“From the Beginning”: Christology and Ethics in 1 John

Abstract

This project examines the passages where John uses ἀρχή exclusively with ἀπό (and hence ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, “from the beginning,” FTB) in 1 John in light of understanding its Christology and ethics. I argue that John uses the phrase ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς for three reasons: (1) to establish Jesus’s messianic authority, (2) to encourage his audience to continue to trust in Jesus, and (3) to exhort them to obey God in loving one another. After an introduction to the project (chap. 1), chapter 2 explores thirteen passages with the FTB expression in four apocryphal works and one pseudepigraphal work. This chapter yields five categories (BH, CP, EP, TC, GQ) for the grouping of each FTB expression. Chapter 3 surveys twenty-two occurrences of the FTB expression in the Greek Old Testament. It presents four categories (CP, BH, EP, GQ) that each referent of ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς can be grouped in accordingly. Chapter 4 examines texts in the Greek New Testament where the phrase ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς appears. While the outcome does not yield either the BH or EP grouping, the GC grouping remains in this corpus. Chapter 5 examines the two passages in 1 John where the phrase ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς is grouped into the EP category (1:1; 2:13–14). After demonstrating that John establishes the messianic authority of Jesus by pointing to his eternality, the chapter surveys how some conceptual parallels are found in (non-)biblical works as well as how this theme is propagated throughout the epistle. Chapter 6 argues that in two other passages whose FTB expression is grouped into the CP category (2:7, 24), John encourages his readers to remain in their trust in Jesus by having the gospel (or command) about (or from) Jesus remain in them. The chapter also surveys other passages that exhibit some close parallels to this motif both within and outside the epistle. Chapter 7 demonstrates how in two other passages of the epistle where he contrasts the sinning of the devil with Jesus who came to destroy the works of the devil (3:8, 11), John exhorts his audience to obey God’s command of loving one another. This manner of employing the FTB expression is found in two passages from the Old and New Testament that share a similar context with 1 John. The conclusion (chap. 8) summarizes the arguments of this dissertation, yields some implications, and addresses how these points can be applied to the church today.