3 John

Composition

The Third Letter of John (3 John) is the last of a series of epistles known as the Johannine letters, which appear in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Experts believe the Johannine letters were written sometime between about 60 and 100 CE, and their authorship has historically been attributed to John, an apostle of Jesus Christ. While stylistic and textual clues suggest that all three Johannine letters have a common author, questions regarding the true identity of that author have persisted since Christianity’s beginnings.

During the first centuries of Christianity, ecclesiastical officials, scholars, and historians convened to create a standardized canon of official scripture. The Johannine letters were among the final writings approved for inclusion in the New Testament, but these early arbiters of Christian literature were not certain who wrote them. Their respective texts offer few clues regarding the identity of the author. The opening verses of the First Letter of John (1 John) appear to claim the letter’s writer had witnessed the miraculous life of Jesus Christ firsthand, suggesting the author may have been one of Christ’s original disciples. Meanwhile, both 2 John and 3 John contain textual attributions to “the elder,” which have been interpreted as referring to the missives’ author.

In endeavoring to identify the author of the Johannine letters—a witness of Christ’s ministry who had since become an “elder”—researchers uncovered accounts preserved in the writings of the fourth-century Christian historian Eusebius. These writings referred to two figures, Polycarp and Papias, both of whom lived centuries earlier. Testimony from Polycarp and Papias identified an individual named John, assumed to be Christ’s apostle of the same name, as the author of the New Testament epistles now credited to him.

However, these accounts—and particularly that of Papias—introduced nuance and uncertainty that has never been resolved. The core issue revolves around whether John the apostle and John “the elder” are indeed the same person. When the Johannine letters were written, John the apostle would have been elderly. Yet, John was a common name at the time, and John “the elder” could easily have referred to another individual altogether.

The authorship controversy surrounding the Johannine letters has never been solved. Expert observers believe it is highly unlikely that definitive evidence proving the correctness of any authorship theory of the Johannine letters will ever emerge. As a matter of tradition, Christian congregations and church officials continue to accept John the apostle as the author of the Johannine letters, the gospel that bears his name, and the New Testament book of Revelation. Critical scholars generally agree that the Johannine letters and the Gospel of John likely share a common author, though their opinions on the identity of that author differ.

Summary

The Third Letter of John is arranged in a single chapter divided into fourteen verses. It is the shortest book in the Christian Bible. The King James Version of the Bible presents 3 John in just 294 words. Other biblical editions and translations feature even shorter versions of the Third Letter of John.

As with 2 John, 3 John begins with the author self-identifying as “the elder.” However, unlike the other two Johannine letters—both of which were written as general missives to an unspecified audience—the Third Letter of John is addressed to a specific individual, Gaius. Though experts are not entirely certain who Gaius was, contextual clues from the text of 3 John establish Gaius as a high-profile figure in at least one Christian congregation in which the author of 3 John was personally involved. Standard interpretations of 3 John, which accept John the apostle as its author, typically characterize Gaius as a friend of John.

The author’s motive for writing the letter to Gaius follows from the activities of Diotrephes, a man named in the text of the epistle and described as follows: “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church” (King James Version, 3 John 1:9–10). These verses suggest that Diotrephes held a position of authority in the congregation of Gaius and was abusing that position to advance his own agenda of personal power. Diotrephes’s actions include refusing to accept certain members of the congregation, spreading spiteful falsehoods about those members, and casting those who question or oppose him out of the church.

Assuming John the apostle as 3 John’s true author, experts believe John wrote the letter sometime around 90 CE, when he had gone into exile on the Greek island of Patmos to escape the anti-Christian persecution sweeping across the Roman Empire. Standard interpretations of the context surrounding the composition of 3 John hold that the apostle John wrote the letter to Gaius to encourage and instruct him after learning of the problems caused by Diotrephes.

