Editing First Epistle of John

{{Short description|Book of the New Testament}}
{{distinguish|Gospel of John}}
[[File:Papyrus 9 - P. Oxy. III 402 - Houghton Library MS Gr SM3736 - First Epistle of John, 4,11–12,14–17 - recto.jpg|thumb|upright|right|1 John 4:11–12 on [[Papyrus 9]] (''recto''; {{Circa|AD 250}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aland |first=Kurt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism |last2=Aland |first2=Barbara |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1 |edition=2nd |location=Grand Rapids, MI |pages=159 |language=en |translator-last=Rhodes |translator-first=Erroll F. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005232815/https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |archive-date=October 5, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{Books of the New Testament}}
{{John}}

The '''First Epistle of John'''{{Efn|The book is sometimes called the '''First Letter of John''', or simply '''1st John'''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiPouAEACAAJ |title=ESV Pew Bible |publisher=Crossway |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4335-6343-0 |location=Wheaton, IL |pages=1021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603093159/https://www.google.com/books/edition/ESV_Pew_Bible_Black/HiPouAEACAAJ |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> (which is also its most common form of abbreviation).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Book Abbreviations |url=https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421100743/https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Logos Bible Software}}</ref>}} is the first of the [[Johannine epistles]] of the [[New Testament]], and the fourth of the [[catholic epistles]]. There is no scholarly consensus as to the [[authorship of the Johannine works]]. The author of the First Epistle is termed [[John the Evangelist]], who most modern scholars believe is not the same as [[John the Apostle]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Most scholars{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} believe the three Johannine epistles have the same author, but there is no consensus if this was also the author of the [[Gospel of John]].

This epistle was probably written in [[Ephesus]] between 95 and 110 AD.<ref name ="Harris 1 John"/> The author advises [[Christians]] on how to discern true teachers: by their [[ethics]], their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their [[love]].<ref name ="Harris 1 John"/> The original text was written in [[Koine Greek]]. The epistle is divided into five [[Chapters and verses of the Bible#Chapters|chapters]].

==Content==
The main themes of the epistle are love and fellowship with God.<ref name="Wilder214">Wilder, p. 214</ref><ref name="Barbour346">Barbour, p. 346</ref> 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.<ref>Barbour, p. 348</ref> 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).<ref name="Burton368"/>

==Style==
The epistle is not written in the same form as the other biblical epistles, as it lacks an [[Epistle#Opening|epistolary opening]] or conclusion.<ref name="Wilder211">{{cite book|last=Wilder|first=Amos|author-link=Amos Wilder|editor-last=Harmon|editor-first=Nolan|title=The Interpreter's Bible|volume=12|page=211|chapter=Introduction to the First, Second, and Third Epistles of John|publisher=[[Abingdon Press]]|year=1957}}</ref> The epistle is written in a simple style, without syntactical flourishes,<ref name="Wilder211"/> and makes frequent use of [[asyndeton]], where related thoughts are placed next to one another without conjunctions.<ref name="Barbour343">{{cite journal |last=Barbour|first=J. H.|year=1896|title=The Structure of the First Epistle of Saint John|journal=The Biblical World|volume=9|issue=5|pages=341–348|doi=10.1086/472075|jstor=3140289|s2cid=144652601}}</ref> In contrast to the linear style used in the [[Pauline epistles]], biblical scholar [[Ernest DeWitt Burton]] suggests that John's thought "moves in circles", forming a slowly advancing sequence of thought.<ref name="Burton368">{{cite journal |last=Burton|first= Ernest DeWitt|author-link=Ernest DeWitt Burton|year=1896|title=The Epistles of John|journal=The Biblical World|volume=7|issue=5|pages= 366–369|jstor=3140373}}</ref> This is similar to the parallel structure of [[Biblical poetry|Hebrew poetry]], in which the second verse of a couplet often carries the same meaning as the first, although in this epistle the frequent recapitulations of already expressed ideas serve also to add to what has previously been said.<ref>Barbour, p. 342</ref> In summary, the epistle may be said to exhibit a [[Protrepsis and paraenesis|paraenetic]] style which is "marked by personal appeal, contrasts of right and wrong, true and false, and an occasional rhetorical question".<ref name="Wilder211"/>

