First John - Introduction Robert Erger
Who Wrote This Book?
Traditionally, the Gospel of John and 1 John were considered products of the same author, John the Apostle (e.g., Papias apud Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.16; Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 3.16.5; the Muratorian Canon; Dionysius apud Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 7.25.7; and Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.25.2). Early Christians linked the Gospel of John and the Letters of John with a common author (Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. AD 263–339), Ecclesiastical History 7.25.7, 10; compare 2.23.25).
John, the Apostle, wrote this book.
To Whom Was It Written?
Recipients. The letter has no named recipients mentioned within it. Identification of the readers as “dear children” (2:1) and “Dear friends” (2:7) suggests they were a group well known by John. It is best to view the letter as addressed to a group of people perhaps in more than one Asian community. John personally knew them and wrote to warn them of the infiltration of false teaching (4:1–2).
First John was a circular letter (hence no specific addressees are mentioned), and was intended to be passed around the circuit of churches for which John felt special responsibility, perhaps the seven churches of Asia. It is even possible that First John might have actually been intended for the leaders of the various churches to which it went. There are indeed indications within the epistle (2:12–14; 2:20; see Commentary) that the readership is regarded as spiritually mature. In that case, the First Epistle was intended to fortify the leaders who would bear the major burden of resisting the false teachers. At the same time, John would have expected the letter to be read to the congregation(s) and, when that was done, the apostle’s expression of confidence in the competence of the leaders would enhance the esteem in which the believers held them.
When Was It Written?
There are no clear internal indications of the date at which the Johannine Epistles were written. It is likely that they were written after the Fourth Gospel, but this cannot be definitely proved. It is also likely, but unprovable, that they were written before the Book of Revelation.
The date of the Gospel is most likely prior to A.D. 70. As J. A. T. Robinson pointed out in Redating the New Testament, if the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 had already occurred, the Gospel’s silence about this is puzzling.