They Went Out from Us. The Identity of the Opponents in First John

Foreword ................................................................................................... vii
Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 1: Options for Identifying the Opponents of 1 John ............... 5
I. The Basic Questions ................................................................................ 5
II. Five Views of the Opponents ............................................................... 6
III. Ultra-Johannine Opponents ................................................................ 8
A. The Role of the Johannine Community Hypothesis ................ 11
B. Reconstructions of the Community’s History ........................... 13
C. Weaknesses of the Ultra-Johannine Theory .............................. 16
IV. Gnostic Opponents ............................................................................. 19
A. Exegetical Basis for the Theory of Gnostic Opponents ............ 20
B. Weaknesses with the Theory of Gnostic Opponents ................ 22
1. Dating Issues ......................................................................... 22
2. Methodological Issues ......................................................... 23
3. Gnostic Use of 1 John ........................................................... 24
4. The Definition Debate .......................................................... 25
a. Methods of Definition ..................................................... 27
b. The Messina Definition ................................................... 28
c. Two Recent Contributions .............................................. 29
d. Earlier Challenges ........................................................... 32
e. Incipient Gnosticism? ...................................................... 33
C. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 35
V. Docetic Opponents ............................................................................... 35
A. Exegetical Basis for the Theory of Docetic Opponents ............ 37
1. Explicitly Anti-Docetic Passages ........................................ 37
2. Implicitly Anti-Docetic Passages ........................................ 38
B. Types of Docetism ......................................................................... 38
1. Monophysite Theories ......................................................... 38
a. Marcion and Saturninus ................................................. 39
b. The Opponents of Ignatius of Antioch ......................... 40
c. The Acts of John ................................................................. 44
d. Other Texts ....................................................................... 45
2. Ouranosarkic Theories ......................................................... 46
3. Replacement Theories .......................................................... 47
C. Origins of Docetism ...................................................................... 48
1. Greek Dualism ...................................................................... 49
2. High Christology .................................................................. 49
3. Christological Prophecy ....................................................... 50
D. Weaknesses with the Theory of Docetic Opponents ................ 50
VI. Cerinthian Opponents ........................................................................ 53
A. Exegetical Basis for the Theory of Cerinthian Opponents ...... 54
B. Ancient Evidence for Cerinthianism and Johannine
Anti-Cerinthianism ...................................................................... 56
1. Epistula Apostolorum ............................................................. 56
2. Irenaeus .................................................................................. 57
3. Hippolytus ............................................................................. 59
4. Pseudo-Tertullian ................................................................. 60
5. Victorinus .............................................................................. 61
6. Dionysius of Alexandria ...................................................... 62
7. Eusebius ................................................................................. 63
8. Epiphanius ............................................................................. 63
C. Scholarly Reconstructions of Cerinthus ..................................... 65
1. Cerinthus the Chiliast .......................................................... 65
2. Cerinthus the Gnostic .......................................................... 66
3. Cerinthus the Jewish Gnostic .............................................. 67
D. Weaknesses of the Theory of Cerinthian Opponents ............... 68
1. The Dearth of Reliable Ancient Evidence ......................... 69
2. The Questionable Relevance of the Ancient Evidence .... 72
3. Other Possible Separationist Opponents ........................... 74
VII. Opponents Who Devalue Jesus ....................................................... 77
A. Exegetical Basis for the Theory of Opponents
who Devalue Jesus ....................................................................... 79
1. Raymond Brown’s Reconstruction .................................... 79
2. Urban Von Wahlde’s Reconstruction ................................ 82
B. Weaknesses of the Theory of Opponents who Devalue Jesus . 86
1. Weaknesses of Brown’s Proposal ....................................... 86
2. Weaknesses of Von Wahlde’s Proposal ............................. 89
VIII. Jewish Opponents ............................................................................ 90
A. The Exegetical Basis for the Theory of Jewish Opponents ...... 91
B. Previous Contributions to the Jewish Apostate View .............. 92
