MANual Lessons: John’s Letters of Love
My year-long journey through my NIV Bible for Men now brings us to letters titled 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John, which are the 23rd, 24th, and 25th books of the Christian New Testament. The MANual, the basis for all of my posts this year, calls these letters “love notes” since the writer is knowing Jesus is knowing the God of love. Who is the Author? While the author never identifies himself by name, many believed these three epistles were written by John, the Apostle, son of Zebedee who became a disciple of Jesus. The author clearly places himself as part of a group of eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus in 1 John, noting that “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also” (1 John 1:3). In the second and third letters, the author simply calls himself “presbyter” (elder). The three “Johannian” (meaning related to
