Druzhinina, Olga DEIFICATION OF COMMUNITY Life in The Christian Community As The Way of Salvation in 1 John PDF

DEIFICATION OF COMMUNITY:
Life in the Christian Community as the Way of Salvation in 1 John
OLGA ALEXANDROVNA DRUZHININA
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment

of the requirements of the University of Manchester
for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS IN THEOLOGY
August 2006
NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

MANCHESTER
WORDS OF APPRECIATION
I am deeply grateful to many people who have helped make this

dissertation possible.
I give special thanks to my family: my husband Alexey and my

daughters Elena and Tatyana for their encouragement, support and
patience.
I am thankful to my supervisor Dr Kent E. Brower who has

assisted and encouraged me in the research and writing of this
dissertation.
My sincere thanks to Dr David Rainey, Dr David McCulloch, Dr

Peter S. Rae, Dr Dwight D. Swanson, Revd Christopher Cope, to all
college staff and especially to Don Maciver, to Alison Yarwood and to
Rita Stuart for their help throughout all my educational endeavours.
Finally, I am thankful to the Church of the Nazarene in Russia

and especially to Davide Cantarella.
2
I hereby confirm that this submission is my own work and that it
has not been submitted for academic credit on any other occasion.
Signed:…………………………………...
Dated:…………………………………….
Word count including footnotes but excluding bibliography and

appendices: 15 095
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………........5
The Limitation of the Study………………………………………………….7
I. CLARIFICATION of TERMS……………………………………….......9
I. 1. Defining Deification……………………………………………………...9
I. 2. Presuppositions about 1 John…………………………………………..13
I. 2. 1. Community……………………………………………………..13
I. 2. 2. Reading of 1 John……………………………………………....14
II. LIFE IN A CHRISTIN COMMUNITY AND BECOMING
CHRIST-LIKE……………………………………………………………17
III. THE MYSTICAL PRESENCE OF GOD IN A LIFE OF
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY…………………………………………….23
IV. LIFE IN A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AS A PROCESS
OF SALVATION AND ESCHATOLOGICAL FUTURE……………..30
IV. 1. Eternal Life………………………………………………………30
IV. 2. Trinity Imagery……………………………………………….....33
IV. 3. Family Imagery……………………………………………….....36
V. THE MISSION OF THE DEIFIED COMMUNITY IS SALVATION
OF THE WORLD OR DEIFICATION OF THE WORLD………….....39
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………..43
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………......45
4
INTRODUCTION
This study seeks to explore the way of Christian salvation through its relation to life in
the community. Salvation in the West is often understood in an individualistic way. 1 This
dissertation is an attempt to look at the concept of salvation from a different perspective which
represents life in the community as the way of salvation. A similar approach was developed by
the Eastern wing of the Church that “insists on the essential sociality of salvation.”2 For this
reason insights from Eastern theological thought will be used in this study.
The First Epistle of John provides a resource for acquiring meaningful knowledge of
the nature and purpose of life in the community. Hence, the exegesis of selected verses from 1
John plays an important role in this study. At the same time attention will be paid to biblical
theology. Accordingly we will use a two-fold methodology. On the one hand, we will
investigate the text of the First Epistle of John and its exegetical meaning. On the other hand,
we will follow a theological outline which reflects the main points of the message intended by
the author for the Johannine community.3
First John will be seen as a communal message written to help the Christian community
to live according God’s plan of salvation. The thesis statement of this study provides the
framework: deification of community. For these reasons the text of this Epistle will be
discussed under four headings that at the same time reflect the main aspects of deification.
An important point of clarification is in order from the beginning. When we use the
term deification in this dissertation it does not mean that we anachronistically apply its
meaning to the community in 1 John. One of the intentions of this study is to use the Eastern
interpretation of ideas from 1 John in order to enrich our understanding. In this sense the
1
See Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: the Church as the Image of the Trinity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998),
2
2
Volf, After Our Likeness, 172.
3
The term “Johannine community” will be clarified in Presuppositions about 1 John which is a part of this
dissertation.
5
concept of deification will be employed as an interpretive tool in our attempt to comprehend
what communal salvation means.
In chapter one definitions of the important terms which will be used in this study are
provided. We will discuss what is meant by such terms as deification and community. Also
some explanations will be given in order to clarify our presuppositions about the structure and
context of 1 John.
Life in the community and the way of becoming Christlike is the main concern of
chapter two. It will be shown that proper Christology leads believers to appropriate behaviour
which is important for life in the community and even for their salvation. The idea of becoming
Christlike includes not only individualistic characteristics but communal relationships as well.
It will be shown further that the way of salvation introduced by Christ always implies social
dimensions.
God’s mystical presence in the life of believers as presented in the third chapter
supports the argument that community is created by God and guided by God toward salvation.
