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).
Revelation.
Revelation is the last book of the Bible, and the one least understood. Christians themselves are not agreed as to its meaning. Some believe it to be a series of prophecies which have had their fulfilment in the struggles between Christianity and Paganism; others believe that its prophecies are yet to be fulfilled; still others pronounce it a symbolical poem, representing the conflict between truth and error, while not a few consider it the recorded fancies of a diseased imagination.
The book purports to be from “John to the seven churches of Asia” (i, 4). This John is declared to be the Apostle John and its authority is based upon this claim. Smith’s “Bible Dictionary” says: “The question as to the canonical authority of the Revelation resolves itself into a question of authorship. Was St. John the Apostle and Evangelist the writer of the Revelation?” If John the Apostle and the author of the Fourth Gospel were one, as assumed by the “Bible Dictionary,” then the question of its authenticity and canonical authority must be abandoned, for the author of the Fourth Gospel did not write it. There is nothing in common between them. The German theologian, Lucke, says: “If all critical experience and rules in such literary questions do not deceive, it is certain that the Evangelist and Apocalyptist are two different persons.” De Wette says: “The Apostle John, if he be the author of the Fourth Gospel and of the Johannine epistles, did not write the Apocalypse.” Regarding this conclusion, Ewald says: “All men capable of forming a judgment are of the same opinion.” Among the eminent critics and commentators who take this position are Luther, Erasmus, Michaelis, Schleiermacher, Credner, Zeller, Evanson, Baur, Renan, and Davidson.
The Apostle John wrote neither the Fourth Gospel, the so-called Epistles of John, nor Revelation. That he did not write Revelation is shown by the following:
1. The author does not claim to be an apostle.
2. He refers to the Twelve Apostles (xxi, 14) in a way that forbids the supposition that he was one of them.
3. The Apostle John is declared to have been illiterate and incapable of writing a book.