The text refers to the writer's audience several times as "little children" ({{langx|grc|Τεκνία}}, ''{{Strong-number|teknia|G|5040}}'').<ref>[https://biblehub.com/text/1_john/2-1.htm Greek Text Analysis: 1 John 2:1]. Biblehub.com</ref> This affectionate [[diminutive]] appears seven times in the letter, once as "my little children" (1 John 2:1), and the phrase also appears in [[John 13#Verse 33|John 13:33]].<ref>{{cite book|last= Morris |first= Leon | authorlink= Leon Morris | chapter= 1 John|editor-last=Carson |editor-first=D. A. |title=New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition|editor-link= D. A. Carson| editor-last2= France |editor-first2= R. T. | editor2-link= R. T. France |editor-first3=J. A. |editor-last3= Motyer | editor3-link = J. Alec Motyer| editor-first4= G. J. |editor-last4= Wenham | editor4-link = Gordon Wenham| edition=4, illustrated, reprint, revised| publisher= Inter-Varsity Press | date= 1994| isbn = 9780851106489 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uveHQgAACAAJ |page = 1401}}</ref> [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] also uses the phrase "my little children" when addressing the Galatian churches in [[Galatians 4]]:19.<ref>[[Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer|Meyer, H. A. W.]] (1880), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/1_john/2.htm Meyer's NT Commentary] on 1 John 2, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 14 April 2024</ref>

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."<ref name="Wilder 212">Wilder, p. 212</ref>

==Authorship==
{{main|Authorship of the Johannine works}}
The epistle is traditionally held to have been composed by [[John the Evangelist]], at [[Ephesus]],<ref name="Burton367">Burton, p. 367</ref> 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]].<ref name ="Harris 1 John">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible'' (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985) "1 John," p. 355–356</ref> Thus, 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.<ref>Burton, p. 366</ref>

Beginning in the 20th century, however, critical scholars like [[Heinrich Julius Holtzmann]] and [[C. H. Dodd]] identified the Gospel of John and 1 John as works of different authors. Certain linguistic features of the two texts support this view. For instance, 1 John 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.<ref name="Wilder211"/> The author of the epistle also "uses the conditional sentence in a variety of rhetorical figures which are unknown to the gospel". This indicates, at the very least, the linguistic characteristics changed over time.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodd |first1=C. H. |title=The first epistle of John and the Fourth Gospel |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library |date=1 April 1937 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=129–156 |doi=10.7227/bjrl.21.1.5 }}</ref> Today, following the work of [[J. Louis Martyn]] and [[Raymond E. Brown|Raymond Brown]], the majority of scholars believe that John and 1 John were written by different members of the same community: the "Johannine Community".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Raymond |title=The Community of the Beloved Disciple |date=1979 |publisher=Pauli's Press |location=Mahwah, NJ |isbn=0809121743}}{{page needed|date=March 2020}}</ref>

Most critical scholars conclude that [[John the Apostle]] wrote none of these works.<ref name="Fourth Gospel 1985 p. 355">"Although ancient traditions attributed to the Apostle John the Fourth Gospel, the Book of Revelation, and the three Epistles of John, modern scholars believe that he wrote none of them." [[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible'' (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985) p. 355</ref><ref name="Kelly2012">{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Joseph F.|title=History and Heresy: How Historical Forces Can Create Doctrinal Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=923-w0Knq-AC&pg=PA115|date=1 October 2012|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5999-1|page=115}}</ref>

==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 [[New Jerome Biblical Commentary]] suggests that the three Johannine epistles "describe the fracturing of the Johannine community itself".<ref>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</ref>

The author wrote the epistle so that the joy of his audience would "be full" (1:4); that they would "not practice sin" (2:1); that they would not be deceived by false teachers (2:26); and that "you who believe in the name of the [[Son of God]]... may continue to know that you have [[Eternal life (Christianity)|eternal life]]" (5:13). There are two main approaches to understanding the overall purpose of the letter, tests of life (popularized by Robert Law) and tests of fellowship (popularized by John Mitchell and [[Zane C. Hodges|Zane Hodges]]). Whereas the Gospel of John was written for unbelievers ([[John 20:31]]), this epistle was written to those who were already believers (5:13).<ref name="Barbour341">Barbour, p. 341</ref> Ernest DeWitt Burton found it likely that its audience was largely [[gentile]] rather than Jewish, since it contains few Old Testament quotations or distinctly Jewish forms of expression.<ref name="Burton367"/>