Union with God is inseparable from relationship with other people.
Chapter four deals with three significant images which help us to understand how the
present life in a Christian community is connected with a process of salvation and also with an
eschatological future. This chapter is an attempt to show in what sense salvation is a communal
experience.
Finally, this brings us to the last chapter where the mission of the Christlike community
is discussed. The attitude of Christlike (deified) community is supposed to reflect Christ’s
attitude toward the world. In this sense, the destiny of the whole world depends on the activity
of this community. To save the world then means to transform this world into a Christian
community.
6
The Limitation of the Study
Deification is a term which the Western church does not have in its tradition. In some
sense the Eastern doctrine of deification or theosis offers a challenge to Western scholars and
to their theological system in general. In the West all God’s actions in Christ were viewed
often in juridical or forensic terms.4 On the contrary, the Orthodox East developed the
therapeutic attitude to salvation or even “medical”: “the cross is an antidote to the poison of
corruptibility and sin.”5 It means that Eastern soteriology goes beyond such terms as
“redemption”, “reconciliation,” and “justification.” Salvation in the Orthodox theology
encompasses the wholeness of new life in God. According to the Orthodox Bishop Kallistos of
Diokleia, it is not “merely an exterior imitation of Christ through moral effort, but direct union
with the living God, the total transformation of the human person by divine grace and glory.” 6
According to Eastern theology deification has several aspects. In this dissertation we will
mention only the most significant of them.7
The reason for using the concept of deification in this study is its close connection with
the ideas of 1 John. In the Christological debates of the first four centuries heretics were raising
ideas similar to those of the secessionists from the Johannine community8 and the Church had
to face a similar problem. In order to defend the proper understanding of Christ’s humanity and
4
See Constantine. N. Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology (Theology and
Life Series 30, Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991), 52.
5
Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Salvation as Deification and Justification (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2004), 23.
6
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, “Foreword” to Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood: ST
Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984), 7.
7
In the next chapter of this dissertation we will discuss the most significant aspects of deification: deification as
Christification, deification as a re-creation, deification as a mystical union with God, deifecation as a process of
salvation, and, finally, communal aspect of deification and a mission of deified community.
8
See an interesting analysis of connections between Johannine secessionists and early Christian heretics made by
Colin G. Kruse. See Colin G. Kruse, The Letters of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 20-27. See also
Gregory of Nyssa, “The Great Catechism” (NPNF V, 2nd series, Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1972), 477. He
explains the problems with “the Jewish dogma” and “the Hellenistic error.” See also analysis made by Celestino
G. Lingad, Jr., The Problems of Jewish Christians in the Johannine Community (Roma: Editrice Pontificia
Universita Gregoriana, 2001), 234-246, 385.
7
divinity the Eastern theologians developed the doctrine of deification.9 In this sense the Eastern
Church continued the work of John against the heresies using his teaching as a foundation for
their doctrine.10
The first time the idea of deification was mentioned was by Irenaeus in the second
century.11 Later this doctrine was developed by Athanasius, the Cappadocians, Maximus of
Confessor and other Eastern Fathers. Actually, the development of this doctrine has remained
throughout history the constant effort of Eastern theologians. In the XIII century this master-
theme of human’s ‘ingodding’12 was expounded by the greatest theologian of the later
Byzantine period, St Gregory Palamas. In recent decades this doctrine received new attention
by a certain group of theologians from the East as well as from the West.13 In this study we
will use the ideas of Eastern theologians from all periods and especially of those who paid
attention to the communal aspect of deification which is the primary concern of this study.
9
See Jules Gross, The Divinization of the Christian according to the Greek Fathers (Anaheim: A&C Press, 2002),
167.
10
The famous verses which the Orthodox theologians use to support this doctrine are 1 John 3:2, 4:12. See an
explanation in Daniel B. Clendenin, “Partakers of Divinity: the Orthodox Doctrine of Theosis,” The Journal of the
Evangelical Theological Society 37/3 (1994), 370-371.
Eastern theology very often reflects biblical concepts, not biblical texts. This means that it is not always
possible to find a reference to a particular biblical text in the Eastern Fathers, but only the notion of a similar
thinking. During the Christological debates heretics used a lot of quotations from the Scripture. In contrast, the
Eastern Fathers restricted the use of isolated verses. For example, according to Athanasius it is misleading “to
quote isolated texts and passages, disregarding the total intent of the Holy Writ.” See an explanation how the
Eastern Church uses the verses from the Bible in George Florovsky, “On Church and Tradition: An Eastern
Orthodox View,” n. p. [cited 5 May 2006].
Online: http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/church_tradition_florovsky.htm#n6
11
Gross, The Divinization of the Christian according to the Greek Fathers, 120.