1. Alois Wurm ........................................................................... 92
2. J. C. O’Neill ............................................................................ 94
3. Hartwig Thyen ...................................................................... 96
4. Dietrich Rusam ..................................................................... 96
5. Terry Griffith ......................................................................... 97
6. Birger Olsson ......................................................................... 98
7. Ben Witherington ................................................................ 100
C. Objections to the Jewish Apostate View .................................. 102
1. The Opponents are “Christians” ...................................... 102
2. The Non-Jewish Context of the Epistles .......................... 104
3. The Lack of Scriptural Citations ....................................... 107
IX. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 110
Chapter 2: The Methodology of Mirror-Reading ............................... 112
I. The Maximalist Mirror-Reading Approach ..................................... 113
A. Kenneth Grayston’s Reconstruction ......................................... 113
B. Raymond Brown’s Reconstruction ............................................ 114
C. The Interpretive Logic of Maximalist Mirror-Readings
of 1 John ....................................................................................... 116
II. An Alternative Approach ................................................................. 118
A. The Limited Role of the Secession in the Letter ...................... 118
B. The Generalized Nature of the Warnings ................................ 119
C. Pastoral Discourse in 1 John 2:18–27 ........................................ 120
D. The Preventative Nature of the Warnings in 1 John 4:1–6 .... 122
E. The Reassuring Rhetoric of 1 John 5:6 ...................................... 123
F. The Pastoral Intent of the Ethical Instruction .......................... 123
G. The Illegitimacy of the Schlagwörter Approach ..................... 126
H. The Use and Misuse of Historical Parallels ............................. 128
I. A Call for Restraint and Realism ................................................ 129
III. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 131
Chapter 3: 1 John 2:18–27: Jesus is the Messiah .................................. 132
I. Major Interpretations of this Passage ............................................... 133
A. Anti-Cerinthian ........................................................................... 133
B. Weaknesses of the Anti-Cerinthian View ................................ 134
C. Anti-Docetist ................................................................................ 136
D. Weaknesses of the Anti-Docetist View .................................... 137
E. Against Devaluation of Jesus ..................................................... 138
F. Weaknesses of the Anti-Devaluation View .............................. 139
G. Anti-Ebionite ............................................................................... 140
H. Weaknesses of the Anti-Ebionite View .................................... 141
II. An Alternative: Jewish-Christian Apostates .................................. 142
A. The Eschatological Setting of the Secession (v. 18) ................. 142
B. The Secession and its Purpose (v. 19) ....................................... 146
C. Anointing and Knowledge (vv. 20–21) .................................... 150
1. Reassurance of the Audience’s Status .............................. 150
2. The Anointing from the Holy One ................................... 151
D. The Antichrists’ Denial (vv. 22–23) ........................................... 155
1. Truth and Falsehood in the Eschatological Crisis .......... 155
2. Proper Relation to the Father Depends upon
Confession of the Son ......................................................... 156
3. The Main Issue: Jesus’ Messiahship ................................. 157
E. Maintaining the Original Message (vv. 24–25) ........................ 166
1. The Nature of the Message ................................................ 167
2. The Beginning ..................................................................... 168
F. Further Reassurance (vv. 26–27) ................................................ 169
G. Summary ...................................................................................... 171
III. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 171
Chapter 4: 1 John 4:1–6: Jesus is the Messiah in the Flesh ................. 173
I. Opposing Overspiritualized Christianity ........................................ 174
II. Opposing Anti-Sacramentalism ....................................................... 176
III. Opposing Cerinthian Christology .................................................. 176
A. Not Confessing “Jesus” .............................................................. 178
B. The Text-Critical Question in 1 John 4:3 ................................... 178
C. Weaknesses of the Anti-Cerinthian Interpretation ................. 180
1. The Meaning of Χριστός .................................................... 180
2. Could a Cerinthian Confess Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν
σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα? ........................................................... 181
3. Does the Perfect Tense Indicate Permanence? ................ 181
IV. Opposing Docetic Christology ........................................................ 183
A. Early Anti-Docetic Interpretation of 1 John 4:2 ....................... 185
1. Polycarp ............................................................................... 185
