Epistles of John.
The so-called Epistles of John, so far as the books themselves are concerned, are anonymous. They do not purport to have been written by the Apostle John, nor by anyone bearing the name of John.
Of First John, “Chambers’s Encyclopedia” says: “Of the epistles it is almost certain that the First proceeded from the same writer who composed the [Fourth] Gospel. In style, language, and doctrine, it is identical with it.” If John did not write the Fourth Gospel, and it is conceded by most writers that he did not, then he did not write this epistle.
Referring to the Gospel of John, whose authenticity he denies and whose composition he assigns to the second century, Dr. Hooykaas says: “The First Epistle of John soon issued from the same school in imitation of the Gospel” (Bible for Learners, Vol. III, p. 692).
Of two passages in the First Epistle, ii, 23, and v, 7, which teach the doctrine of the Trinity, the “Bible Dictionary” says: “It would appear without doubt that they are not genuine.” The Revisers of the King James version pronounced them spurious.
The second and third epistles were not written by the writer of the first. The early Fathers rejected them. Eusebius in the fourth century classed them with the doubtful books. It has been claimed that the second epistle was written for the purpose of counteracting the heretical teachings of Basilides and his followers. Basilides was a famous writer of the second century.
These epistles have the following superscriptions: “The elder [presbyter] unto the elect lady” to the first, and “The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius” to the second. The declaration that they are from an elder or presbyter proves that they are not from an apostle, and consequently not from the Apostle John. If they were written by a writer named John, it was probably John the Presbyter, who lived in the second century. Jerome states that they were generally credited to him. In his account of John the Presbyter, Judge Waite says: “He is also, not without reason, believed to have been the author of the Epistles of John” (History of the Christian Religion, p. 228).