12
Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia, “Foreword” to Georgios I. Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man (Crestwood: St
13
See for example, Karkkainen, Salvation as Deification and Justification; Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in
Christ (Crestwood: ST Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1987); Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man; Emil Bartos and
Kallistos Ware, Deification in Eastern Orthodox Theology (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999); see also the book recently
translated in English Gross, The Divinization of the Christian according to the Greek Fathers; see also articles
Gerald Bonner, “Augustine’s Conception of Deification,” The Journal of Theological Studies 37/2 (1986): 369-
386; Clendenin, “Partakers of Divinity: the Orthodox Doctrine of Theosis”; F. W. Norris, “Deification:
Consensual and Cogent,” Scottish Journal of Theology 49/4 (1996): 411-428; Robert V. Rakestraw, “Becoming
like God: An Evangelical Doctrine of Theosis,” The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40/2 (1997):
257-269.
8
I. CLARIFICATION of TERMS
I. 1. Defining Deification
Deification is certainly one of the central doctrines of the Orthodox faith which reflects
the main stream of Eastern theological thought. The present summary is not the appropriate
place even to attempt to provide a detailed analysis of all aspects of deification. For the
purpose of this study, it will be sufficient to mention just a few important aspects.
First of all, deification means to become like Christ or as Panayiotis Nellas put it, “The
real meaning of deification is Christification.”14 From the beginning the first theologian who
mentioned this idea, Irenaeus, said: “The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ who because of
His limitless love became what we are in order to make us what even he himself is.”15 Through
the Incarnation divine love and life was manifested in Christ in order to show the true destiny
of creatures and creation. In this sense the Incarnation is a background for the idea of
deification in Eastern soteriology. The flesh of Christ as the body of God incarnate is “the point
of contact with God.”16 Through Christ people receive the opportunity to be saved and to
become like God. The Eastern idea of salvation is not “to satisfy a legal requirement, but to
vanquish death.”17 Only God alone is able to vanquish death because He is the immortal one.
Christ as God incarnate saves people from death and helps them to become like Him.
According to Eastern theology, God assumed flesh as a baby and grew here on the
earth. “Christ’s flesh, being the body of Logos of God, was the first to be delivered and
saved.”18 Through the deification of Christ’s human nature the recreation has happened. As
Gregory of Nyssa put it, “By means of the flesh which He has assumed, and at the same time
14
Nellas, Deification in Christ, 39.
15
Irenaeus, Against All Heresies. Quoted by Norris, “Deification: Consensual and Cogent,” 412.
16
Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 30.
17
Karkkainen, Salvation as Deification and Justification, 22.
18
9
deified, everything kindred and related may be saved along with it.”19 It gives all people and
the rest of creation the opportunity to be regenerated and become immortal and incorruptible.
On these terms salvation in the Eastern Church is not primarily viewed as liberation from sin
even though that is important but “rather as return to life immortal and reshaping of the human
being into the image of her creator.”20 According to Orthodox teaching deification is the
normal goal for every Christian without exception. We will be fully deified on the Last Day but
as long as a person sincerely seeks to love God and fulfil His commandments he is already in
some degree deified.21
This is the proper place to describe deification in terms of what it is not in order to
protect us from incorrect interpretations. Although the Orthodox Church believes that in our
final state we will become Christlike or godlike there is no notion of equality with God. People
are not identical to God who is always distinct from the world and deification does not
eliminate this distinction. All honour and praise is due to the Creator alone and not to creatures.
Also in the writings of the Eastern Fathers there is no suggestion of a future where the
individual is so completely absorbed into God that individual identity as creature is lost. On the
contrary, because the body is saved as well as the soul the identity is retained in heaven. This
new body should not be understood in “an earthly manner” but it is flesh.22 This also implies
that we still remain creatures and God is the Creator. It is important to understand that we do
not become small gods which are equal with God and we also will never become a part of
Godhead. The Eastern doctrine of deification does not talk of either a plurality of gods
(polytheism) or a fusion of the created world with the Creator (pantheism).23
19
Gregory of Nyssa, “The Great Catechism,” 502.
20
21
See Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (London: Penguin Books, 1997), 240.
22
See Donald F. Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation (Cambridge: The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1979),
175.
23
For more detailed explanation see Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation, 186-187.
