Advance Praise

Summary
For centuries, Christians believed that the biblical letters of 1, 2, and 3 John were penned by a disciple of Jesus. Today, scholars speculate that the three are artifacts of a lost “Johannine Community.” In this groundbreaking study, however, Hugo Méndez challenges both paradigms, meticulously laying out the evidence that the Epistles are instead a series of falsely authored works. The texts position themselves as works by a single author. In reality, they were penned by three different writers in a chain of imitation, creative adaptation, and invention. Through incisive, close readings of the Epistles, Méndez clarifies their meaning and purpose, demystifying their most challenging sections. And by placing these works in dialogue with Greco-Roman pseudo-historical writing, he uncovers surprising links between Classical and early Christian literature. Bold, comprehensive, and deeply original, this book dismantles older scholarly views while proposing new and exciting approaches to these enigmatic texts.

Book Highlights

• Serves as a go-to reference for scholars and students interested in the origins and interrelationship of three biblical books: 1, 2, and 3 John.
• Introduces a provocative thesis about the origins of these books that will be debated for decades to come, identifying them as a chain of falsely authored works with invented/fictional features.
• Meticulously lays out the evidence that the Epistles of John were written by three separate authors, who were linked in a chain of direct copying and imitation.
• Directly critiques the scholarly view that the Epistles of John were composed within a single “Johannine Community.”
• Reimagines the message of 1 John and the identity of its “antichrists.”
• Contextualizes the Epistles within Greco-Roman practices of pseudo-historical writing, revealing hidden links between Classical and Biblical literature.