The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament | NICNT)

by I. Howard Marshall

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 1978

Overview

The three Epistles of John, according to I. Howard Marshall, are concerned with the fundamentals of Christian belief and life—faith and love. The reader who grasps the message of these short but essential letters will have a sound basis in Christian doctrine. This group of Epistles, says Marshall, is also a good starting point for the study of the Gospel of John. This important commentary was written not only so that students of the Bible might master the content of John’s Epistles, but that they might come to a proper understanding of Johannine theology as a whole.

This volume includes an “invitation” to general readers and an “introduction” addressed to students and specialists. Another fresh feature is a rearrangement of the traditional order of the three letters: 2 John and 3 John are studied before 1 John. This structure assures that the two shorter letters are not relegated to the position of appendices but are treated as important documents of early Christianity in their own right.

With Logos, the NICNT will integrate into the Passage Guide. Whenever you enter your passage and click go, results from the NICNT will appear on the text you’re studying. This gives you instant access to exactly what you’re looking for—in far less time than it would take you to walk over to the bookshelf and begin flipping through a print volume, let alone find the information you need.

Key Features

• Verse-by-verse commentary
• In-depth discussion of textual and critical matters
• Introduction to the authorship, date, purpose, structure, and theology of the Epistles of John

Contents

Top Highlights

“Jesus is both the preacher of God’s message and the message itself.” (Page 102)

“A more profitable approach is to observe that in the Old Testament and Judaism there was a well-recognized difference between two kinds of sin, the unconscious or unwitting sins, for which forgiveness was provided by the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, and deliberate or witting sins, for which the sacrificial ritual provided no forgiveness.²³ The latter could be atoned for only by the death of the sinner. This distinction between sins which could be forgiven and those which led to the death of the sinner may well be part of the key to the problem.” (Page 247)

“It follows that here John is thinking of the attractions of a life lived in opposition to the commandments of God, one in which God’s laws for the use of the world and the things in it are disobeyed. ‘Worldliness’ means ‘disobedience to God’s rule of life,’ and its presence is to be discerned by asking, ‘What is God’s will?’ and not by making a human list of taboos.” (Page 143)

“The result—which is important—is that the opening emphasis falls on the nature of the object which is proclaimed rather than on the activity of proclaiming it. The writer’s purpose is to remind his readers of the character of the Christian message rather than to draw attention to the actual act of preaching it.” (Page 100)

“‘The false teachers whose opinions he is quoting and refuting in these verses boasted of their fellowship and communion with God, but they neglected the fellowship with men. John wants to remind them that they cannot have fellowship with God unless they have fellowship with other Christians.’⁶ Persons who cut themselves off from fellowship with other Christians cannot have fellowship with God. But if they are prepared to live by God’s light, they will come into fellowship with them and with God himself.” (Pages 111–112)

Praise for the Print Edition

The choice of Howard Marshall to write the volume on the Johannine Epistles is exceedingly fortunate. There is good balance between the technical and the practical, thus making the commentary useful to both the scholar and the Bible preacher and teacher. An outstanding commentary, probably the best which is available in English.

—Southwestern Journal of Theology

A clear and well-organized commentary. Dr. Marshall has provided a complete and up-to-date bibliography and has demonstrated his thorough acquaintance with all the various opinions of those current scholars of note who have worked in this area.

—Journal of Biblical Literature

Product Details

• Title: The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistles of John
• Author: I. Howard Marshall
• Series: New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT)
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication Date: 1978
• Pages: 291

About I. Howard Marshall

I. Howard Marshall (1934-2015) was a world-renowned New Testament scholar and the author or editor of at least thirty-eight books and more than 120 essays and articles. He taught New Testament at the University of Aberdeen for thirty-five years and was a professor emeritus for sixteen years. Among his numerous publications on the New Testament are his commentaries on the Gospel of Luke, Acts, 1-2 Thessalonians, the Pastoral Epistles and 1 Peter and 1-3 John. He is coauthor of Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters and Revelation and coeditor of the New International Greek Testament Commentary series, as well as the author of the series' volume on Luke. He has also authored New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel. Marshall was an evangelical Methodist who was born and lived most of his life in Scotland. He received a PhD from the University of Aberdeen and a DD from Asbury Theological Seminary.