10
Secondly, the Orthodox Church very often defines deification as a mystical union with
God as Trinity.24 It implies that there is a genuine trinitarian outlook in the Eastern view: “The
Father does all things by the Word in the Holy Spirit.”25 This is the trinitarian God who creates
and restores humankind. Within these terms the deifying action of the Holy Spirit is very
important. Although the Spirit does not actually bring about human’s deliverance He “gives
him [or her] access to the regenerative and divine work of Christ.” 26 As Winslow phrased it,
“The economy of the Holy Spirit provided for individual appropriation of salvation made
universally available in the economy of incarnation.”27 The Orthodox theologians keep a
healthy balance between the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in their soteriology. 28
Thirdly, when Eastern theologians say that deification is the way of salvation they
mean that it is a process. It is essential to mention that deification is a relational term which
expresses the relationship between God and humankind. It is not a static relationship but a
dynamic one. The Eastern idea of deification is connected with the process of growing in the
knowledge of God. This process involves “an education in love and a free collaboration with
God.”29 Although the initiative for this relationship depends on God we are still called to
participate in this intimate relationship and develop it. Divine life is a gift but it is also “a task
which is to be accomplished by a free human effort.”30 Even Christ assuming humanity at his
birth had to grow in knowledge in order to become adult or to become perfect as an adult. Our
goal is to become “mature in Christ” (Col.1:28) and to come to “fullness of life in Him”
(Col.2:10).31
24
See Ware, The Orthodox Church, 236.
25
26
27
Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation, 175.
28
29
30
See John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes (Oxford: Mowbrays,
1974), 138-139.
31
See Nellas, Deification in Christ, 39.
11
Fourthly, deification always has a communal dimension. As T. Ware put, “Deification
is not a solitary but a ‘social’ process.”32 Christ through His Incarnation unites humanity in His
body and leads us to our destiny. As Nellas explains it, “Chrismated created nature became a
bearer of divinity, body of Christ, anointed nature, ecclesial communion. And that which in
consequence is grafted onto the Lord’s body is really transformed into the body of Christ
becomes Church or ecclesial communion. The Church is creation grafted onto Christ and
vivified by the Spirit.”33 Eastern theology sees participation in the church as communion with
divine and deifying grace or as Palamas called it life in “the communion of deification.” 34 We
also have to note that the Eastern Fathers saw deification not as a personal goal just for
themselves but as the goal of their ministry to others. For example, according to Gregory
Nazianzen to neglect the needs of other people means to the neglect one’s own salvation.35
This last aspect is closely connected with the mission of the deified community.
According to Orthodox teaching God created the world and He still loves His creation.
Through the Incarnation of His Son He reaffirmed His love and purpose for the world. In this
sense the Church as deified community and the body of Christ has to continue His mission on
earth. Believers, supported by the Holy Spirit, while moving to their ultimate and supreme
goal, are supposed to help the rest of creation to reach its final consummation. As Lossky
phrased it, “The Church is the kingdom “not of this world” (John 18:36) existing in the world
and for the world, for its salvation.”36 This final goal of the whole world is deification and
union with God which means liberation from corruption and death, the transformation into a
new state of being, and the sharing in the life of God.
32
Ware, The Orthodox Church, 241.
33
34
35
See Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation, 153-155.
36
Vladimir Lossky and Leonid Ouspensky, The Meaning of Icons (Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press,
1989), 30.
12
I. 2. Presuppositions about 1 John
I. 2. 1. Community
The words “Johannine community” is used and accepted by many scholars but it is still
better to clarify what is meant in this dissertation under this term. In this study several
assumptions are made in connection with the community in 1 John.
The first assumption is that there was a first century community behind the two sets of
Johannine documents, the Gospel and 1-2-3 John letters. And our interpretive principle will be
that these Christians shared common traditions. Here we follow the idea of T. W. Manson that
“it may be… regarded as a good working hypothesis that in the Gospel and Epistle we have the
theology of a single school or quite probably of a single writer.”37 This provides the
opportunity to use some parallels with the theological statements in the Fourth Gospel.38
Secondly, according to D. Moody Smith “the authorship of the Johannine Gospel and
letters remains an enigma shrouded in mystery.”39 Some scholars suggest that there is more
than one author of the Gospel and Letters. One of the versions is that it was produced by a
group of members of the Johannine community.40 The question of authorship is not, however,
our concern and in this study the concept of salvation rather than authorship is discussed.
Therefore not much attention will be paid to this issue and for convenience we will call the
author John. This is also compatible with R. Alan Culpepper’s idea when he claims that “the
actual founder of the Johannine community is more likely to be found in the figure of the
37
Quoted in David Asonye Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life (Lanham: University Press of America,
2001), 59. See also R. Alan Culpepper, The Johannine School (SBL Dissertation series, Missoula, Montana:
Scholars Press, 1975), 265.
38
I am aware that some scholars would treat the Gospel and letters separately but my view is based on the notable
study of R. E. Brown who believes that these documents have substantial similarities. See Raymond E. Brown,
The Epistles of John (The Anchor Bible 30, Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1982), 755-761.
39
D. Moody Smith, First, Second and Third John (Interpretation, Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), 18.
40
Some scholars suggest that there are more than one author of the Gospel and Letters. One of the versions is that
it was produced by the group of member of Johannine community. See Culpepper, The Johannine School, 1-3.