2. Tertullian ............................................................................. 187
3. Third Corinthians ................................................................. 188
B. Weaknesses of the Anti-Docetic Interpretation ....................... 189
1. Grammatical Issues ............................................................ 189
2. The Use of “Jesus” in 4:3 .................................................... 192
3. Methodological Issues ....................................................... 193
4. The Value of Early Interpretations of 1 John 4:2 ............ 194
5. The Brevity, Lack of Elaboration, and Obscurity of the
Confession .......................................................................... 196
6. Docetist Confessions of the Flesh of Jesus Christ ........... 198
a. Ways of Affirming the Incarnation Docetically ......... 198
b. The Excerpta ex Theodoto ................................................ 199
c. The Gospel of Philip .......................................................... 200
d. The Tripartite Tractate ..................................................... 200
e. The Treatise on the Resurrection ...................................... 201
f. The Trimorphic Protennoia ............................................... 201
g. The Gospel of Thomas ...................................................... 202
7. A Possible Response ........................................................... 203
8. Non-Polemical Parallels to 1 John 4:2 .............................. 204
a. Romans 1:3–4 .................................................................. 204
b. Romans 8:3 ..................................................................... 206
c. Romans 9:5 ...................................................................... 207
d. First Timothy 3:16 .......................................................... 207
e. First Peter 3:18, 22 .......................................................... 211
f. Other NT Texts ............................................................... 212
g. Α Psalmic Source? ......................................................... 213
h. The Epistle of Barnabas ................................................... 214
i. The Testament of Benjamin .............................................. 215
j. Gnostic Texts ................................................................... 216
k. “In Flesh” as Simple Presence ...................................... 216
l. Conclusion ....................................................................... 217
V. Opposing the Devaluation of the Earthly Life of Jesus ................ 218
A. The Meaning of “Flesh” ............................................................. 218
B. The Meaning of “Coming” ......................................................... 219
C. Not Confessing Jesus .................................................................. 219
D. The Johannine Origins of the Opponents’ Error ..................... 220
1. Overemphasis on Pre-Existence ....................................... 220
2. Overemphasis on the Spirit ............................................... 221
E. The Ethical Byproduct of Devaluing Jesus ............................... 221
VI. Opposing the Devaluation of the Death of Jesus ......................... 222
A. “Coming in the Flesh” as Death ................................................ 222
B. Overemphasis on Jesus’ Baptism .............................................. 223
C. Ethical Implications .................................................................... 224
D. Relationship of 1 John 4:2 to Other Opponent Passages
in the Letter ................................................................................ 224
E. Weaknesses of the Anti-Devaluation View .............................. 225
1. An Unlikely Interpretation of “Coming in Flesh” .......... 225
2. “Coming in Flesh” Does Not Refer to Jesus’ Death ....... 226
3. A Johannine Origin for the Opponents’ View? .............. 226
4. Is 1 John 4:2 an Expanded Confession? ........................... 227
5. The Use of “Jesus” in 1 John 4:3 ........................................ 227
VII. An Alternative Interpretation ........................................................ 228
A. The Immediate Context .............................................................. 228
B. Testing the Spirits (v. 1) .............................................................. 229
1. Testing the Spirits in Other Early Christian Texts ......... 230
2. The Apocalyptic Setting ..................................................... 231
3. The Mission of the False Prophets .................................... 231
4. The OT Background of Testing the Prophets .................. 232
C. The Criteria of Testing (vv. 2–3) ................................................ 234
D. Assurance of Victory (v. 4) ........................................................ 235
E. The World’s Reception of the False Prophets (vv. 5–6) .......... 236
F. The Confession of 4:2–3 in Context ........................................... 238
1. The Confession Deals with the Foundational Belief
of the Community ............................................................. 238
2. The Confession is the Community’s Original
Confession ......................................................................... 239
3. The Confession is Materially the Same as That
of 2:22 ................................................................................. 239
G. The Grammar of the Confession ............................................... 240
1. The Use of Χριστός ............................................................. 241
2. Χριστός as a Title ................................................................ 241
3. The Lack of the Article ....................................................... 243
a. John 9:22 .......................................................................... 243
