Johannine Epsitles (1-3 John) Figures

Our author refers to himself at the beginning of his second and third letter as "the elder." Kind of sounds like an awesome superhero name ("powers of letter writing, activate!"). This is the guy w...

These are the bad guys. The elder's literary foils. The ones he's been warning everyone about. The whole reason he wrote these letters. So what's the deal with these big baddies?Who Are They?First...

The only woman mentioned in the elder's writing is the lucky recipient of his second letter. He addresses her only as "the elect lady" (2 John 1:1), which sounds pretty fancy. He also gives a shout...

Gaius is the recipient of letter number three from the elder. In it, the elder praises Gaius for all the good reports he's heard about him (3 John 1:3). See, Gaius has welcomed some of the elder's...

For every good Gaius, there's a dolty Diotrephes. This dude "likes to put himself first" and "does not acknowledge our authority" (3 John 1:9). Not loving others? Refusing to bow to the wishes of t...

These guys are a group of Christian missionaries who are travelling throughout the area, spreading the word about Jesus (3 John 1:7). They're friends of the elder and they stay with Gaius when they...