John I

Click here for the previous book, Peter II.

CHAPTER 1

Well, let’s see.  This one is believed to be written by the guy who wrote the fourth gospel due to some similarities in theological thought.  Yeah, but this Bible’s opening notes tell me that this could easily have been written in response to that gospel, as part of a debate over its meaning.  Oh, goody.  That was my least favorite gospel.  And I’m still sick of the letters.  (Good news for me: this is the last letter more than one chapter long.  Bad news for me: there are three more one-chapter letters to go).

This one starts off with a poem and then gives us generic theology like “God is light.”  Wonderful.  But the Bible engages me when it deals with humans, not solely with the heavens.

CHAPTER 2

This makes Christ out to be the Holy Lawyer in the sky.  This letter notes, “But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Farther, Jesus Christ the righteous one.”  So God will plead our case before his dad.  That’s nice. 

The chapter also refers to antichrists (verse 18: “Children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared.” I do believe that is the first time we’ve seen that word in the Bible. We see it again a littler later: “Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist.”  That’s a pretty broad definition of antichrist.  Usually people now just use it to mean Satan or something, but here it’s anyone not a Christian.  That’s very much a “you’re either with us or against us” mentality.  If you’re not with Christ, you are anti-Christ. 

CHAPTER 3

This chapter is pretty overblown.  Peter (or whoever wrote it) keeps overstating things rather badly.  For instance, “Whoever sins belongs to the devil.”  Oh.  By the way – who doesn’t sin?  Do you go around casting the first stone all the time, pal? 

Actually, that example points out another theme in this chapter – repeated references to the devil.  This is one reason I really doubt Peter wrote this.  Jesus almost never spoke of the devil, but there is plenty of devil talk here.  It goes with the anti-Christ talk last chapter.  There is a strong sense of being under siege here.

CHAPTER 4

Remember how this letter is supposed written by Apostle John because much of its theology is reminiscent of the fourth gospel?  Well, that’s never more obvious than in this line: “God send his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.”  That reminds me of probably the most famous line in the fourth gospel: John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.”  It’s not word-for-word the same, but it is the same theology.

CHAPTER 5

Not much happens here.  Just typical Jesus talk.  Actually, here’s a thought.  The writer gives us another statement about how we have eternal life through Christ – does that mean there is no hell?  If we have eternal life through Christ, that indicates there is NO eternal life without Christ.  So you don’t go to hell – you just rot.  Maybe I’m missing something, but that does strike me as a legitimate interpretation of this theology. 

Remember – while there is tons of overlap with our ideas of Christ and Christianity and the ideas of the early church – it’s not exactly the same thing.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

There are some points I can comment on, but I miss the Paul letters.  Those had a line of thought I could follow all throughout.  Maybe it’s just my limitations as a reader, but I have a lot of trouble doing that with these later letters. 

The most distinctive thing in this letter is the interest in the devil and antichrists. 

Click here for John II.