The Epistles of John
Raymond E. Brown (Editor, Translator, Writer of introduction)
A lengthy introduction which discusses the authorship of the Epistles of John, their relationship to the Fourth Gospel, and what they demononstrate about the followers of John, precedes a detailed commentary on the text of the Epistles themselves
Print Book, English, 1982
First edition View all formats and editions
Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1982
Bible, v. 30
Reference works
xxviii, 812 pages ; 25 cm.
9780385056861, 9780300140279, 0385056869, 0300140274
7925227
Information from tradition
Designation as Catholic Epistles and Epistles of John
Attitudes toward these epistles in the first five centuries
Problems of Johannine authorship
Did the same author write all three epistles?
Did the same author write the fourth Gospel and the epistles?
In what sequence were the Gospel and the epistles written?
Source theories for the origin of I John
The German theory of an antithetical-statement source
Other source theories
Origin of I and II John belong in a struggle with adversaries
Which views in I and II John belong to the adversaries
Resconstructed portrait of the adversaries
The theory adopted in this commentary
Brief statement of theory
The secessionists' relation to the fourth Gospel
The epistolary author's relation to the fourth Gospel
The aftermath
Structure and text
The structure of I John
The text of the epistles
General bibliography for the Johannine Epistles
Bibliographies; surveys
Commentaries or general analyses
Epistolary theology
Authorship issues
Source theories
Life and setting of the community
Structure of I John
Text
Miscellaneous works cited in this commentary
The First Epistle of John
The prologue (1:1-4)
The Gospel of God as Light; three boasts and three opposite hypotheses (1:5
2:2)
Three claims of intimate knowledge of God to be tested by behavior (2:3-11)
Admonitions to believers: having conquered the evil one, they must resist the world (2:12-17)
Warning against the secessionists as antichrists who deny the Son and the Father (2:18-27)
God's children versus the devil's children (2:28
3:10)
The Gospel of loving one another (3:11-24)
The spirits of truth and deceit, and their respective adherents (4:1-6)
Loving one another as a way of abiding in and loving God (4:7
5:4a)
Faith as conqueror of the world and the role of testimony (5:4b-12)
The conclusion (5:13-21)
The Second Epistle of John
The Third Epistle of John
Translated into English from the original ancient Greek