First John

The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. It is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Johannine epistles. This epistle was probably written in Ephesus in AD 95–110. The work was written to counter docetism, which is the belief that Jesus did not come "in the flesh", but only as a spirit. It also defined how Christians are to discern true teachers: by their ethics, their proclamation of Jesus in the flesh, and by their love.

The main themes of the epistle are love and fellowship with God. The author describes various tests by which readers may ascertain whether or not their communion with God is genuine, and teaches that the proof of spiritual regeneration is a life of active righteousness. It also distinguishes between the world (which is full of evil and under the dominion of Satan) and the children of God (who are set apart from the world).

The main themes of the epistle are discernible in the writer's sectional organisation of his contents. There are four sections (arranged in the chiasm ABB'A'): 1:1–2:14; 2:15–3:10; 3:11–4:13; 4:14–5:20. The first, A, speaks of "the witness", given and received, to God who is "light" and the exhortation is "to live in his light". The second, B, is an exhortation "to love not the world", with earthly motives, in earthly ways. The third, B', a balance to B, emphasizes (rather) "love one another". The fourth, A', again begins with "the witness", but this time it is to God who is "love"; "life eternal" is theirs who live a life of loving God. The key requirements of Ancient Rhetoric, Purpose and Structure are clearly evidenced in this letter. So too are the other requirements of Style and Memory.

Among the most controversial verses of the Bible is what some consider an explicit reference that supports the doctrine of the trinity, the Comma Johanneum: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these agree in one." (1 John 5:7–8, King James Version). Verse 7 does not appear in any version of the Greek text prior to the ninth century, and first appears in most of the Latin manuscripts, especially in the Vetus Itala (Old Latin predating Jerome) before being translated into Greek and added to later Greek manuscripts. It was included in the King James Bible, something Isaac Newton commented on in An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture. This is sometimes used as evidence to counter the King-James-Only Movement. Bart Ehrman suggests in his book Misquoting Jesus that the King James Version would not have included the passage if Desiderius Erasmus had not given in to pressure to include it in the Textus Receptus even though he doubted its authenticity.

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