13
Beloved Disciple.”41 The assumption is that the author or authors of the Fourth Gospel and
letters at least belong to the same community which was founded by the Beloved Disciple.
Thirdly, the community of 1 John was experiencing a crisis or as Brown described it –
“division” which is recorded in 1 John 2:19.42 The points of conflict are linked with different
theological interpretations of Christology, ethics, and Pneumatology. All these disagreements
led to schism within the community. The assumption is that this Epistle is both a theological
and pastoral message. From one side the author is reaffirming proper theological statements.
From the other, he is concerned with the life of the community and practical applications of
this theology. This means that we have to deal with at least two groups of people or, probably,
more than two. One group is those who are still inside the community and need “pastoral
exhortation.”43 The other group is outside the community. These are people who have already
come out (ex hJmwn exhlqon). Our intention is to discuss the theological roots of these tensions
and divisions in the community in the following chapters of this dissertation.
I. 2. 2. Reading of 1 John
It is commonly recognized among scholars who have written on this issue that we have
to read the Johannine writings mostly on more than one level.44 The first level has reference to
the historical reality of Jesus and connects the community to its founding moments in history.
The second level tells about the time when the Johannine documents were being written.45 The
text of this Epistle should also be read on a literary level. As D. A. Ihenacho noted, 1 John is a
classic example of “how text is ingeniously constructed to embody tensions and masterfully
resolve them all at the same time.”46 It also must not go unnoticed that the author of 1 John
41
Culpepper, The Johannine School, 265.
42
Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple: the Life, Loves, and Hates of an Individual
Church in New Testament Times (New York: Paulist Press, 1979), 23.
43
John Bogart, Orthodox and Heretical Perfectionism in the Johannine Community as Evident in the First Epistle
of John (Dissertation series 33. 2nd ed. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1977), 126.
44
See Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple, 17. See also Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 59.
45
See Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 60-62.
46
See Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 61.
14
conveys a clear theological message to the members of the community and to the readers of the
Epistle. All these levels will be considered in this dissertation for the proper understanding of
the content.
Attention will be paid to the structure of the Epistle. On first sight it seems that the
Epistle is not coherent and does not have any orderly structure. Many scholars have attempted
to analyze the sequence of thought and produce some kind of linear structure. 47 They were able
to distinguish three main areas of thought: Christological, ethical, and the theme of love and
faith as “indispensable products of life in Christ.”48 The problem is that it is hard to trace the
usual linear flow of argument. It seems that one of the best outlines was offered by John
Christopher Thomas.49 It is a chiastic structure which encourages the reader “to appreciate the
book’s theological contribution as a whole, rather than as a series of unconnected blocks of
teaching.”50 The centre of this arching structure is 3:11-18, which tells us that the most
important command is to love one another. The other titles of this outline are God’s Love,
Eternal Life, Antichrists, Making Him a Liar, Confidence - Do not Sin, and Keep the
Commands.51
This structure suggests that the best way to treat the material is thematically rather than
verse by verse. The hypothesis is that 1 John raises at least four significant themes: 1) Christ’s
Incarnation, Christlikeness of believers and Eternal life, 2) the mystical presence of God in the
life of community – God’s Love, 3) the communal life as the way of salvation – love one
another, and 4) the relationship of believers with the world – keep the commands. Therefore
the idea of this study is to focus on these four themes which are interrelated. It is worth
mentioning that all these themes do reflect the idea of Christlikeness (deification). Actually, the
47
See for example, Brown, The Epistles of John, 116-130 and 765. He also provides good bibliography (144-145)
on this issue and an overview of different divisions of 1 John made by the other scholars (764).
48
See F. F. Bruce, The Epistles of John (London: Pickering & Inglis, 1970), 29.
49
See John Christopher Thomas, “The Literary Structure of 1 John,” Novum Testamentum 40:4 (1998), 373.
50
Thomas, “The Literary Structure of 1 John,” 372.
51
See Thomas, “The Literary Structure of 1 John,” 373.
15
Eastern theologians read this Epistle in the light of their doctrine and link some verses directly
to the idea of theosis. For example, they believe that 1 John 3:2 and 1 John 4:12 speak about
52
this way of salvation which implies the Christification and transformation in love. This
suggests that some insights from this Eastern doctrine might be very useful for our study.
52
See Daniel B. Clendenin, Eastern Orthodox Christianity: a Western Perspective. (2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker
Books, 1997), 126.
16
II. LIFE IN A CHRISTIN COMMUNITY AND BECOMING
CHRIST-LIKE
The Epistles of John as well as the Gospel are often presented by modern scholars as
“the capstone of the development of theological and ethical thought within the New
Testament.”53 One of the most important themes in the Epistles is the idea of how the saving
work of Christ is to be understood theologically and what are the practical applications.