The epistle also partakes of the debate over Jesus's nature: the debate over "flesh" or the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnation]].  In [[early Christianity]], some advocated for [[docetism]], a view that Christ had been a purely divine being.  Most notably, the group that would eventually become the [[Gnostic]]s were docetic.  1 John fiercely denounces this belief in favor of the view that Jesus had a real appearance "in the flesh" on Earth.  Chapter 4 writes that "every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God" (NRSV),<ref>{{bibleverse|1|John|4:2}}</ref> and other passages say that Jesus shed blood, and if he could not shed blood then his death was meaningless.  Chapter 2 also includes a passage that refers to a group of proto-Gnostics: a group that was once with the church but have since left it and deny that the human Jesus was also the spiritual Christ.  The author denounces these secessionists as "antichrists".  The introduction possibly also addresses the issue, especially if the identification of the author as John, or a pseudepigraphic claim to have been a disciple, is assumed: Chapter 1 writes of having evidence of the truth via eyes and touch.  The author may thus be claiming to have known the physical Jesus personally and is emphasizing his physicality as a flesh-and-blood person rather than a spirit or phantasm.<ref name="ehrman">{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart |author-link=Bart Ehrman |date=2012 |title=Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics |publisher= Oxford University Press |page=431&ndash;437 |isbn=9780199928033 }}.</ref>

==Surviving early manuscripts==
[[File:End of 2 Peter and Beginning of 1 John in Alexandrinus.JPG|thumb|upright|right|The end part of the [[Second Epistle of Peter]] (3:16–18) and the beginning of the First Epistle of John ([[#Verse 1|1:1]]–[[1 John 2|2:9]]) on the same page of [[Codex Alexandrinus]] (AD 400–440)]]
The earliest written versions of the epistle have been lost; some of the earliest surviving manuscripts include:
;In Greek
*[[Codex Vaticanus]] (AD 300–325)
*[[Codex Sinaiticus]] (330–360)
*[[Codex Alexandrinus]] (400–440)
*[[Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus]] (c. 450; fragmentary)
*[[Papyrus 74]] (7th century; fragmentary)
;In Latin
*[[León palimpsest]] (7th century; extant verses 1 John 1:5–5:21,<ref name = Metzger>Bruce M. Metzger, ''The Early Versions of the New Testament'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 316.</ref> including the text of the [[Comma Johanneum]] ([[1 John 5:7]]).<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Aland | first1 = B. | last2=Aland| first2=K.| last3=J. Karavidopoulos, [[Carlo Maria Martini|C. M. Martini]], B. Metzger, [[Allen Wikgren|A. Wikgren]] | title = The Greek New Testament|issue=4|publisher=United Bible Societies | place =Stuttgart | year =1993|page=819|isbn=978-3-438-05110-3}} [UBS4]</ref>

The [[Muratorian fragment]], dated to AD 170, cites chapter 1, verses 1–3 within a discussion of the Gospel of John.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/muratorian-metzger.html |title=The Muratorian fragment |author=[[Bruce Metzger]] (translator) |publisher=EarlyChristianWritings.com |access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> [[Papyrus 9]], dating from the 3rd century, has surviving parts of chapter 4, verses 11–12 and 14–17.<ref>{{Cite book
 | last = Comfort
 | first = Philip W.
 | author-link = Philip Comfort
 |author2=David P. Barrett
 | title = The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts
 | publisher = Tyndale House Publishers
 | year = 2001
 | location = Wheaton, Illinois
 | page = 79
 | isbn = 978-0-8423-5265-9}}</ref>

Different versions of the Greek manuscript have different wording for some verses.

{{further|Textual variants in the First Epistle of John}}

==Prologue==
Verses 1-4 of the first chapter constitute a prologue or introduction concerning the Incarnate Word.<ref>[[Jerusalem Bible]], 1966, 1 John</ref> Like the Prologue to John's Gospel, this introduction tells us that what the author proposes to write about is the Word which is the Life.<ref name=Plummer>Plummer, A. (1896), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/1_john/1.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges] on 1 John 1, accessed 23 September 2020</ref> Anglican commentator Alfred Plummer notes that "the similarity to the [[John 1:1|opening]] of the Gospel is manifest", but with a significant difference, in that the gospel refers to the existence of the {{langx|grc|[[Logos|λόγος]]}}, ''lógos'', word, before the creation, whereas here the point is that the word existed before the [[incarnation]].<ref name=Plummer />

==Johannine Comma==
[[File:Cod. Montfortianus p 434 r 1 John 5 Comma.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Codex Montfortianus]] (1520) page 434 recto with 1 John 5 ''Comma Johanneum''.]]
{{main|Johannine Comma}}

