Introduction

On the First Catholic Epistle of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian

The First Catholic Epistle of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian has no author’s name either in its title or in the text—only in the opening verses does the author indirectly make himself known as a witness and eyewitness to the events of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-3). Nevertheless, the Church holds the firm conviction that the Epistle was written by the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. Theophylact of Ohrid, following St. Athanasius the Great (“Synopsis”), says: “The same John who wrote the Gospel also wrote this Epistle to confirm those who had already believed in the Lord. And as in the Gospel, so in this Epistle he first speaks theologically about the Word, shows that it always exists in God, and teaches that the Father is light, so that we might know from this that the Word is like the radiance of his glory.” All of Christian antiquity recognized this Epistle as the work of the Apostle and Evangelist John: according to Eusebius, “Of John’s Epistles, besides the Gospel, both present and ancient Christians recognize without any dispute his first Epistle” (Church History III, 24). Even St. Polycarp of Smyrna, the apostolic man and a disciple of the Apostle John (“Epistle to the Philippians,” chapter VII) quotes one passage (1 John 1:4:3) from John’s first Epistle. Similarly, Papias of Hierapolis, according to Eusebius (Church History III, 39), made use of both John’s first Epistle and the first Epistle of the Apostle Peter. And St. Irenaeus of Lyons, according to Eusebius (Church History V, 8), in his work “Against Heresies” cites many passages from the Apostle John’s first Epistle (specifically in book III, 15, 5 he cites 1 John 2:18-22, and in III, 15, 8-1; 1 John 4:1-3). The testimony of these three ancient men, whose time follows directly upon the apostolic age, is particularly important in confirming the Church’s original faith in the canonical dignity of the Epistle.

From the second century we certainly have evidence of familiarity with the Apostle John’s Epistle—in St. Justin Martyr (“Dialogue with Trypho,” chapter 123, see 1 John 3:1), and in the author of the “Epistle to Diognetus” (chapter II, see 1 John 4:9-10). Toward the end of the second century or the first half of the third century we find important and authoritative evidence of the universally recognized canonical standing of John’s first Epistle—namely, the Muratorian Canon, the Syriac translation of the New Testament books called the Peshitta, and the ancient Latin translation. Similar evidence of the authenticity and canonical status of the Epistle appears in Clement of Alexandria (Stromata II, see 1 John 5:16), in Tertullian (Against Praxeas, chapter 15, 1 John 1:1), in Origen (Eusebius, Church History VI, 24), in Dionysius of Alexandria (Eusebius, Church History VII, 25), and others. In general, from the testimony cited it is evident that the canonical dignity and authenticity of John’s first Epistle were universally recognized and underwent no doubt or dispute. And all the internal marks of the Epistle, all the characteristic features of its content, tone, and expression clearly testify to its authorship by the same great Apostle of love and exalted Christian contemplation who wrote the Fourth Gospel. In the Epistle, as in the Gospel, he numbers himself among the eyewitnesses of the Word, and the entire content of the Epistle is penetrated with living remembrance of the example given by the Savior to Christians through his entire earthly life (1 John 2:6), his word and commandments (1 John 1:5), and the events surrounding his baptism and crucifixion (1 John 5:6). The same spirit of love breathes through the Epistle, along with a burning zeal for God’s glory and the purity of worship, the same depth and strength of feeling, the same manner and character of presentation and expression as in the Gospel. This inner closeness and kinship between the content of the Epistle and the Gospel of St. John was well noted and valued even in antiquity as proof of authenticity—for instance, by St. Dionysius of Alexandria in the third century: “The Gospel (of John),” he says, “and the Epistle agree with one another and are similarly begun; the former says: ‘In the beginning was the Word,’ the latter: ‘That which was from the beginning’; in that one it is said: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father’ (John 1:14), and the same thing here, with only slight changes: ‘That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, that which we looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life, and the life was made manifest’ (1 John 1:1-2). John is true to himself and does not depart from his purpose; he unfolds everything in the same periods and the very same words. Let us briefly cite some of them. The attentive reader in each of these books will frequently encounter the words: life, light, passing of darkness, and will constantly see: truth, grace, joy, the flesh and blood of the Lord, judgment, forgiveness of sins, God’s love for us, the commandment of mutual love and that we must keep all commandments, as well as the condemnation of the world, the devil, the antichrist, the promise of the Holy Spirit, divine sonship, faith required everywhere in us, everywhere the Father and the Son. In short, with continuous attention to the distinctive features, there necessarily appears the same character to both Gospel and Epistle” (Eusebius, Church History VII, 25).