From the opening lines of the first Epistle we can find strong theological statements. In
the body of the letter it becomes obvious that these statements are set against the opponents
from 2:18-19 and 4:1-3 who are called by the author ‘antichrists’ and ‘false prophets’.
Although the views of these opponents are not described specifically the teaching of 1 John
tells us what kind of ideas it rejects.
We can conclude from the discussion that these opponents have distorted Christology.
First of all, the text suggests that they deny the real humanity of Jesus or His “flesh” (1 John
4:2-3). Bogart believes that they were “gnostics of the docetists-libertine type and also
charismatic, itinerant prophet-teachers.”54 Verses 2:23-23 lead us to the conclusion that these
false teachers also denied that jIhsouV oJ CristoV ejstin. This name jIhsouV oJ CristoV often
occurs together with the phrase “Son of God.” This means that from the author’s point of view
the secessionists rejected the fact that Jesus is God’s Son (see also 5:5-6).55 This suggests that
the opponents had problems with the divinity of Christ as well. According to S. S. Smalley,
John was writing, probably, in opposition to the two heretical dispositions: “docetic (regarding
Jesus as less than man), and “humanizing” (understanding Christ as less than God).”56
53
Smith, First, Second and Third John, 7.
54
See Bogart, Orthodox and Heretical Perfectionism, 128, 144. See also Brown, The Epistles of John, 352. Brown
thinks that the secessionists weakened the understanding of Jesus’ humanity.
55
See Georg Strecker, The Johannine Letters (Hermeneia series. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), 68.
56
Stephen S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John (WBC 51; Waco: Word Books, 1984), 13.
17
The other major conclusion from the text of the Epistle is that it was not just a personal
misunderstanding or confusion but that these theological misinterpretations influenced the
whole community. Therefore, one of the main purposes of the Epistle was to defend true
doctrine and to protect the community against false teaching.
The author of the Epistle strongly emphasizes the importance of the Incarnation. Jesus
Christ is the One whom they claim to have heard, seen, and touched and this is what was
testified to in the preaching and teaching (1:1-3, 5). In order to redeem humanity Christ has to
assume human nature as such but He is also the Son of God and the divine One. This means
that belief in Jesus the Logos-incarnate is “‘the primary factor in becoming a Christian’ and the
basic requirement for salvation in the Johannine theology of life.”57 Proper Christology gives
believers the basis for their behaviour and attitude toward life. The notion that Christ was here
on the earth and had to live life as a human helps Christians to understand what kind of
lifestyle God expects from them and so to follow the example of Jesus. As J. G. van der Watt
phrased it, “Christ is the blueprint for the behaviour of the believer.”58 His human nature is
somehow a guarantee that it is possible for humans at least to imitate the life of Christ.
The Christian life begins with belief and proper belief leads Christians to appropriate
behaviour. This means that our life as Christians depends on our Christology. Christ’s life
becomes a model for everybody who follows him. As Gregory of Nazianzus understood it,
“The Christian life is a mimesis of those very steps undertaken by God to produce our
salvation.”59 The teaching of 1 John is very clear on this subject, “The one who says he abides
in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (2:6). The literal meaning of
the verb peripatew is “to walk” but the actual meaning of this phrase implies that “the person
57
Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 317, with the inner quotation from Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel
According to John (The Anchor Bible, New York: The Anchor Bible Doubleday, 1966), 512.
58
J. G. van der Watt, “Ethics in First John: A Literary and Socioscientific Perspective,” The Catholic Biblical
Quarterly 61:3 (1999), 505.
59
18
who claims a continuous relationship to God must conduct his life as Jesus conducted his.”60
The past tense of the verb also indicates that the earthly example of Jesus’ life was intended.
As Grayston phrased it, “In this life we are patterned upon that person, namely, Jesus.” 61 And
this statement (2:6) from the Epistle really echoes John 13:15, “For I gave you an example that
you also should do as I did to you.” Christ taught his followers and still continues to teach all
believers the way of love, humility, obedience, and, in general, the way of life according to
God’s will.62
In this Epistle Jesus and his behaviour is used as an example for believers. This is the
major concept in John’s ethical thought.63 The main point is that “the guideline is not a set of
rules; it is established by the attitude and behaviour of Jesus, actualized in the believers
through the Spirit.”64 Several passages of this Epistle tell us what it means to be like Christ in
this life. In 3:3 we are told that we have to purify ourselves as he is pure. In the same chapter
(3:7) we read that we should be righteous as he is righteous. And in 4:17 the believers are
reminded once again that “as He is, so also are we in the world.” This process of imitation is a
dynamic process and according to 3:2 our goal is not yet achieved but we know that “we shall
be like Him.”
