ATHEIST SCEPTICAL BIBLE READING JOHN EPISTLE 3 > <META NAME="Keywords" CONTENT="Humanism, atheism, television, media studies, vampires, cthulhu, comics, graphic novels, battle, Moston, goths, night clubs, food, drink, religion, sects, guru, brainwashing, meditation, fun, philosophy, literature, time, Judge Dredd, Dr. Who, flash fiction, fantasy, comedy, beer, pubs, travel, art, history, Civil War Re-enactment, humour, short stories, links, quicksand, science fiction, SF, trivia, abstracts, haiku, poetry slams, poetry, blogging, myspace, belief, doubt, cynicism, free will, Eastercon, costuming, photographs, scepticism, existentialism, biography, autobiography, books, films, cinema, scripts, Manchester, links to other sites, Arthur Chappell"> <META NAME="Description" CONTENT="Atheism, Religious cults, erotica, humour, Civil War Re-enactment, history, Manchester England, humour, philosophy, book and film reviews."> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 9"> <meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 9"> <link rel=File-List href="./bible-john-3_files/filelist.xml"> <title>A sceptical Bible reading of the 3rd Epistle Of John

A sceptical Bible reading of the 3rd Epistle Of John

John finds that some of the people he accuses of heresy are making the same claims about him

The third and final Epistle attributed to John, and the only one he addressed to a specific friend, called Gaius.

John has heard much praise of this man’s work from other Christians and writes to congratulate him. Gaius has actively converted any Gentiles to the faith, and helped the religion to flourish.

John feels slightly envious, as he has tried to achieve such a task himself only to find anti-Gentiles, reluctant to convert outsiders, have often blocked his efforts. Many Christians resented their oppressors; The Romans becoming Christianised, and xenophobia to other peoples may also have hampered the early evangelical missionaries. John names one such detractor, as Diotrephes, a powerful charismatic figure who had built up a following of his own, and who had successfully gotten many to snub and dismiss John himself as someone who should not be listened to. He may well have cast doubts on John’s claims to be the Gospel author and Apostle, John.

John seems to be calling on his supporters to be equally exclusive and hostile to Diotrephes and his allies. The claims and counter claims of heresy must have caused a major setback to the church and John’s stance can only have made matters worse.

John does have allies though, and singles out Demetrius for praise in the epistle. Demetrius carried many of John’s messages, and possibly this very epistle, to its intended recipients, a task for which John is genuinely grateful to him. John promises to meet Gaius as soon as possible.

John’s 3^rd epistle not only complains about sectarian splinter groups within Christianity, but also shows how some are powerful enough to dismiss him as a leader of such a heresy. The cracks were forming for centuries of internal division and conflict that would later, and still does, kill many in the name of religion.

The full text of 3 John http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=3John&version=NIV;

Arthur Chappell

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