Chapter 3

There has been some difference of opinion as to the date of the book. The majority of scholars insist that both the internal and external evidence point to its having been written between 44 and 50 A. D., before the earliest of Paul's Letters. But, on the other hand, the solemn emphasis which the author lays upon the immediateness of the Lord's Return (5:7,8,9) may be regarded as a moral proof of a date very much nearer the winding up of the Mosaic dispensation in 70 A. D.

The Letter may have been a Jewish one, addressed to the Christian converts from Judaism who were scattered abroad, within or beyond the limits of the Roman Empire. Luther deemed it "an Epistle of straw," by reason of its insistence upon the vital importance of 'works.' But its practical ideal assumes the same basis of Christian faith as is found in the Letters of Paul. The opening references to severe trial seem to show that the persecution begun by Herod Agrippa had already been repeated elsewhere. If the later date of the book be admitted, the persecution must then, of course, have been that under Nero.

Peter's First Letter

The state of things described in this Letter answers to what we find in the first Letter to Timothy, and points to the same period. The "fiery trial" referred to is probably the persecution which, begun by Nero, in 64 A.D., in order to divert attention from himself, was continued throughout the Roman Empire.

The Letter seems to be primarily addressed to those who regarded Peter as the Apostle to the Jews, although it is manifest that he did not think of these alone. The fact that it is "full of Pauline thought and Pauline language," is accounted for by the well-grounded supposition that Peter arrived in Rome shortly before Paul was released. So that this Letter, probably written about 65-66 A.D., was definitely intended to set before the Churches of Roman Asia "the inspiring vision of the two Apostles working and planning together in the capital."

This would be at once the clearest lesson the Churches could have concerning their unity, and a great encouragement to those then undergoing tribulation and persecution on behalf of Christ.

Peter's Second Letter

It is impossible to speak with any certainty as to either the date or the authorship of this Letter. From the beginning there have been doubts as to its genuineness and canonicity, and these are represented to-day in the differing judgements of critics equally able and sincere.

It has, however, unquestionably had a place in the canon of the New Testament since the Council of Laodicea in 372 A.D., and there is certainly no such decisive evidence against it as to warrant our omitting it from the New Testament.

It would appear that the writer, whoever he was, had seen the Letter from Jude, and bore it in mind in this his plea for such character and conduct on the part of believers as were worthy of their faith and would prepare them for the Coming of the Lord. The whole Letter constitutes an earnest appeal for practical holiness.

John's First Letter

That this Letter was the actual work of the Apostle John, the son of Zabdi, has been abundantly testified from the very earliest times.

Some modern critics have doubted it, on the ground of internal evidence. But a calm survey of the whole case does not bear out their objections. Dr. Salmon well says that no explanation of the origin of the Epistle fits the facts so well as the one which has always prevailed. It seems to have been addressed to the Church at large, with perhaps special reference to the Churches in Roman Asia.

The connexion between this Letter and the fourth Gospel is "intimate and organic. The Gospel is objective and the Epistle subjective. The Gospel suggests principles of conduct which the Epistle lays down explicitly. The Epistle implies facts which the Gospel states as historically true."

This Letter appears to have been written from Ephesus, and critics have usually assigned 95 A. D., or some other year equally late in the Apostolic age, as the probable date of its composition. On the other hand the internal evidence points to a date immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. See 2:8 (last clause); 2:18; 4:3; and note the expectation of a speedy Coming of Christ (2:28; 3:2)--an expectation which seems almost to have ceased in the early Church after that date.

John's Second Letter

Although we are unable to fix the exact date of this Letter or the place at which it was written, there is sufficient evidence, both external and internal, to warrant our acceptance of it as a genuine work of the Apostle John.

Some have thought that the "lady" addressed stands for an unknown Church, but upon careful consideration it appears more reasonable and natural to regard the Letter as having been a private one. It is impossible to discover the name of the individual to whom it was sent, but both this and the following Letter may be taken as "precious specimens of the private correspondence of the beloved Apostle."

John's Third Letter

There can be no doubt that this Letter was addressed to an individual person. We cannot affix to it a definite date, or place, but the most natural supposition--which there is nothing to contradict--is that it came from the Apostle in Ephesus, about the same time as the preceding Letter.

The special mention of Diotrephes and his behaviour points indeed to a somewhat advanced development in the Church to which Galus belonged, but such characters are all too possible at any juncture to afford in this instance any guarantee of a later date.

In this, as in the preceding Letters, the writer's great concern is that transcendental truth should be embodied in practical holiness.

Jude's Letter

Of the time and place of the composition of this Letter we know nothing beyond what may be inferred from its contents. These seem to show that it was written in Palestine, and the absence of any reference to so striking an event as the destruction of Jerusalem points to a date earlier than 70 A. D.

It has, however, been thought that such a rebuke of error and licentiousness as that which this Letter contains can only apply to the forms of Gnosticism known to have existed in the first quarter of the second century. But there is no reason to doubt that the author was the man he asserts he was, the brother of James, the head of the Church in Jerusalem. He was, therefore, not an Apostle but one of the Lord's brothers.

The abiding value of the Letter consists in its severe condemnation of merely professional Christianity, and its remarkably beautiful doxology.

The Revelation of John

The Apocalypse was written either in 67, or in 96, A.D. An oft-quoted statement of Irenaeus that it, or its author-- there is no word inserted to indicate which of the two he meant--"was seen" about the end of the reign of Domitian, is regarded by many as a conclusive proof of the later date. On the other hand, the "internal evidence"--the evidence, that is, furnished by the contents of the book itself--appears to point even more unmistakably to the earlier date. E.g-., in 11:1,2,8, the Holy City and the earthly Temple are spoken of as being still in existence, and as about to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles.

The language of the book has also a bearing upon the problem of its date. Although other explanations have been suggested, the many Hebrew idioms that it contains as compared with the much purer Greek of the fourth Gospel-- which was probably by the same author--seem to indicate that it was written long before that Gospel, at a time when the Apostle had as yet only an imperfect acquaintance with the Greek language.

Dr. Stuart Russell, in his work _The Parousia_, has contended for the belief that the fall of Jerusalem and Judaism in 70 A.D. marked a stupendous epoch in the unseen world, a personal--although unrecorded--return of the Saviour to the earth then taking place (cp. Ac 7:55; 9:7; 1Co 9:1), accompanied by a spiritual judgement of bygone generations, a resurrection from Hades to Heaven of the faithful of past ages, and an ingathering of saints then on earth into the Father's House of many mansions (Mt 24:31; Joh 14:3; 1Th 4:17; 2Th 2:1).

If this belief ever obtains general acceptance the earlier date of the Apocalypse will also be regarded as fully established. For it will then be seen that the book describes beforehand events which took place in 70 A.D. and the years immediately preceding, partly on earth and partly in the spiritual world, and is mainly concerned with the downfall of the earthly Jerusalem and the setting up of Christ's heavenly Kingdom--the new Jerusalem. And its many mysterious symbols will be seen to have been a cipher of which the first Christians held the key, but which hid its meaning from their enemies.

Many scholars, however, regard the book as a document of Nero's time carefully incorporated in one written about 90 A.D.: "a Jewish Apocalypse in a Christian framework;" both perhaps being by the same author.--EDITOR.