1 John

Composition

The First Letter of John (“1 John”), also called the First Epistle of John, belongs to a collection of New Testament scripture collectively known as the Letters of John, Epistles of John, or Johannine letters. The three missives that comprise the Letters of John occupy the center of one of the most widely discussed authorship questions in the Christian canon.

In the centuries immediately following the death of Jesus Christ, ecclesiastical officials from the young Christian church conducted a review of all religious literature used by early Christians. This process yielded the standardized set of canonical writings accepted for inclusion in the New Testament. It also set the authorship precedent for 1 John, which was credited to John, the apostle of Christ—the same John also cited as the author of the New Testament’s Gospel of John.

The controversy arises because none of the Letters of John identifies John as their author. In 1 John, the text begins: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). This statement positions the author as an eyewitness of the deeds and ministry of Jesus Christ but does not otherwise make any definitive statement about its composer. Church officials later determined that John the apostle was its author after reviewing firsthand accounts preserved in the writings of early Christian scholars. One such source, which comes from a witness named Papias, names John as the author of the scriptural writings now attributed to him.

However, Papias’ account was preserved in documents created by Eusebius, a Greek scholar and historian who played a major role in shaping the Christian canon. Some experts have interpreted Eusebius’ documentation of the witness of Papias as referring to two different Johns: the apostle of Christ who wrote the Gospel of John, and an elder John who wrote the Letters of John and the New Testament Book of Revelation. Observers note that John was a very common name at the time, and Papias could easily have been referring to two different people.

The authorship controversy surrounding the Letters of John has persisted since the time of Eusebius. Many modern commentators believe that all three Letters of John have a common source, given their stylistic and doctrinal similarities. Yet, doubts persist that the Letters of John, the Revelation, and the Gospel of John were all written by John the apostle. Christian officials continue to acknowledge the traditional authorship attributions, while secular and critical scholars accept that the authorship questions surrounding the Letters of John are unlikely ever to be definitively resolved. Researchers generally agree that the Letters of John were written between 60 CE and 100 CE, during a turbulent period when Christians faced widespread persecution while the young Christian church struggled to maintain effective leadership as Christ’s original disciples died off.

Summary

Unlike the Gospel of John, which was likely the last of the four canonical gospels to be written, the Johannine letters do not refer to events of the past. Instead, each letter responds to a pressing issue that was taking place within the Christian community at the time of its composition. In 1 John, that issue was the activity of heretics and false prophets within early Christianity, whose doctrines and claims contradicted the dogmatic orthodoxies established by Christ during his lifetime.

The First Letter of John was written as Christianity was deep in the throes of an early crisis that threatened its very survival. A lack of dogmatic and scriptural standardization allowed heretical preachers and false prophets to flourish and assume positions of leadership within the localized sects that coalesced during the early Christian diaspora. Their divergences of belief extended even to fundamental aspects of the Christian faith including the essential concept of the “incarnation of Christ,” which accepts Jesus Christ as the son of God and therefore holds that Christ was, in a literal sense, God in human form. These heretics and false prophets gained such influence that some religious historians say that at the time 1 John was written, the number of self-professed Christians who rejected the doctrine of Christ’s incarnation outnumbered those who accepted it.

For early church leaders including the author of 1 John—whether it was John the apostle, another John, or someone else entirely—it was even more worrying that these heretical teachings had become popular among the practitioners of pagan faiths and traditions considered occult by Christian dogmatists. Some such heretics and false prophets claimed to have had visions of holy revelation, which purportedly revealed that they, too, were the perfect incarnation of God and had been born without sin.

Across five chapters, 1 John addresses the faithful adherents of Christian orthodoxy against the backdrop of this heresy and corruption. It directly compares the accepted teachings of Jesus Christ as established by his ministry and witnessed by the author of the letter to the activities of false prophets and heretics, creating a series of parallel assessments between genuine Christian teachings and falsehoods. These comparisons yield a simple set of actionable instructions from the author to Christianity’s genuine faithful: Accept the teachings of Christ as the only true orthodoxy, expose and reject false teachings, lead a moral life, follow the example set by Christ, and honor Christ’s commandments.

As it ends, 1 John reiterates fundamental tenets of Christianity, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one” (1 John 5:7). “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his son” (1 John 5:9). The letter promises eligibility for eternal life to those who hold true to Christian principles.

Themes

The core theme of 1 John is truth. The epistle directly confronts the misrepresentations, misinterpretations, heresies, and falsities destabilizing Christianity during this fragile early stage of its history. It explores these foundational themes using a simple but effective stylistic technique that uses direct comparisons to create parallels and guide its commentary.

These comparisons draw on familiar tropes, likening the true words and teachings of Jesus Christ to light and the heresies of false prophets to darkness. Other, similar contrasts characterize heretics and false prophets as antichrists while dismissing their deceitful teachings as a form of sin. The First Letter of John also explores the distinction between heavenly and earthly love, advancing a common Judeo-Christian trope that presents the pursuit of wealth, power, and corporeal pleasure as inherent distractions of the human condition that draw people away from God and must therefore be fought against.

At the same time, analysts and commentators note that 1 John does not strike an accusatory or militant tone in its treatment of heresy, false prophecy, and the reversion of some early Christians into blasphemy, paganism, and idol worship. Instead, the author urges true and faithful readers to draw their wayward peers back into the fold of true Christianity with love: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7). Thus, while the author of the letter believes it is critically important for the true teachings of Christ to be universally recognized and followed by all Christians, the author also believes that love and not conflict, hatred, or force is the path to achieving it.

Yet, the author of the letter also hoped to inspire zealous fervor in the true Christian faithful and inspire them to unite and stand firm against the heretics and misguided leaders seeking to spread dissent and conflict among early Christian congregations. According to some observers, these aspects of the First Letter of John support the case for John the apostle’s authorship: 1 John is believed to have been written between 60 CE and 100 AD, at a time when John the apostle would have been elderly and likely the last living original disciple of Jesus Christ. Thus, some analysts also interpret the letter as a call for leadership within a young Christian church coming to terms with its own uncertain future.

More broadly, 1 John can also be interpreted as a statement on the struggles of faith that all Christians experience during their own lifetime. Such struggles can result from personal doubts, tragic or painful life events, and other turns of fortune that seem unfair and undeserved. In such times, Christians can immerse themselves in the basic, foundational teachings of Jesus Christ and reconnect with a true and genuine spiritual path forward.

Bibliography

“1 John.” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2022, bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/0. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

Ford, David F. The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary. Baker Academic, 2021.

Jobes, Karen H. 1, 2, and 3 John. Zondervan Academic, 2014.

Kruse, Colin G. The Letters of John. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020.

Lockett, Darian R. Letters from the Pillar Apostles: The Formation of the Catholic Epistles as a Canonical Collection. ISD, 2017.

Swindoll, Chuck. “First John.” Insight for Living Ministries, 2022, insight.org/resources/bible/the-general-epistles/first-john. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

“Who Wrote 1, 2, & 3 John?” Zondervan Academic, 3 Oct. 2019, zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-1-2-3-john. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.