who wrote 2 john

The Gospels telling that story were written some decades later and so are concerned, first, with the events of Jesus’ lifetime recorded but, second, with what was happening in the churches to which each gospel was addressed and which shaped their content. It touched me, so I would recommend it to anyone. The epistle of 2 John addresses the "elect lady," and there is speculation regarding who this lady was. Eusebius claimed Origen knew of both 2 and 3 John, although he was aware that the latter two letters were not regarded as genuine by everyone.11 But Origen never actually quotes 2 or 3 John in any of his surviving works; the only firsthand evidence that he knew more than one Johannine letter rests on the use of a plural in the Latin translation (the Greek original is no longer extant) of his Homilies on Joshua … Ezra (1 & 2 Chronicles | Ezra) Ezra is born long, long after Moses. 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. Thus, it is appropriate to consider what was happening in the churches that were the original recipients of John’s gospel, most likely the last gospel to be written. The Second Epistle of John was written to “the elect lady and her children” (2 John 1:1). The authors of the letters are addressing real questions, issues, and circumstances that are pressing at that moment of time. Discover more resources related to Second John. The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. John the apostle was the writer of the second book of John, although he does not give his name he refers to himself as "the elder." Revelation is written in much poorer Greek than the Gospel and letters are, and it even spells the name Jerusalem in Greek differently than the Gospel does. So how can we know that the apostle John wrote the fourth gospel? Most scholars believe the … You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. stream the lectures on MasterLectures right now with a 14-day FREE trial. False teachers had emerged from the elder’s own church(es), and their beliefs were challenging his apostolic leadership. If you have any questions, please review our. (Mr 1:16-20; Joh 1:35-39) John, who may have been a cousin of Jesus, developed a close friendship with Jesus, becoming known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” (Joh 13:23; 21:20, 24) John was present at the heartbreaking scene of execution, where Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to John. Summary of The Book of 2 John. Also, it was John who outran Peter as they sped to the tomb to investigate the report that Jesus had risen. Our actions, whether obedient or disobedient, have ripple effects far beyond our own limited vision of a circumstance. And Esther de Boer contends the author of John’s Gospel was Mary Magdalene! © 2021 Insight for Living Ministries. Date of Writing: The Book of 2 John would most likely have been written at about the same time as John’s other letters, 1 and 3 John, between A.D. 85-95. Early Christian writers recognized John as the author, and there are clear similarities with the first epistle. While our modern Bibles attach John's name to the beginning of the Gospel, John (just like the other gospel authors) never documented his name within the book. Innovation in Christian belief and practice had to be bounded by apostolic orthodoxy. Please check errors and resubmit. Chuck has a way of saying it the way it is! This post has been adapted from Karen H. Jobes’ commentary on 1, 2, & 3 John in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Author. These letters insist that this apostolic testimony trumps any reinterpretation of Jesus by those who were not commissioned by him and who were far removed from personal knowledge of him. In what ways might your obedience or disobedience impact those in your immediate circle of relationships? Consequently, they allow us to distinguish three periods of the first century and place the events and the origin of the books within each period: The gospel and letters of John were written within this last period, when the church at large faced huge issues, such as organized persecution of Christians by the Roman government, heresy infiltrating the church (especially from the various Greek philosophies), and a crisis of church leadership, especially as the apostles died and the Lord had not returned. Modern scholarship has complicated the issue even further with most New Testament scholars rejecting the identity of the beloved disciple as the apostle John and conjecturing as many as five different author or redactors for the gospel and letters. There he presumably lived for the rest of his long life, on into the reign of Trajan, the Roman emperor who ruled the empire from AD 98 to 117. The Elder is the author of Second and Third John, but there is some question whether the John the Elder is the same person as John the Apostle. The books of 2 and 3 John are believed to be written by the same author and most scholars believe the author is John the Evangelist. From the reports he had received, he understood that these believers were following the teachings of Christ. would be helpful to mention how a reader can investigate biblical authorship and what methods are employed by textual critics to determine that very thing Who wrote John 2 might be of academic interest, it might even give an extra insight into what the author was talking about in that or another of his works, but the Chuch isn't going to change its mind on its canonicity even if you show that there is a 90% probability that it was written by a … Please note, our website requires JavaScript to be supported. Neither the text of the gospel nor that of the letters bears John’s name, or any name. John calls followers of Jesus to share in God's own life and love by devoting themselves to loving one another. Nothing in the circumstances John discussed in the letter would lead a reader of the time to think that it did not go to the same churches that received 1 John. Of the New Testament works, only Revelation names its author explicitly as John. So it is extremely unlikely that the same person wrote all of these books. Robinson (in Redating the New Testament), suggests the following hypothesis: Jude begins to write 2 Peter at Peter’s request and as his agent. Enhance your school’s traditional and online education programs by easily integrating online courses developed from the scholars and textbooks you trust. To whom was 2 John written and why? We do not know the location of its composition. Listen to Chuck Swindoll’s overview of Second John in his audio message from the Classic series God’s Masterwork. The vast bulk of NT scholars prefer the view that the author is writing to a church. But he breaks off and sends a shorter, hurried letter in his … He wrote from Ephesus (in present-day western Turkey), perhaps to churches like those mentioned in Rev. John the Baptist. But that simply is not true. All rights reserved.Site by Ascendio, Insight's New Testament Handbook: A Practical Look at Each Book, Insight’s Handbook of New Testament Backgrounds: Key Customs from Each Book, God's Masterwork, Volume Seven: The Final Word—A Survey of Hebrews–Revelation, View Chuck Swindoll's chart of Second John. Kummel also states (op. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214 USA) providing information about products and services of HCCP and its affiliates. It could mean that the people respected him as amature man. However, the earliest church tradition from the second century on testified in unison that this letter and its companion, 3 John, were written by the apostle, not by a mysterious and unknown elder. In other words, those who walk in the truth should be people who love others. This early heresy, called Docetism, required the strongest possible response from John. Occasion Of The Second Letter Of John: The members of the church to whom John wrote his second letter were being disturbed by deceiving false teachers, who denied Jesus is Christ the Son of God. For more information on the date of writing, see the Overview On The Book Of 1 John. 2 early sources that claim John as the author: Polycarp and Papias. The Second Letter of John exhorts a church, fancifully called “the elect lady and her children,” to boycott the docetic heretics (combated in 1 John), who deny the reality of the Incarnation. This is relevant in every generation of the church until the Lord returns. In our previous articles, we looked at evidence for Mark and Matthew's authorship as well as Luke's. Linguistically there is evidence that 2 and 3 John are similar to the other Johannine works by the apostle John. For Instructors and School Administrators. This echoes the teaching of Jesus in John’s gospel, where the Lord told His followers, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Saint Jerome, the fourth-century theologian who produced the Latin Vulgate, agreed with Eusebius’ conclusion about John the Presbyter, and he went on to argue that while John the Apostle wrote the Gospel of John and 1 John, a different John wrote 2 John and 3 John. The apostle addressed the letter “to the chosen lady and her children,” a mysterious phrase that has been much debated (2 John 1:1). In fact, an apostle using the term “elder” for himself was not at all unprecedented—Peter did that very thing in his first epistle (1 Peter 5:1). The New Testament as a whole is focused on one person who lived in the early third of the first century, Jesus of Nazareth, and the significance of his life, death, and resurrection. With this letter’s thematic similarity to 1 John, it is best to suggest that John wrote from Patmos in about AD 90. Church tradition from the earliest days of Christianity has ascribed these letters to John, commonly believed to be the apostle John—one of Jesus’ chosen twelve, the son of Zebedee, and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” of John’s gospel. Whether John was writing to “an elect lady”—i.e., a real person—or a church is a more difficult problem to assess. According to scholars, the gospel of John was written by the beloved disciple (John 13:23, 19:26) of Jesus named John. John did not identify himself by name in this letter, but he did adopt the term “elder” for himself (2 John 1:1). Information on 2 John. It either refers to an actual woman or serves as a metaphor for a church. Although the issue of authorship will not likely ever be known with certainty, the author of these letters clearly claims to be a bearer of the apostolic teaching about Jesus that was based on eyewitness testimony about his public ministry, death, and resurrection. Second and Third John are from the pen of “the elder,” who is not identified. He summed up this kind of lifestyle in the exhortation to “love one another” (1:5), a clear reference to the great commandments of Jesus—to love God and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36–40; John 13:34). Written by John the Elder to house church believers, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John echo the gospel of John. The relationship between the three letters and between them and the gospel indicates that the same author likely wrote all three letters, and he was also either the author of the gospel or a close associate. Let’s review the similarities in context between 2 and 3 John with those found in the epistle of John: Both Polycarp and Papias lived in the greater vicinity of Ephesus in western Asia Minor, the location to which the apostle John is said to have fled at about the time when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem (AD 70), taking Mary the mother of Jesus with him. 3Rd John as the author is writing to “ walk in the second of. Addresses the `` elect lady and her children ” ( 2 John to my heart you for deeply thinking... Of doctrinal and ecclesial unification ( c. AD 60 – 100 ) or disobedient, ripple! Christ was also part of the church until the Lord returns this early heresy, Docetism. God, 2, and circumstances that are pressing at that moment of time Peter who wrote 2 john... Last living apostle trade before Jesus called him limits that truth allows es ), and there clear. Swindoll ’ s own church ( es ), and was a companion of Simon Peter, the... 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