b. Other Anarthrous Parallels .......................................... 244
c. Second-Century Evidence ............................................. 244
d. Evidence from Ancient Titulature .............................. 245
e. The Compressed Character of Confessions ................ 246
4. Where is the Emphasis? ..................................................... 246
a. The Participial Grammar .............................................. 247
b. The Confession of “Jesus” ............................................ 247
c. The Role of ἐν σαρκί ..................................................... 248
5. The Confessional Character of 1 John 4:2 ........................ 248
6. The Primitive and Catholic Character of 1 John 4:2 ....... 249
7. The Confession of the Coming Messiah in
the Fourth Gospel ............................................................. 250
H. The Identity of the Opponents in 1 John 4:1–6 ....................... 250
1. Methodological Caution in Mirror-Reading
1 John 4:1–6 ......................................................................... 251
2. The Opponents as Visiting Jewish Prophets ................... 251
3. Are the False Prophets Secessionists? .............................. 253
4. The Reuse of the Fourth Gospel’s Polemic ...................... 254
VIII. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 255
Chapter 5: 1 John 5:6–12: Three Witnesses to Jesus the Messiah ...... 256
I. Against Docetism ................................................................................ 258
A. “Water and Blood” Refers to Real Physical Birth ................... 258
1. Water and Blood in Ancient Reproductive Science ....... 258
2. A Variation: “Water” = Physical Birth ............................. 260
B. “Water and Blood” Refers to Real Physical Death .................. 261
C. Weaknesses of the Anti-Docetic Interpretation ...................... 263
1. Problems with the Mandaean Parallel ............................. 263
2. Problems with the Parallel in the Acts of John ................. 264
3. Blood and Water in Other Docetic Texts ......................... 265
4. Lack of Evidence for “Water and Blood” as Birth .......... 266
5. Anti-docetism and John 19:34–35 ..................................... 266
6. The Role of the Spirit .......................................................... 267
7. Water and Blood as Witnesses .......................................... 268
II. Against Anti-Sacramentalism ........................................................... 268
A. The Symbolic Use of Water and Blood for the Sacraments ... 270
B. Polemic against Anti-Sacramentalism ...................................... 270
C. Water-only Eucharists in the Early Church ............................. 271
D. Weaknesses of the Sacramental Interpretation ....................... 272
1. The Role of the Spirit .......................................................... 272
2. The Witnessing Function ................................................... 273
3. Are Sacraments an Issue in the Secession? ...................... 273
4. Grammatical Problems ....................................................... 274
5. Blood as the Eucharist? ...................................................... 274
6. Invalid Historical Parallels ................................................ 275
III. Against Cerinthianism ..................................................................... 276
A. D. A. Carson’s Proposal ............................................................. 276
B. Does 1 John Partially Support Cerinthus? ................................ 277
C. Weaknesses of the Anti-Cerinthian Reading ........................... 279
1. Does First John Affirm Adoptionism? ............................. 280
2. Problems with Carson’s Proposal ..................................... 281
3. The Witness Motif ............................................................... 282
4. History of Interpretation .................................................... 283
5. The Brevity of the Passage ................................................. 284
IV. Against the Devaluation of Jesus’ Death ....................................... 284
A. The Relationship between Baptism and Death ....................... 285
B. Brown’s Ultra-Johannine Opponents ........................................ 286
1. The Author’s Response to the Opponents ...................... 287
C. Jesus as Baptizer .......................................................................... 288
1. The Opponents’ Baptismal Triumphalism ...................... 289
2. The Author’s Reponse to the Opponents ........................ 290
D. Problems with the Anti-Devaluation of Death View ............. 290
1. Was Jesus’ Death the Central Issue of the Secession? .... 290
2. The Testimonial Role of the Water and Blood ................ 291
3. Does Water Symbolize Baptism in the Holy Spirit? ...... 291
4. Is the Spirit at Issue in the Secession? .............................. 292
5. Problems with Brown’s View of the Secession ............... 292
6. Problems with Boer’s View ............................................... 293
V. Against Followers of John the Baptist ............................................. 294
A. The Existence of a Baptist Sect .................................................. 295
B. John Baptized “In Water” ........................................................... 296
C. Was Messianic Status Claimed for John the Baptist? ............. 297
D. The Witness Motif and John the Baptist .................................. 297
E. Problems with the Anti-John the Baptist View ....................... 298
1. The Weakness of the Evidence from Acts 19 .................. 298
2. The Lack of Any Explicit Reference to John the
Baptist in 1 John ................................................................. 299
