PREFACE.

MANY ancient writers consider the Epistles (at least the First) of S. John as a sort of preface to his Gospel. We are not of that opinion, for it is an entirely distinct work, although it is easy to trace the same hand and the same heart in both.

There was never any question as to the authenticity of the First Epistle. Some doubts have been raised, chiefly in modern times, regarding the seventh verse of the fifth chapter. These we shall briefly touch upon when we give our exposition.

Catholic writers are divided in opinion as to the time of its composition. Those who think it belongs to the Gospel, either as a prefix or an affix, rest their theory upon the three first verses. These verses can be easily explained as having reference to his teaching and instructions amongst the people to whom he writes.

The opinion which has obtained most adherents (See l'Abbe Drach in locum) is, that the Apocalypse and the Epistles were written during S. John's exile in the Isle of Patmos. The Gospel, in our opinion, was written after his return to Ephesus, and is the last work of his life.

After the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, S. John took up his permanent residence in Ephesus, and governed all the Churches of Asia. This would occur about the year 68 of our era. About the year 96 he was sent to Patmos, where he remained two years.

During his absence from Ephesus the new heresies started by Cerinthus, Ebion, Nicholas, and the mal-practices of Simon Magus, were ruining the Churches, now widowed of their chief pastor; and he wrote his First Epistle to stem the growing waves of error. One heresy denied the Divinity of Our Lord, and another denied the reality of His Humanity. Against both these he establishes the truth.

The Epistle is not directed to any particular Church, nor does it bear the name of the Evangelist. This can be accounted for

by his being in banishment, and obliged to have the Epistle brought to the mainland in secrecy, and so as not to betray its author or his messenger.

Some of the Fathers quote it as the Epistle to the Parthians, and hence many writers conclude that S. John evangelised the Parthians. A recent critic (Drach) shows that this was entirely a mistake. The Second Epistle was headed Пpos aplεvovs, contracted to Προς Παρθους, and hence the mistake.

This is why the Epistle is called Catholic or universal.

In the Epistles we find a genuine expression of S. John's spirit. His exhortations to brotherly love meet us at every corner; and no one, who reads his Gospel carefully, can doubt, from internal evidence, of his being their author.

We see also, that, in the first ages of the Church, the Apostles and their immediate successors were little inclined to commit their instructions to paper. It may be taken for granted that, humanly speaking, the Epistles would never have been written if it were not for heresies and abuses which arose in the Churches founded by the writers of them, and which they were unable to visit personally, just when an antidote was required.

This is plainly seen in S. Paul's Epistles, and still more plainly in those of S. John. In his Second and Third Epistles he even mentions the fact that he did not like to commit what he had to say to paper, but should reserve it until he paid his customary visit.

His Gospel and Epistles contain the special features of his dogmatic teaching, and indeed, the foundation of our theology. It is for this reason that we have considered it well to put our exposition of both into the same volume.