Page 66 - General Epistles (James through Jude) Textbook

From external evidence (from sources outside 1 John and the rest of the books of the Bible), “Polycrates,
bishop of Ephesus, writing to Victor, bishop of Rome, c. 190 (so Eusebius, H.E. 3.31.3; 5.24.2), and the
witness of Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. 3.1.1), who knew both Papias and Polycarp,” it is argued that “the
evidence that John the son of Zebedee (and for that matter Philip the evangelist and his daughters)
moved to Ephesus at the time of the Jewish War (A.D. 66-70) and ultimately died there is not
142
overwhelming, but it is consistent.” It is argued by the early church tradition that “John lived in
143
Ephesus during his old age.” Leon Morris makes a case that “If the teaching opposed in 1 John is
linked with Cerinthus, this strengthens a case firmly based on the traditions that connect the author
with Asia Minor.”
144

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown notes that “Ephesus may be conjectured to be the
place whence it was written. The controversial allusion to the germs of Gnostic heresy accord with Asia
Minor being the place, and the last part of the apostolic age the time, of writing this Epistle.” Hodges
145
notes that “The most likely date for the composition of the Gospel of John at Ephesus (as per Irenaeus)
would be between AD 48 and 52.”
146

Date.
From the internal evidence (coming from 1 John and the rest of the books of the Bible), the first epistle
itself states the presence and troublesomeness of false teachers who denied the full humanity of Jesus,
which therefore fits the ancient description “of Proto-Gnostic teacher, Cerinthus, ministering in and
around Ephesus at the same time as the aged apostle (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26.1, 3.11.1.”
147

From external evidence (from sources outside 1 John and the rest of the books of the Bible), Carson and
148
Moo dates it in early 90s following the writing of the fourth gospel of John. For Leon Morris, since the
“growth of heresy and the development of the ecclesiastical situation prevents the early date, a date
between the 60’s and 90’s of the 1 cent. is probable.”
149
st

Virtually nothing in the epistle indicates a specific date or period for its writing. Many conservatives
suggest a date late in the first century AD., about the time of or shortly after the writing of the Fourth
Gospel. But a good case can be made for dating the Gospel of John sometime prior to AD. 70. If this is
done, there is no particular reason why 1 John may not be assigned to the same period of time. If 2:19
suggests that the false teachers had seceded from the Palestinian churches which the apostles
supervised, then this perhaps can be taken to indicate a time before the calamities of the Jewish revolt
against the Romans in AD. 66–70. After this period the influences (both good and bad) of Palestinian
Christianity on the Gentile churches must have greatly decreased. If the reference of 2:19 is indeed to
Palestine, then John may well have been writing from Jerusalem when he stated, “They went out from
us.” These deductions are far from firm, but they might be taken to point to a date for the epistle
somewhere between AD. 60 and 65. But it must be admitted that an even earlier date cannot be
excluded. Whatever the actual date of writing, the epistle gives truths of timeless value to the Christian
church.
150

Carson’s and Moo’s date seems likely.

Recipients (Audience).
The destination for the epistle is highly subjective (based on opinion) rather than objective (based on
verified evidences) because there is no self-claim pertaining to its addressees. Carson and Moo maintain
that “these epistles were sent to churches (and an individual) somewhere in the Ephesus area, including,

65