But I dissent from the suggestion that 1 John has anything to do with John the disciple. 1 John is closely connected with 2 John, as discussed, and 2 John was penned by "the elder." It is most natural to take this figure to be the same as Papias' "John the elder," who is distinct from John the disciple.
There are secrets lurking behind that triumvirate of Peter/Cephas, James, and John that still elude me ...
Alright, but my impression (as I've noted above) is that 1 John (whoever wrote it) seems Jewish Christian and opposed to Paul (and in line with the letter of James). As I wrote:
It just seems curious that they both talk about being led astray (1 John 3:7, Gal.1:6-9 and 2:11-13), destruction (1 John 3:8, Gal. 2:18), Torah observance (1 John 3:4, Gal. 2:16), the devil (1 John 3:8, 2 Cor. 11:14), and "the Son of God" (1 John 3:8, Gal. 2:20), with James echoing the theme of being led astray and the devil (2:14 and 3:15).They all seem to be using the same kind of language, but 1 John seems to be in line with James (and thus with Jewish Christianity) while Paul doesn't.
And again, what could be more "Jewish Christian" than to say, "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4)?
I've previously seen 2 John (whoever wrote it) as possibly being a response to Docetism, but now I'm thinking it too could be directed at Paul, since it too seems to be "using the same kind of language" as Paul.
2 John 1:7-11:
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, that you may be fully rewarded. Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds.
1 Cor. 9:24-27:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
2 Cor. 5:16:
So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
Could it not be argued from the latter that Paul refused "to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh"? And while it doesn't use the same word, is it not curious that both 2 John and Paul refer to "running" and being rewarded in the context of preaching?
I would suppose that this could still be the case if 2 John was written by Papias' second John (John the elder). While I don't have the impression that Papias was Jewish, his version of Christianity strikes me as being Jewish Christian, since he does not mention Paul (though neither do Hegesippus and Justin Martyr, but let's set them aside for the moment) and used what I consider to be Jewish Christian writings (Mark, Matthew, 1 Peter, 1 John), espoused chiliasm (which is in keeping with Revelation -and even somewhat with the Damascus Document) and lived in Asia, a province with a sizeable (and according to Acts, violent and hotheaded) Jewish Christian presence (cf. I Peter 1:1, Rev. 1:4, Acts 21:27).
So I would reckon that, if Papias lived c. 100 CE, then the travelers that he talked to (including John the elder) may have been of a Jewish Christian orientation. In other words, I would view Papias as subscribing to a form of Christianity like that in the Didache, which, like Papias, discusses how to deal with travelers and also sounds like 1 John to me.
Did. 11:1-2:
Whosoever then comes and teaches you all these things aforesaid, receive him. But if the teacher himself be perverted and teach another doctrine to destroy these things, do not listen to him, but if his teaching be for the increase of righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.
1 John 2:26, 3:4 and 7-10:
I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you ...
Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness ...
Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Did. 6:1-3:
See that no one make thee to err from this Way of the teaching, for he teaches thee without God. For if thou canst bear the whole yoke of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect, but if thou canst not, do what thou canst. And concerning food, bear what thou canst, but keep strictly from that which is offered to idols, for it is the worship of dead gods.
Acts 15:20 and 21:20-25:
... we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols ...
Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the Law. But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs. What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.
Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow. Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the Law.
As for the Gentile believers, we have written them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols ...
1 Cor. 8:7-8:
Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
1 Cor. 9:19-21:
Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the Law I became like one under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law), to win those under the Law. To those without the Law I became like one without the Law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the Law.
1 John 3:4 (again):
Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.
So whoever wrote 1 (and 2 and 3) John, they seem Jewish Christian (and anti-Paul) to me.