VI. A Non-Polemical, Legal-Messianic Proposal ................................ 300
A. Non-Polemical ............................................................................. 300
1. The Lack of Polemical Features ........................................ 301
2. Amplificatio in 1 John 5:6 .................................................... 301
3. Its Jewish Legal Context .................................................... 302
a. Two or Three Witnesses in 1 John 5 ............................ 303
b. Two or Three Witnesses in John 8 ............................... 303
4. The Non-Polemical Reception of 1 John 5:6 .................... 304
B. The Purpose of the Witnesses .................................................... 305
1. A Contextual Reading of the Blood and Water .............. 305
2. Water, Blood and Spirit as Pointers to Jesus
as Messiah .......................................................................... 306
3. The Connection to the Fourth Gospel’s Confessional
Core .................................................................................... 307
4. The Witness Motif in the Fourth Gospel ......................... 308
5. The Witness Motif in 1 John .............................................. 309
C. The Meaning of the Water, Blood and Spirit ........................... 310
1. A Strategy for Understanding Their Reference .............. 310
2. The Meaning of the Water ................................................. 311
a. The Baptism of Jesus or the Baptism by Jesus? .......... 311
b. The Important Role of Jesus’ Baptism by John .......... 312
3. The Meaning of the Blood ................................................. 314
a. Blood as a Reference to Death ...................................... 314
b. “Blood” as Sacrificial Death ......................................... 315
c. Sacrificial Imagery in John 19 ....................................... 317
d. Jesus as Priest in the Fourth Gospel ............................ 319
e. Blood and Water in Jewish Midrash ........................... 321
4. Jesus’ Sacrificial Death as a Witness to his
Messiahship ...................................................................... 322
a. Messianic Titles and Sacrifice in the Fourth Gospel . 322
b. Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus’
Sacrificial Death ............................................................ 323
c. Messiah and Sacrifice Elsewhere in the NT ............... 325
d. Water and Blood as the Termini of the Messianic
Mission .......................................................................... 326
5. The Role of the Spirit .......................................................... 328
a. The Spirit in First John .................................................. 328
b. The Spirit in the Fourth Gospel ................................... 330
c. The Witnessing Spirit in the Rest of the NT ............... 332
6. The Contrast Between Human and Divine
Testimony .......................................................................... 333
a. The Three Witnesses as Human Testimony ............... 333
b. Blood and Water as Human Testimony, Spirit
as Divine Testimony ..................................................... 334
c. Water as Human Testimony, Blood and Spirit
as Divine Testimony ..................................................... 334
d. The Three Witnesses as Divine Testimony ................ 335
VII. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 336
Chapter 6: 2 John 4–11: The Teaching about the Messiah ................. 338
I. The Love Commandment (vv. 4–6) ................................................... 339
II. The Mission of the Antichrists and Deceivers (v. 7) ...................... 340
A. “Going Out” ................................................................................ 341
B. “Not Confessing” ......................................................................... 342
C. The Meaning of the Present Tense ἐρχόμενον ....................... 343
1. A Chiliastic Controversy? ................................................. 343
2. A Present or Future Reference? ........................................ 344
3. Interchangeable with the Perfect Tense ........................... 345
4. Formulaic Phraseology ...................................................... 346
5. Evidence of Translation ..................................................... 347
III. The Need to Abide (vv. 8–9) ............................................................ 348
A. The Meaning of ὁ προάγων ...................................................... 349
1. “Progressive” ...................................................................... 349
2. Problems with the “Progressive” Reading ...................... 350
3. Other Possible Interpretations .......................................... 352
B. ἡ διδαχὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ................................................................. 354
1. What Christ Taught ............................................................ 354
2. The Teaching about the Messiah ...................................... 355
IV. Instructions Concerning Visiting Teachers (vv. 10–11) ............... 356
V. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 357
Conclusion ............................................................................................... 358
Bibliography ............................................................................................ 361
Index ......................................................................................................... 441
Subjects .............................................................................................. 441
Modern Authors ............................................................................... 443
Ancient Sources ................................................................................ 447