paraenetic style which is `` marked by personal appeal, contrasts of right and wrong, true and false, and an occasional rhetorical question ''. Some scholars have proposed the idea that the epistle is really John 's commentary on a selection of traditional parallel couplets. While this theory, first propounded by Ernst von Dobschütz and Rudolf Bultmann, is not universally accepted, Amos Wilder writes that, `` It is at least clear that there are considerable and sometimes continuous elements in the epistle whose style distinguishes them from that of the author both with respect to poetic structure and syntactic usage. '' Authorship Main article : Authorship of the Johannine works The epistle is traditionally held to have been composed by John the Evangelist, at Ephesus, when the writer was in advanced age. The epistle 's content, language and conceptual style are very similar to the Gospel of John, 2 John, and 3 John, indicating that they were written by the same author. Indeed, at the end of the 19th century scholar Ernest DeWitt Burton wrote that there could be `` no reasonable doubt '' that 1 John and the gospel were written by the same author, and Amos Wilder has said that, `` Early Christian tradition and the great majority of modern scholars have agreed on the common authorship of these writings, even where the author has not been identified with the apostle John. '' However, other modern scholars have challenged this position. Though the common authorship of the three epistles is still almost universally accepted, scholars such as Heinrich Julius Holtzmann and C.H. Dodd have maintained that the epistle and the gospel were written by different authors. There are at least two principal arguments for this view. The first is that the epistle often uses a demonstrative pronoun at the beginning of a sentence, then a particle or conjunction, followed by an explanation or definition of the demonstrative at the end of the sentence, a stylistic technique which is not used in the gospel. The second is that the author of the epistle `` uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel ''. Purpose `` The Fourth Gospel addresses itself to the challenges posed by Judaism and others outside Johannine circles who have rejected the community 's vision of Jesus as preexistent Son, sent by the Father. The epistles ( First, Second, and Third John ) `` describe the fracturing of the Johannine community itself ''. The author wrote the epistle so that the joy of his audience would `` be full '' ( 1 : 4 ) and that they would `` not practice sin '' ( 2 : 1 ) and that `` you who believe in the name of the Son of God... may know that you have eternal life '' ( 5 : 13 ). We can therefore distinguish in the epistle both a general purpose ( to increase mutual joy ) and a specific purpose ( to provide readers with tests by which they might assure themselves of their salvation ). It appears as though the author was concerned about heretical teachers that had been influencing churches under his care. Such teachers were considered Antichrists ( 2 : 18 -- 19 ) who had once been church leaders but whose teaching became heterodox. It appears that these teachers taught a form of docetism in which Jesus came to earth as a spirit without a real body of flesh ( 4 : 2 ) that his death on the cross was not as a true atonement for sins ( 1 : 7 ). It appears that John might have also been rebuking a proto - Gnostic named Cerinthus, who also denied the true humanity of Christ. The purpose of the author ( 1 : 1 -- 4 ) is to declare the Word of Life to those to whom he writes, in order that they might be united in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. He shows that the means of union with God are, ( 1 ) on the part of Christ, his atoning work ( 1 : 7 ; 2 : 2 ; 3 : 5 ; 4 : 10, 14 ; 5 : 11, 12 ) and his advocacy ( 2 : 1 ) ; and ( 2 ), on the part of man, holiness ( 1 : 6 ), obedience ( 2 : 3 ), purity ( 3 : 3 ), faith ( 3 : 23 ; 4 : 3 ; 5 : 5 ), and love ( 2 : 7, 8 ; 3 : 14 ; 4 : 7 ; 5 : 1 ). Whereas the Gospel of John was written to unbelievers, this epistle was written to those who were already believers ( 5 : 13 ). It seems likely that its audience was largely gentile rather than Jewish, since it contains few Old Testament quotations or distinctly Jewish forms of expression. The epistle was probably carried by itinerant missionaries to different churches throughout the region and read aloud to the congregations. See also If the world hates you John the Apostle John the Evangelist References Notes Footnotes ^ Jump up to : Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible ( Palo Alto : Mayfield, 1985 ) `` 1 John, '' p. 355 -- 356 ^ Jump up to : Wilder, p. 214 Jump up ^ Barbour, p. 346 Jump up ^ Barbour, p. 348 ^ Jump up to : Burton, Ernest DeWitt ( 1896 ). `` The Epistles of John ''. The Biblical World. University of Chicago Press. 