The “elder” who penned the letter beseeches Gaius to welcome and support missionaries, as Gaius had done in the past. In its closing verses, 3 John also suggests the author hopes to make a personal visit to Gaius’s congregation, where he will consult Gaius in person, confront Diotrephes, and set the embattled congregation on a viable forward path.

Themes

Appreciating the thematic significance of 3 John requires insights into contemporary events and dynamics impacting the structure and operations of the early Christian church. During the second half of the first century, when Christianity was in its absolute infancy, the religion lacked centralized structure and authority. Instead, it operated across a series of informally aligned congregations and churches, most of which were scattered throughout localized areas of the Roman Empire near the places where Jesus Christ had conducted his ministry. Each individual congregation functioned with high levels of autonomy. This autonomy extended not only to the authority structure and management of each congregation, but also to aspects of Christian dogma and doctrine.

The first two Johannine letters explore some of the challenges arising from the unstandardized nature of Christian teachings during the first century. The third Johannine letter is unique in the epistle series, as it deals exclusively with the pragmatic and administrative aspects of church operation. Beyond characterizing the self-interested and malicious actions of Diotrephes as immoral, 3 John offers very little in the way of spiritual or doctrinal insight.

Despite its non-impact on theological matters, 3 John is widely considered to offer an important historical perspective on the structure, function, and challenges faced by early iterations of the Christian church. As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) notes, 3 John highlights how individual congregations were largely the personal instruments of their leaders at this juncture of Christian history. Early congregations wielded far higher levels of singular authority than they were permitted after Christianity coalesced around a centralized power structure based at the Vatican City in Rome.

While 1 John and 2 John illustrate how this individual congregational authority was abused to corrupt the teachings of Christ, 3 John indicates how it also affected church access and leadership. Diotrephes is described as casting out the “brethren” (3 John 1:10) of the church, indicating previous and unsuccessful attempts by missionaries to arbitrate the situation described by Gaius. According to the USCCB interpretation of 3 John, this reflects a general hostility toward external figures seeking to influence the activities of localized Christian sects. While commentators generally characterize such hostility as a byproduct of the aggressive persecution faced by early Christians, 3 John indicates it also had a personal dimension related to the individual ambitions of some congregational leaders.

Notably, the USCCB acknowledges multiple possible interpretations of Diotrephes’s actions. Standard readings tend to interpret Diotrephes as a tyrannical figure seeking to corrupt and control his congregation for his personal ends. However, it is also possible that Diotrephes was simply suspicious of the orthodoxies of the emerging Johannine school of Christianity and simply wished to preserve what he believed to be the doctrinal and dogmatic purity of his congregation.

The USCCB also emphasizes the fact that the contents of the letter suggest Diotrephes is undeterred by the objections of Gaius or the possible personal intervention of “the elder,” who would presumably have held a position of high authority within the loose structure of the Christian church even if he was not John the apostle. According to 3 John, Diotrephes already dismissed a previous letter from “the elder.” This indicates an intent to continue on his established path, even if it contradicts the wishes and teachings of a direct witness of Christ’s ministry. Analysts and researchers note that these administrative and structural challenges indicate a pressing need for centralization and standardization of the Christian faith, just as the doctrinal disagreements discussed in the two earlier Johannine letters did.

Bibliography

“3 John.” US Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2022, bible.usccb.org/bible/3john/1. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.

Anderson, Richard Lloyd. “What Do We Know of the Life of John the Apostle after the Day of Pentecost? Why Was He Exiled to the Isle of Patmos?” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1984, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1984/01/i-have-a-question/what-do-we-know-of-the-life-of-john-the-apostle-after-the-day-of-pentecost?lang=eng. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.

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

Lewis, Scott M. The Gospel According to John and the Johannine Letters. Liturgical Press, 2005.

Swindoll, Chuck. “Third John.” Insight for Living Ministries, 2022, insight.org/resources/bible/the-general-epistles/third-john. Accewssed 28 Apr. 2022.

“Who Wrote 1, 2, & 3 John?” Zondervan Academic, 3 Oct. 2019, zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-1-2-3-john. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.