If we read these verses out of context they sound very individualistic. From one side,
this is correct and each of us has to follow Jesus’ example and become Christ-like as an
individual. From the other side, it is obvious that this Epistle is a pastoral one and the author is
thinking about the Christlikeness of the whole community. The restoration of proper
relationships inside the community is one of the primary purposes of this letter. The theme of
love is repeated over and over in 1 John.
60
Kenneth Grayston, The Johannine Epistle (The New Century Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1984), 66.
61
Grayston, The Johannine Epistle, 131.
62
63
See van der Watt, “Ethics in First John,” 505.
64
van der Watt, “Ethics in First John,” 505.
19
According to the text structure provided by J. C. Thomas the commandment to love one
another is the most important (3:11-18 is the centre and the capstone of the arch structure). In
these verses the author of the Epistle contrasts the supreme love of Jesus and the love that
believers have to one another with the example of Cain and the hatred of the world. The author
makes clear that the love among the brothers and sisters is “closely connected to eternal life,
while those who do not love remain in death.”65 Relationships between people in the
community should reflect Christ’s attitude toward individuals and humanity in general.
Christians have to love each other and to serve each other. The Epistle testifies to love, as the
power unifying God with the world and each of us with the other, and this love “penetrates the
core of Christian service.”66
At this point the Eastern interpretation of this commandment to love could be quite
helpful. The Orthodox theologian T. Ware uses the 1 John 4:20 verse in order to support the
idea that “there is nothing selfish about deification; for only if he loves his neighbour can a
man be deified.”67 The Eastern Fathers believed that the two forms of love, love of God and
love of neighbour, are inseparable.68 As Maximus Confessor stated, there is not such thing as
“one form of love to God and another to human beings, for it is one and the same and
universal: owed to God and attaching human beings to one another. For the activity and proof
of perfect love towards God is genuine disposition of goodwill towards one neighbour (1 Jn
4:20).”69 This means that love of God and of others must be practical. Antony of Egypt once
said, “If we win our neighbour we win God, but if we cause our neighbour to stumble we sin
65
Thomas, “The Literary Structure of 1 John,” 373.
66
C. Clifton Black, “Christian Ministry in Johannine Perspective,” Interpretation 44/1 (1990), 40.
67
68
See the examples from the life of St. Basil in Blomfield Jackson, “Prolegomena” (NPNF VIII, 2 nd series, Grand
Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1968), xxi. See a very interesting collection of quotations from Cappadocian Fathers
about the responsibilities of believers to help those in need in Peter Phan, Social Thought: Message of the Fathers
of the Church (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1984), 108-160. See also examples from the lives of St. John the
Almsgiver and St. Sergius in Ware, The Orthodox Church, 242.
69
Quoted in Kenneth Carveley, “From Glory to Glory: the Renewal of All Things in Christ: Maximus the
Confessor and John Wesley” in Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality (ed. by St Kimbrough, Jr. Crestwood: St
20
against Christ.”70 To become like Christ means to love like Christ. In this sense “deification,
while it includes the heights of mystical experience, has also a very prosaic and down-to-earth
aspect.”71 For example, when Gregory of Nazianzus told his congregation that they “become
Christs” he meant two ethical approaches.72 The first is askesis which was the attempt to
imitate the asceticism of Christ. And the second is philanthropia, another ethical ideal, which
was the imitation of Christ’s attitude towards humankind. This philanthropia is directed
towards others and it is corporate or communal in its approach. But even the individual askesis
was not an end in itself. For Gregory of Nazianzus such asceticism was a “necessary prelude to
the pastoral oversight of his congregation.”73 He also taught his congregation to be “as God to
the unfortunate, imitating the mercy of God, for in no way does man approach God so nearly as
when he does good to his neighbour.”74 Indeed, the basic motivation behind all of Christian
ethics is the idea that Christians must do what Christ has done in order to become like Christ.
The love of which the author of 1 John is speaking is not selfish, not possessive, but
rather self-giving. The best example of such love is in 1 John 3:16 – because He gave us the
example of genuine and true love and “laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.” Dodd defined love as “willingness to surrender that which has value for
our own life, to enrich the life of another.”75 In this sense salvation is not individualistic or a
private enterprise but communal and corporate. Somehow our salvation is linked with lives of
other people and our ability “to be as God” to those who are in need. We are reminded by John
not to “close our heart” against the brother who needs our help but to love “with deed and
truth” and not only “with word or with tongue” (3:17-18).
70
Quoted in Ware, The Orthodox Church, 241.
71
72
All following information about Gregory of Nazianzus can be found in Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation,
147-156.
73
74
Quoted in Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation, 153.
75
C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles (The Moffatt New Testament Commentary; 5th ed. Hodder and Stoughton,
1966), 86.
