The Johannine Epistles

1, 2, and 3 John

Anonymous (traditionally attributed to the apostle John; more likely a leader or leaders within the same Johannine community that produced the Gospel of John) · c. AD 90-110, shortly after the Gospel of John, from within the same circle of tradition · Ephesus, Asia Minor (Turkey) · letters

1, 2, and 3 John respond to an internal split within the Johannine community over whether Christ truly came in the flesh, insisting on both right belief and mutual love as inseparable tests of genuine fellowship, while 3 John separately airs a dispute over hospitality toward traveling emissaries.