Jensens survey of the old testament adam 597
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Nicodemus.
3 . He was one of Jesus’ intimate associates,
the “beloved disciple.” (See John 13:23;
18:15-16; 19:26-27). Of these associates,
James was killed in the early years of the
church’s life (Acts 12:2), and Peter, Thomas,
and Philip are referred to in the gospel in
the third person so frequently that they may
be eliminated as possible authors. This
leaves John, son of Zebedee, as the most
likely author of the gospel.
Now the question is, Did the author of the
fourth gospel also write 1 John? Most
scholars agree that both books were written
by the same man. Internal evidence, based
mainly on similarities between the books,
answers Yes to the question. This evidence
includes:
a. similarities in the openings of each
book (compare John 1:1-18 and 1 John 1:1-
4)
b. common phrases in the two books —
for example, “only begotten” (John 1:14, 18;
3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9; cf. 5:1, 18), and “born
of God” (e.g., John 1:13; 1 John 3:9; 4:7;
5:1, 4, 18)
c. similar grammatical and stylistic
structure
d. common themes prominent in both
books — for example, love, light, life, abide,
darkness,
world,
eternal
life,
new
commandment, the Word, beginning, believe
(ninety-eight times in the gospel, nine times
in the epistle), witness (thirty-three times in
the gospel, six times in the epistle).
e. evidence in both books that the author
personally knew Jesus (for 1 John, read 1:14 and 4:14).
When external evidence (such as
testimony of the early church Fathers) is
added to this strong internal evidence, the
rm conclusion is reached that it was the
apostle John who wrote the epistle as well
as the gospel.
B. DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING
Although John’s epistles do not identify
where they were written, it is generally
believed that the apostle wrote them from
Ephesus. This conclusion is based on the
concurrence of two data: (1) the epistles
were written in the latter years of John’s
life; and (2) John spent his latter years in
Ephesus.
The date of the writing of 1 John is
approximately A.D. 85-90. The time is
narrowed down to these years in the
following way:
The epistle was written before the
persecution
of A.D. 95 under Emperor
Domitian (otherwise the epistle might have
made mention of this).
The epistle was written near the end of
the century. Tenney suggests these hints: (1)
the church and synagogue had become
separate, (2) the controversy over faith
versus works had largely died out, (3)
philosophical inquiries into the nature of
Christ had begun.5
Of his ve books, John wrote Revelation
last (c. A.D. 95). The gospel and 1 John were
published about the same time. The logical
relationship between the gospel and the
epistle favors the former being written first.
JOHN’S GOSPEL AND FIRST EPISTLE
COMPARED