7 ( 5 ) : 368. JSTOR 3140373. Jump up ^ New Testament : New Testimony to the skills of the writers and first readers, David G Palmer, 2006 Jump up ^ Kurt Aland, et al., The Greek New Testament, Third Edition ( Corrected ), United Bible Societies, 1983, p. 824, n. 4 ISBN 3 - 438 - 05110 - 9 Jump up ^ Barnes, Albert ( 2007 - 02 - 07 ). `` Albert Barnes New Testament Notes ''. StudyLight.org. Retrieved 2007 - 02 - 07. ^ Jump up to : Wilder, Amos ( 1957 ). `` Introduction to the First, Second, and Third Epistles of John ''. In Harmon, Nolan. The Interpreter 's Bible. 12. Abingdon Press. p. 211. Jump up ^ Barbour, J.H. ( 1896 ). `` The Structure of the First Epistle of Saint John ''. The Biblical World. 9 ( 5 ) : 343. JSTOR 3140289. Jump up ^ Barbour, p. 342 Jump up ^ Wilder, p. 212 ^ Jump up to : Burton, p. 367 Jump up ^ Burton, p. 366 Jump up ^ C.H. Dodd, `` The First Epistle of John and the Fourth Gospel, '' Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, XXI ( 1937 ) Jump up ^ The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Union Theological Seminary, New York ; NY, William J. Dalton, S.J. ; Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm. ( emeritus ) The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC ; ( The Johannine Epistles, Pheme Perkins ), with a foreword by His Eminence Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, S.J. ; Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1990 ^ Jump up to : Barbour, p. 341 Jump up ^ Wilder, p. 210 Bibliography Robert Dabney, `` The Doctrinal Various Readings of the New Testament Greek '', 1894 : p. 32. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Easton, Matthew George ( 1897 ). `` ``. Easton 's Bible Dictionary ( New and revised ed. ). T. Nelson and Sons. Further reading 1 John from the Biblical Resource Database External links Wikisource has original text related to this article : 1 John Wikiquote has quotations related to : First Epistle of John Online translations of the First Epistle of John Online Bible at GospelHall.org Bible : 1 John public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions First Epistle of John General Epistle Preceded by Second Peter New Testament Books of the Bible Succeeded by Second John First Epistle of John Bible 1 John 1 5 Bible portal Persons Cain Jesus Christ Terms / Phrases Antichrist Comma Johanneum Sources Greek Text Latin Vulgate Wycliffe Version King James Version American Standard Version World English Version ← Second Epistle of Peter ( chapter 3 ) Second Epistle of John ( 1 chapter ) → Books of the Bible Principal divisions Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Protocanon Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 -- 2 Samuel 1 -- 2 Kings 1 -- 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Deuterocanon and Apocrypha Catholic Orthodox Tobit Judith Additions to Esther 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Wisdom Sirach Baruch / Letter of Jeremiah Additions to Daniel Susanna Song of the Three Children Bel and the Dragon ) Orthodox only 1 Esdras 2 Esdras Prayer of Manasseh Psalm 151 3 Maccabees 4 Maccabees Odes Tewahedo Orthodox Enoch Jubilees 1, 2, and 3 Meqabyan Paralipomena of Baruch Broader canon Syriac Letter of Baruch 2 Baruch Psalms 152 -- 155 New Testament Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Subdivisions Chapters and verses Pentateuch Wisdom Major prophets / Minor prophets Gospels Synoptic Epistles Pauline Johannine Pastoral Catholic Apocalyptic literature Development Old Testament canon New Testament canon Antilegomena Jewish canon Christian canon Manuscripts Dead Sea Scrolls Samaritan Pentateuch Septuagint Targum Diatessaron Muratorian fragment Peshitta Vetus Latina Masoretic Text New Testament manuscript categories New Testament papyri New Testament uncials See also Biblical canon Luther 's canon Authorship English Bible translations Other books referenced in the Bible Pseudepigrapha list New Testament apocrypha Studies Synod of Hippo Textual criticism Portal WikiProject Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_Epistle_of_John&oldid=784630484 '' Categories : New Testament books Canonical epistles Johannine literature First Epistle of John Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2012 Articles using Cite EBD template without article name Wikipedia articles incorporating text from Easton 's Bible Dictionary Articles with LibriVox links Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Wikisource Afrikaans ܐܪܡܝܐ Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Boarisch Brezhoneg Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français Frysk Furlan Gaeilge गोंयची कोंकणी / Gõychi Konknni 客家 語 / Hak - kâ - ngî 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Kinyarwanda Kiswahili Latina Latviešu Lietuvių Lumbaart Magyar Malagasy മലയാളം Mìng - dĕ̤ng - ngṳ̄ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Runa Simi Русский Gagana Samoa Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Українська اردو ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche Vepsän kel ' Winaray Yorùbá 粵語 Zeêuws 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 9 June 2017, at 09 : 04. 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Question: who wrote the book of first second and third john
Answer: John the Evangelist