Description: 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.
Brief description: Hugo Méndez is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A scholar of the New Testament and Early Christianity, he is the author of The Gospel of John: A New History and The Cult of Stephen in Jerusalem, and co-author, with Bart Ehrman, of The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 8th edition.
Review Quotes: 'Combining meticulous attention to textual details, reception history, and ancient pseudepigraphy, Hugo Méndez persuasively argues that the Johannine epistles are not works of any known early Christian, but literary creations with distinctive interpretations of John and its mysterious author. A provocative and engaging read!' Harold Attridge, Sterling Professor of Divinity Emeritus, Yale University