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Second Epistle of John

About 3 pages (892 words)

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The Second Epistle of John (normally just called 2nd John or 2 John) is a book of the Bible New Testament. It is the 63rd book of the Bible, and the shortest, weighing in at a mere 13 verses. It reads as follows:

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us for ever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist! Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching; for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person. Although I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink; instead I hope to come to you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your elect sister send you their greetings.[1]

It is addressed to "the elect lady," and closes with the words, "The children of thy elect sister greet thee;" but some would read instead of "lady" the proper name Kyria. Of the thirteen verses composing this epistle seven are in the First Epistle. The person addressed is commended for her piety, and is warned against false teachers. Naturally, another interpretation is possible. In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, the writer speaks of a woman and a dragon. The dragon plots maliciously against the woman and one of her children, but is frustrated in his attempts to do them harm. In anger he then pursues the rest of her children. Verse four of 2nd John reads, "I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth." It may be the woman of portent from Revelation to which this epistle is addressed. The language of this epistle is remarkably similar to 3 John. It is therefore the scholarly consensus that the same man wrote both of these letters, although it has been doubted that he also wrote the Gospel of John, the First Epistle, or the Book of Revelation. Also significant is the clear warning against paying heed to those who say that Jesus was not a flesh-and-blood figure: For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This establishes that, from the time the epistle was first written, there were those who had docetic Christologies, or who believed that Jesus was allegory, or not real whatsoever. I.e. this establishes the possibility of the presence of gnosticism at the dawn of Christianity, or, as claimed by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy amongst others, indicates that Jesus was a purely mythical figure from the start. The vehemence with which such anti-corporeal attitudes are condemned in the letter also indicates that those holding such a position were sufficiently vocal, persuasive, or numerous enough to merit rebuttal in this form. This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.