Who was the book of first john written to

Since the author of 1 john seems to build on concepts and themes found in the fourth gospel, it is reasonable to date the letter somewhere between a. First john is one of five new testament books written by the apostle john. Ad 156, and from papias, a contemporary of polycarp, whose writings survive only as quotations in the later writings of irenaeus and eusebius. In order to properly interpret this epistle, which is sometimes referred to as the tests of 1 john or the tests of life, three issues must be settled. The content, style, and vocabulary seem to warrant the conclusion that these three epistles were addressed to the same readers as the gospel of john. Therefore the church was cautious in its use of the gospel because of its dangerous abuse elsewhere. The reasons for the conclusion that the gospel of john was written after the letters of paul, the synoptic gospels matthew, mark, and luke, and many of the later letters, is based on a variety of evidences that when considered. The book of acts is the second half of a treatise written by luke to a man named theophilus. Yet only onethe gospel of john claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed disciple whom jesus loved. The epistle is traditionally held to have been composed by john the evangelist, at ephesus, when the writer was in advanced age. The book of john is a gospel that contains narrative history, sermons, parables, and a few prophetic oracles. Scholars have long considered the gospel of john to be one of the latest written texts in the new testament.

Letters of john, abbreviation john, three new testament writings, all composed sometime around 100 ce and traditionally attributed to st. The earliest ascription of authorship to john comes from polycarp, bishop of smyrna d. Since we know that the gospel of luke was written before the book of acts, we can then date the. The author nowhere indicates his name, but through all the centuries it has been attributed to john, the beloved disciple. John the brother of james and the son of zebedee was one of the twelve apostles of jesus.

First john chapter 4 helps one to test the spirits to see whether they belong to god, for. Griffith, who argued that the setting of 1 john was the return of some jewish christians to judaism, and the authors purpose in writing was to. This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true john 21. The unorthodox on the fringes of the greek church embraced john and provided the earliest widely known commentaries valentinus, heracleon. The epistles of john encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. The book of john is an eyewitness account of jesus ministry ad 2933 enriched by the authors understanding of jewish traditions and accurate geographical knowledge of palestine. The key personalities of this book are jesus christ, his twelve disciples, mary magdalene, john the baptist, lazarus, his sisters mary and martha, jewish religious leaders. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on youtube. The gospels, the first four books of the new testament, tell the story of the life of jesus. In this epistle the apostle john addressed the dangerous spread of apostate influences in the church. John s readers were confronted with an early, first century, form of gnostic teaching of the cerinthian variety. Irenaeus and clement of alexandria suggest the letter was written after john s gospel circa a. It was written by the discipleapostle john around 8595 a. It was written so that all may believe in jesus christ the son of god who gives eternal life.

That group of witnesses includes polycarp, an early secondcentury bishop who as a young man knew john personally. In the third letter, john wrote to commend, encourage, and instruct his good friend gaius. It was the first epistle written by john the apostle, being the second book of the bible he had wrote first john was written to an unknown group of believers and as a proclamation of the incarnation of jesus christ john s letter has a strong emphasis on. Of course, when you try to tackle more than one bible book at a time, you have. Our earliest fragmented manuscript of the new testament ironically comes from a verse in john s gospel dubbed p52. Introduction to 1 john the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. This heresy was also libertine throwing off all moral restraints. Introduction to johns letters the jesuswalk bible study series. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the johannine works. John likely wrote 1 john from ephesus, where apparently he had relocated near the time of the fall of jerusalem to the romans in a. The writing of the new testament john and revelation. John wrote to those who came to believe from the gentiles, since neither by race nor by belief had they been jews. The key personalities of this book are jesus christ, his twelve disciples, mary magdalene, john the baptist, lazarus, his sisters mary and martha, jewish religious leaders, and pilate. Book of first john overview insight for living ministries.

The first epistle of john, often referred to as first john and written 1 john or i john, is the first of the johannine epistles of the new testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. Revelation wasnt last book of bible written church news. John was a companion of simon peter, and was a fisherman by trade before jesus called him. The muratorian fragment, an early document listing most of the books belonging to the new testament, states that the apostle john wrote the apocalypse or revelation. Intro to 1 john biblica the international bible society. The epistle is traditionally held to have been written by john the evangelist, also known as john the son of zebedee, probably at ephesus when the writer was in. I john was written to combat false teaching concerning the person and work of jesus christ. Unlike most nt letters, 1 john does not tell us who its author is. Church tradition from the earliest days of christianity has ascribed these letters to john, commonly believed to be the. The others are the gospel of john, 2 john, 3 john, and the book of.

It would perhaps be best to first establish the case that the same author is responsible for all the books associated with john. The new testament books of john, 1 john, 2 john, 3 john and revelation are sometimes called the johannine literature and are traditionally assigned to john the son of zebedee, one of the twelve disciples of jesus. John wrote the greek word agape for gods unconditional love. Some writers, however, have advanced the preterist from a latin word meaning that which is past view, contending that the apocalypse was penned around a. Accordingly, many church writers, among whom is saint athanasius, head of the church of alexandria, assert that his first letter was written to the parthians. In the end, the most likely scenario is that the gospel of john was written by john son of zebedee. Tradition tells us that john was the longest living disciple and that his gospel was probably written last. The first epistle of john or first john 1 john is the twentythird book of the new testament and the sixtysecond book of bible. Listen to chuck swindolls overview of first john in his audio message from the classic series gods masterwork. Early christian tradition, first attested by irenaeus c. The two shorter johannine letters the shortest books in the nt were written in the more typical. According to tradition, the book of john was written by the disciple john. This fourth gospel supplements the synoptics, focusing on details about christs work and words that reveal a longer span of ministry at least three years as. The earliest identification of him comes from the church fathers.

By the end of the first century, it had spread throughout the roman empire and was armed with a new holy book. This collection of inspired scriptures had been added to the hebrew scriptures, the tenach, which christians call the old testament. In none of the nt epistles credited to john does the author identify himself. As we have just seen, there is good evidence, both historical and internal, which supports the traditional ascription of authorship of 1 john to john. John wrote against all of these heresies in his first epistle. But, there is so great a similarity between the first epistle and the gospel of john that most bible scholars admit the common authorship of the.

That is the internal evidence of the book and the external testimony of early church fathers. Traditionally, the book of revelation has been dated near the end of the first century, around a. In ii john, the apostle, wrote to warn believers about false teachers. The gospel of john is written to persuade nonchristians to believe in jesus and find eternal life in his name jn 20. The author of this epistle never identified himself by name, but christians since the beginning of the church have considered this letter authoritative, believing it was written by john the apostle. Johns gospel is generally regarded as the last of the four canonical gospels to be written. So its safe to conclude john was written no latter than a few yea. John wrote the following books in the new testament 1,2, and 3 epistles of john.

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