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An investigation of the purpose and mutual relations of the Johannine Epistles

Bibliography: pages 300-314. / The series of questions which is often grouped under the heading "the Johannine Problem" is perhaps the most intractable of all those which confront New Testament scholars. Many of these questions cannot be avoided, no matter which of the five traditional "Johannine" books is studied. On one side there is the complex of queries surrounding the Fourth Gospel: its authorship, historicity, milieu, nature and date. In another direction is to be found the formidable set of challenges associated with the Johannine Apocalypse. No less difficult are the questions posed by the Epistles of John. First there is the question of authorship. Did one writer pen all three works? What is the relationship of the writer/s of the Epistles to the author/s of the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse of John? There is also the problem of timing - even leaving aside the Gospel and Apocalypse, is it possible to come to any conclusion concerning the priority of one or other of the three Epistles? Were they written at the same time? What is the answer to the peculiar absence of contemporary names in l and 2 John? What, in fact, is the nature and intention of each book? What is one to make of the current church situation, of the elusive personalities and their movements? The hypothesis advanced here suggests that the three Johannine Epistles came from the same hand, the author of these also being the author of the Fourth Gospel.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/18100
Date January 1977
CreatorsWilliams, Bryan Alan
ContributorsPainter, John, De Villiers, J L
PublisherUniversity of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Religious Studies
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD
Formatapplication/pdf

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