1-3 John

by Thomas Andrew Bennett

Overview

The letters from John written to churches at the end of the first century CE possess meaningful theological insight for Christians today—in a sense, they were written for us. 

Working from this standpoint, Thomas Andrew Bennett keeps historical speculation to a minimum and delves into the theological depths of 1–3 John in this commentary. He begins by providing a new translation of the text from the Greek, along with verse-by-verse exegesis, and then moves into an extended reflection on a litany of relevant theological topics, including questions of trinitarianism, creation, faith, atonement, eschatology, salvation, the nature of divine and human love, and the composition of the church. In these pages, readers challenged by Johannine metaphors (“walking in the light,” “children of God,” etc.) will find clarity, and pastors will find detailed guidance for teaching and preaching. 

Bennett’s scholarship is critical but confessional, academic but accessible, and, above all, rooted in a faithful reverence that seeks not to read 1–3 John as a detached outsider to the text, but as the author’s fellow believer, so that the text’s theological concerns can be spoken to once again in a fresh and compelling way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802875778
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	04/15/2021
Series:	Two Horizons New Testament Commentary (THNTC)
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Thomas Andrew Bennett is affiliate assistant professor of theology at Fuller Theological Seminary and lead pastor of Coast Bible Church, San Juan Capistrano, California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Abbreviations xi

Introduction: The Two Horizons of the Letters of John 1

John's Horizons and Ours 1

Genre 3

Authorship 4

Historical Contexts 7

"John's" Purpose 8

Conclusions 11

Interpretation: Theological Interpretation of 1-3 John 13

1 John 1:1-4 13

1 John 1:5-2:2 18

1 John 2:3-6 23

1 John 2:7-11 28

1 John 2:12-14 37

1 John 2:15-17 41

1 John 2:18-23 47

1 John 2:24-27 51

1 John 2:28-3:3 53

1 John 3:4-10 58

1 John 3:11-18 64

1 John 3:19-24 67

1 John 4:1-6 71

1 John 4:7-10 75

1 John 4:11-16 79

1 John 4:17-18 84

1 John 4:19-5:1 87

1 John 5:2-4a 90

1 John 5:4b-12 93

1 John 5:13-21 100

2 John 1-3 109

2 John 4-6 112

2 John 7-11 114

2 John 12-13 118

3 John 1-2 119

3 John 3-4 120

3 John 5-8 121

3 John 9-10 124

3 John 11-12 126

3 John 13-15 127

Theological Horizons of 1-3 John 128

The Trinity 128

Theological Epistemology: Knowing God 128

Trinitarianism in 1-3 John: Ambiguity in Speech about the Persons of the Godhead 132

From God Is Love to Nicaea: Incipient Trinitarianism in 1 John 134

Christology 135

Christ the Co-priest: The Fulfillment of the Temple 135

Soteriology in 1-3 John: In Jesus's Name 139

In the Flesh: Incarnation and Christology in 1-3 John 141

Novel but Never New: Orthodox Theology in 1-3 John 144

God and Creation 147

A Redeemable Creation 147

Time in 1-3 John 149

The Unseen World: Spirit and Spirits in 1-3 John 150

On the Importance of the Physical in 1-3 John 153

God's Character 155

God Beyond, God In: Transcendence and Immanence in 1 John 155

Divine Pathos in 1-3 John: God's Joy 158

Theological Aesthetics in 1-3 John 159

The Love of God and the Death of God 166

God Listens: Divine Passibility in 1-3 John 168

Election and Eschatology 170

Transformation: Soteriology and Purgatory in 1-3 John 170

Eternal Security and Purgatory in 1-3 John 174

Eternity and Election: The Economy of Election in 1-3 John 178

Being Rewarded: Eschatology and Divine and Human Economics in 1-3 John 181

Scripture 184

Apostolic Authority and Truth 184

Theological Epistemology: Community and Discernment 186

What a Canon! The Theological Import of 2-3 John 188

The Church 190

The Spirit of Anointing: Church as Spirit-Temple in 1-3 John 190

Ecclesiology in 1-3 John: The Family of God 192

Gender and Leadership: The Role of Women in 1-3 John 196

Intolerance and the Power of Speech in 1-3 John 198

True Church and Excommunication in 2-3 John 200

Ethics 202

Ethics in 1-3 John: In Him 202

Open and Closed Doors: Christian Hospitality in 1-3 John 205

Money in 1-3 John 206

Power and Authority in 1-3 John 207

Bibliography 211

Index of Authors 217

Index of Subjects 219

Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Writings 221

Editorial Reviews

Thomas Andrew Bennett has written a smart, well-written commentary on John’s three Catholic Epistles. His fluent exposition of these neglected biblical texts and his wide-ranging theological investigations of them fashion an inviting dialogue for and with clergy of the confessing church. Bennett’s attentiveness to the reception history of these letters as well as the ecclesial location of their interpretation as Scripture is especially welcome. Readers will appreciate the care by which Bennett selects which of these issues to discuss and how they might help the pastor or teacher prepare sermons or lectures that are formative of a people’s knowledge of and life with God.”
— Robert W. Wall
Seattle Pacific University and Seminary

“This is a work of scholarship for the church, for the very same community to whom the writings of John were first addressed. Under Bennett’s careful and incisive guidance the church of today will be helped to read John’s letters with ears tuned to the Word of God. Bennett helps us to explore the theological questions that John himself explores and so offers rich resources and encouragement to the church to be what it is called to be: the proclaimer in word and deed of the message of salvation.”
— Murray Rae
University of Otago, New Zealand

“Thomas Andrew Bennett has provided us with a well-informed, stylish study of the Johannine letters and their ongoing significance. Passionately confessional, his commentary points to their articulation of major Christian doctrines and ethical practices. John, possibly the author of the letters, the fourth Gospel, and Revelation, summons wavering early Christians to a shared way of life guided by perennial Christian truths.”
— Francis J. Moloney, SDB
Catholic Theological College, University of Divinity, Australia

The Expository Times
“The thirty-two short essays that make up the second half of the commentary are elegantly and passionately written.”

Interpretation
“Bennett’s commentary is a thoughtful and often thought-provoking study that not only helps readers rediscover and apply 1–3 John today but also invites biblical scholars to venture more boldly into theological terrain.

From the Publisher