I love preparing Bible Studies. This “First John” series will publish study materials on the book of 1 John that I’m preparing for use by small groups. Feel free to use them under a Creative Commons attribution-share alike license.
Introduction and Background
Why study 1 John?
St. Augustine (354-430 AD), one of the greatest Christian thinkers in history, said this about 1 John:
This book is very sweet to every healthy Christian heart that savors the bread of God, and it should constantly be in the mind of God’s holy church. But I chose it more particularly because what it specially commends to us is love. The person who possesses the thing which he hears about in this epistle must rejoice when he hears it. His reading will be like oil to a flame. . . . For others, the epistle should be like flame set to firewood; if it was not already burning, the touch of the word may kindle it.[1]
What kind of text is 1 John, and who wrote it?
1 John is an “epistle,” which is simply a Greek word for “letter.” During New Testament times, the Apostles and other leaders wrote letters intended to instruct and encourage local groups of Christians. [2] Some of these letters were recognized by the early Church to contain authoritative “apostolic” teaching – teaching coming directly from the Apostles who were commissioned by Jesus. These authoritative letters are the “epistles” contained in the New Testament.[3]
The writer of 1 John does not identify himself, but the related letters of 2 and 3 John were written by a person who called himself “the elder.”[4] He most likely was the Apostle John, who was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus.[5]
What are the primary concerns of 1 John?
The New Testament epistles are not dry, abstract theological treatises. They were written to address particular problems faced by local churches. 1 John was probably written between 95 and 100 A.D. – about 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection – to churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) that were being confronted with false teaching about Jesus.
The false teachers likely were promoting ideas that later came to be called “Gnosticism.” The Gnostic teachers denied that Jesus is God. They taught that all matter is evil and that the physical world therefore was not directly created by God. Because they believed the physical world is evil, the Gnostics could not accept the claim that Jesus, a physical person, was God incarnate (in the flesh). Instead, they believed that God possessed the body of Jesus only for a brief time. The Gnostics claimed that they had learned special, secret knowledge from God that was superior to the life and teaching of Jesus.
These false teachers could easily unsettle early groups of Christians. With all of the resources and support available to us Western Christians today, it is difficult to imagine living in a time and place when most of the New Testament was not yet written, local Churches often met in homes and were small and scattered, the official religion was pagan, and the government opposed the Church. The early Christians could easily have become confused by Gnostic teachers who talked about Jesus but whose beliefs and lifestyles were opposed to authentic Christian faith. The author of 1 John wrote to provide clear instruction to these believers about authentic Christian faith and living, and to comfort and reassure Christians about their faith in Jesus as God incarnate.
How do the Concerns of 1 John Relate to Us Today?
As North American Christians living in the 21st Century, we have far more education, freedom, and support available to us than did the people to whom 1 John originally was addressed. Yet, we face many of the same problems. Our popular culture is fascinated with “alternative” explanations of Christianity, such as the “Da Vinci Code” book and movie. Many of these alternative explanations (including the Da Vinci Code) can be traced directly back to Gnosticism and other similar beliefs that deny Jesus is God.
Aside from these very extreme views, there are groups of Christians all over the world who agree that Jesus is God, but who differ in important matters of doctrine and practice. How can we assess whether something is really “Christian?” What are the most basic marks of someone who is a true follower of Jesus? How should we as followers of Jesus think and live? 1 John gives us guidance relating to these questions.
Digging Deeper
This section lists some resources for those who are interested in learning more about some of the issues touched on in the study. These resources are available from the study leader or on the Internet.
High-level discussion of the formation of the “canon” of scripture: Craig Allert, A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon (Evangelical Ressourcement: Ancient Sources for the Church’s Future) (Baker Academic 2007).
Detailed discussion of the authorship of 1 John: I. Howard Marshall, New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistles of John (Eerdmans 1978) (“NICOT Commentary”).
Culture and History of Asia Minor: Wikipedia entry for “Asia Minor,” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolia (Note that Wikipedia can be a good source, but that it should be used with some caution. It is edited by users and is not always completely objective or accurate) and the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for “Asia Minor,” at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01782a.htm (Note that the Catholic Encyclopedia also can be a good source particularly for historical matters, but that it is written from a conservative Roman Catholic perspective. On some issues of doctrine and practice, we might offer a different perspective.)
Various theories about the false teaching addressed in 1 John, see NICOT Commentary, and Peter H. Davids, Douglas J. Moo, Robert W. Yarbrough, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude (Zondervan 2002).
Gnosticism: Wikipedia entry for “Gnosticism,” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism and the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for “Gnosticism,” at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm.
Detailed study of how early Christian doctrine confronted the challenges of Gnosticism and other doctrinal and social questions: Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600) (Univ. of Chicago Press 1975).
[1] Augustine, Ten Homilies on 1 John, Prologue (quoted in Oden, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. XI).
[2] The “Apostles” were some of the first followers of Jesus who were specially commissioned by Jesus to be the leaders and teachers of the early Church.
[3] Because these epistles were recognized as authoritative, they were included in the “canon” of scripture, and so are called “canonical” epistles.
[4] 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1.
[5] John the Apostle probably also wrote the Gospel of John and perhaps the book of Revelation.