21. 1, 2, 3 John
21. 1, 2, 3 John
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
1 John
Like the epistle to the Hebrews, 1 John does not exhibit any of the formal characteristics that are normally associated with the openings of letters written in Greek in the first century. Nevertheless, the personal references, the common ties the author shares with his readers, and the explicit historical referents (e.g., 1 John 2:19) make it clear that this writing was not intended to be an abstract paper, a mere brochure, 1or a tractate for all Christians everywhere: 2it was meant to be read as a pastoral letter to a congregation, or to a number of congregations. There is something to be said for the view that its atypical form is a reflection of its author’s intention to send it to several congregations along with an accompanying note personalizing each delivery: 2 John could be one such note (3 John does not qualify nearly so well) and may be the only one that has come down to us.
The structure of 1 John is disputed, largely because John takes up a number of themes and keeps returning to them in slightly different connections. The best survey of structure is by Marshall, 3though his own proposal—that no structure is believable because John probably connects his various sections by virtue of mere associations of ideas—sounds more haphazard than the flow of the epistle will allow. Although most see between the prologue (1 John 1:1-4) and the conclusion (5:14-21) two large sections (1:5-2:29; 3:1-5:13) broken down in various ways, Schnackenburg’s suggestion of three divisions has much to commend it: the first treats fellowship with God as walking in the light (1:5-2:17), the second deals directly with the present situation of the church or churches to which John addresses himself (2:18-3:24), and the third divides those who belong to God from the "world” by the tests laid out in the epistle (4:1-5:12). 4 Virtually all sides agree that John lays down three tests: (1) true believers must believe that Jesus truly is the Christ come in the flesh, and this belief must work itself out in (2) righteousness and (3) love.