If some modern Western biblical scholars seeing gnostics of the second century in the false teachers condemned by John’s first Epistle denied the Epistle’s authenticity and its authorship by the Apostle of love in the first century, it is certainly true that Gnostic teachings only reached their complete and fully developed form in the second century; but the seeds and beginnings of Gnostic errors arose already in the apostolic age. “And as the error refuted by the Epistle’s writer is different from the second-century Gnostic and Docetic heresy, so too the method of polemic differs: not against the particulars of heretical teaching and the persons of heretics, as is characteristic of later polemics, does the Epistle’s writer direct his opposition; but against the universal and principled positions, against the incipient anti-Christianity he sets forth the universal and principled positions of Christianity” (Professor N. I. Sagarda).

As for the time of writing the Epistle, there is no positive historical evidence, nor are there direct indications in the Epistle itself about the time of its origin. Still, the content of the Epistle contains indirect data suggesting that the Epistle’s origin should be placed in the later years of the Apostle’s life or in the final years of the apostolic age. In his Epistle, the Apostle John is not concerned with founding and initially organizing Christian churches, but only with reminding and confirming believers in the eternal truth of Christianity, which they had long heard, come to know, and possessed as a gracious “anointing” (1 John 2:20). Apparently by the time of the Epistle’s writing, the Christian communities of Asia Minor, to which it was primarily directed, had long possessed church organization, and alongside the dying members of the first generation there were those who had already been born and grown up in Christianity (1 John 2:13-14). The later origin of the Epistle is also indicated by the reflection in it of the Church’s internal development, apparently extending far beyond the activity of the Apostle Paul. The Jewish disputes that fill the entire history of Acts and all the Epistles of the Apostle Paul find no reflection whatever in this Epistle: there is not the slightest hint of any struggle between defenders of the Law and the Gospel, debates about circumcision, and the like. Judaism and paganism do not appear as independent, hostile forces opposed to Christianity; they have rather united in common hostility toward it, forming the god-opposed principle of “the world” (cosmos). Instead, within the Christian community itself there are new enemies—false teachers who distorted the foundational dogma of Christianity, the incarnation of God—and completely clearly demonstrated their absolute opposition to the teaching and life of the true Church of Christ, though they had come forth from its midst (1 John 2:19). Such a profound change in the character of doctrinal subjects and disputes and in the general state of the Church requires for its explanation perhaps entire decades between the activity of the Apostle Paul and the writing of the Epistle. In view of the close kinship between the Epistle and the Fourth Gospel already noted, the Epistle is ordinarily considered either as a kind of introductory letter to the Gospel—a sort of prolegomena to the Gospel—or as a second, so to speak, practical or polemical part of the Gospel. In either case, the closeness of the Epistle to the Gospel is evident both in content and in time of composition. Church tradition fairly consistently places the writing of both Sacred Writings of the Apostle to the time after his return from exile on the island of Patmos, during the reign of Domitian. Thus, the end of the first century of Christianity, the years 97-99, may be considered the chronological date of the origin of the Apostle John’s first Epistle. And since in those final years the Apostle John spent in Asia Minor, more specifically in the city of Ephesus, this very city may be considered the place of writing of the Epistle. The immediate occasion for writing the Epistle, addressed to the Christians of Asia Minor, closely known to the Apostle of love from his many years of residence among them and his guidance after the deaths of the Apostles Peter and Paul, was the Apostle John’s desire to warn Christians against false teachers (see, for example, 1 John 2:19-22) who, as the Epistle makes clear, distorted the teaching about the Deity and the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the blessedness of unity with God and Christ (1 John 2:22 and elsewhere). Therefore, the general character of the Epistle is exhortative and condemning, though it contains no direct polemic: rising above in his thought the temporal circumstances that prompted its writing, the Apostle here, as in the Gospel, is primarily concerned with the eternal needs of members of the Church of Christ, establishing in them faith in Jesus Christ as the true Son of God, true God and true man, and thereby opening to all the path of eternal life (1 John 5:13; see John 20:31).

On the first Epistle of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in Russian one may read: 1) in G. F. Yakovlev – Apostles. A sketch of the life and teaching of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in the Gospel, three Epistles and Revelation. Issue II. Moscow, 1860; 2) in Archpriest A. Potelebnov – The Catholic Epistles of the Apostle of Love I, II, III. In Church Slavonic and Russian, with introduction and explanatory notes. Moscow 1875; 3) in articles by G. I. Uspensky: The question of the residence of the holy Apostle John the Theologian in Asia Minor, Christian Readings 1879, I, 3, 279, and The activity of the holy Apostle John the Theologian in Asia Minor, there, II, 245; 4) in Most Reverend Bishop Michael – “The Expository Apostle” II. Kiev 1905, pp. 305 ff. There are also two monographs: a) Professor Archpriest D. I. Bogdashevsky – “The False Teachers Condemned in the First Epistle of the Apostle John.” Kiev 1890, and b) Professor V. I. Sagarda – “The First Catholic Epistle of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. An isagogico-exegetical study. Poltava, 1903.