A Trinitarian [[Biblical gloss|gloss]] (marginal note) known as the [[Johannine Comma]], added to Latin translations of the epistle in the 4th century,<ref name="Houghton">{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-874473-3| last = Houghton| first = H. A. G.| title = The Latin New Testament: a guide to its early history, texts, and manuscripts| location = Oxford| date = 2016| pages = 178–179 | doi = 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198744733.001.0001}}</ref> was [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolated]] (added to the main text) within 1 John 5:7-8 over the course of the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name=Houghton /> Although no Greek manuscripts before the 15th century include the passage, [[Erasmus]] added it to later editions of his edition of the New Testament, beginning in 1522.<ref name="McDonald2017">{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 978-0-19-880683-7| pages = 61–72|editor= Dirk van Miert |editor2=Henk J. M. Nellen |editor3=Piet Steenbakkers |editor4=Jetze Touber | last = McDonald| first = Grantley| title = Scriptural authority and biblical criticism in the Dutch Golden Age: God's word questioned| volume = 1| chapter = The Johannine Comma from Erasmus to Westminster| location = Oxford| date = 2017| doi = 10.1093/oso/9780198806837.003.0003}}</ref> Bibles translated from his edition integrate the passage, including the [[King James Version]] (1611), which renders it as follows (''in italics''):

{{Blockquote|{{ssup|7}}For there are three that beare record ''in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. {{ssup|8}}And there are three that beare witnesse in earth,'' the Spirit, and the Water, and the Blood, and these three agree in one.<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse|1|John|5:7-8|KJV}}: King James Version</ref>}}

Translations made since the 18th century and based on a [[critical edition]] do not include this text, or include it as a footnote. Because the addition supports the doctrine of [[trinitarianism]], it featured in Protestant and Catholic debates on this subject in the [[early modern period]].

==Final verse==
:''Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.''<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse|1|John|5:21|NKJV}}: New King James Version (NKJV)</ref>
Plummer suggests that here, "as at the end of [John's] Gospel <ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse||John|21:25|NKJV}}</ref> and the [[Second Epistle of John|Second Epistle]],<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse|2|John|1:13|NKJV}}</ref> '[[Amen]]' is the addition of a copyist".<ref name=Plummer /> The [[Textus Receptus]] version includes "Ἀμήν", ''[[Amen]]'', at the end but critical editions do not.<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse|1|John|5:21|SBLGNT}}: The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (2010) by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software</ref>

=="To the Parthians"==
Around 415, [[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote a commentary in [[Latin]] ''On the Epistle of John to the Parthians'' (in Latin, ''ad Parthos''), in which he identifies the addressees of John's letter as [[Parthia]]ns. It has occasionally been suggested that this refers to a community of converts in the [[History of the Jews in Iraq|Jewish community of Babylonia]]. Around 730, [[Bede]] wrote that [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] had also believed in a Parthian destination for ''1 John''. This tradition, however, is known only from Latin sources. (Three late Greek manuscripts of ''2 John'' label it "to the Parthians".) On balance, it is likely that John's first letter was written for the Ephesian church and that the Parthian label results from a misreading or misunderstanding.<ref>[[W. Hall Harris III]], ''1, 2, 3 John: Comfort and Counsel for a Church in Crisis'' (Biblical Studies Press, 2003), pp. 18–19.</ref>

==Uses==
===Music===
"1 John 4:16" is a song title in the album "[[The Life of the World to Come (album)|''The Life of the World to Come'']]", inspired by this verse, which was released by the American band [[The Mountain Goats]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/the-mountain-goats-the-life-of-the-world-to-come/1863 |title=The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come &#124; Music Review |magazine=[[Slant Magazine]] |date=2009-10-05 |accessdate=2012-03-15}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[If the world hates you]]
* [[John the Apostle]]
* [[John the Evangelist]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Robert Dabney, "The Doctrinal Various Readings of the New Testament Greek", 1894: p.&nbsp;32.
* {{eastons|wstitle=John, First Epistle of}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|1 John}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{librivox book | dtitle=Bible: 1 John| stitle=NT 23: 1 John}} Various versions
*[http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=23&c=1 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901100050/http://www.latinvulgate.com/lv/verse.aspx?t=1&b=23&c=1 |date=2020-09-01 }}
*[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=1John ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
*[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=69 Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''] (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[General epistles|General]] [[Epistles|Epistle]]|||}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Second Epistle of Peter|Second Peter]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=<small>[[New Testament]]</small><br>[[Books of the Bible]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Second Epistle of John|Second John]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{First Epistle of John}}
{{Books of the Bible}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Epistle Of John}}
[[Category:First Epistle of John| ]]
[[Category:2nd-century Christian texts]]
[[Category:Catholic epistles|First]]
[[Category:Johannine literature]]

[[Category:New Testament books|John 1]]