21
This love toward others is closely connected with obedience to God (5:2). If we love
God we have to obey His commandments which tell us that we should love our brother and
sister as well as God (4:21). But it is not the fear of God’s punishment if we break the
commandment that should motivate our actions but the realization of how much He loves us.76
Christians form a new community of new people of God. There is a link between the new
commandment of love and the new covenant, “inaugurated by the ‘paschal mystery of
Jesus’.”77 The commandment is still the old one (2:7) but the understanding and the attitude
should be different. The people of the new covenant should have a different world view as was
introduced to them by the Son of God, the promised Messiah. The idea of becoming like Christ
always implies a social dimension – they are the Christlike community of the new covenant.
All that we have said above about Christlikeness could make us think that we are able
to do this by our own strength but the message of this Epistle disagrees. It is true that as
Christians we are required to do some things. But we have to remember that we cannot do
much without God’s help and without God’s presence in our lives.78 The source of all love that
we have is God. He created us in love and he continues to fill us with His love toward other
people and the rest of creation. This mystical presence of God in the life of the Christian
community is the theme of the next chapter of this dissertation.
76
See I. Howard Marshall, The Epistles of John (The New International Commentary on the New Testament,
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 225.
77
Smalley, 1,2,3 John, 213.
78
This idea was deeply developed by the Eastern Fathers. As Gregory Palamas said, “The imitation of Christ is
the ‘cooperation’ of the man regenerate in Christ with the author of this regeneration.” This ‘cooperation’ also
implies that the likeness to God achieved not only through imitation but also through the power of the Holy Spirit
and His work in the life of the believer. See Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 64
22
III. THE MYSTICAL PRESENCE OF GOD IN A LIFE OF CHRISTIAN
COMMUNITY
Many contemporary scholars believe that the idea of the mystical presence of God in
the life of Christians is another important theme in the First Epistle of John.79 For example,
D.A. Ihenacho states, “The Johannine tradition seems clearly a mystical tradition in the sense
of claiming an immediate divine companionship in the here and now.”80 In 1 John we can find
this notion of the mystical presence of God already in the prologue of the letter (1:3). The
author of the Epistle describes the nature of Christian fellowship in terms of its divine origin
and operation.81 It seems that readers can have fellowship with God and with each other
because those who proclaimed the good news about “the life eternal” (1:2) have fellowship
with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. In this sense real Christian fellowship originates
in God and not in man. The fellowship of believers depends on their koinonia with God. The
author of this Epistle is telling his readers that koinonia with God is inseparable from koinonia
with others who have faith in the same God and also have fellowship with Him.
The term koinonia literally means ‘joint ownership’ or ‘mutual sharing’. On these terms
Christian fellowship is “the profound mutual relationship of those who remain ‘in Christ’ and
therefore belong to each other (3:23-24).”82 Actually, the verse 1:3 is the only place in the
Bible where the koinonia with the Father is mentioned.83 The most important point is that they
are able to have this fellowship with the Father because of the Incarnation of the Son. The
fellowship with the Father was established through the Son and also involves the fellowship
with the Son. As Westcott put it, “’The life’ was apprehended in a true human personality in
virtue of incarnation, and so men could have fellowship with the life and with the source of
79
See George Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament: A Dynamic Expression of Christian Life (Rome:
Biblical Institute Press, 1979), 130; Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 328; Edward Malatesta, Interiority
and Covenant (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1979), 29.
80
Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 328.
81
See Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 12.
82
Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 12.
83
Panikulam, Koinonia in the New Testament, 130.
23
life. Through the Son God was revealed and apprehended as Father.”84 This fellowship exists
in the community on the human level but it “derives from the mutual indwelling in Christ.”85
The crucial implication of this claim is that Christian community is created by Christ and
guided by God toward salvation which means life eternal. On such terms, “salvation is
communion with God and human beings.”86 As G. Panikulam noted, “[Koinonia] is not
random coming together of men because they share a common interest; it is the coming
together of those whom God has called into koinonia with Himself through His Son and in him
with one another.”87 It means that it is completely God’s initiative to create this Christian
community through His Son.
The theme of God’s presence which was announced in 1:3 develops throughout John’s
letter and gets further clarifications. The word koinonia (koinwnia) occurs only four times in 1
John (1:3, 6, 7) but the concept of fellowship or a special relationship with God is present in
other verses of this Epistle as well. For this purpose the author is using synonyms of koinonia.
The words which describe this special relationship are ‘abide in’ (mevnein ejn) and ‘being in’
(eijnai ejn).88 The use of the words “abide in” is especially rich – 1 John 2:6, 24, 27, 28; 3:6,
24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16. We can notice a variety of meanings in these verses but the essential
meaning is still the same. It is always about abiding in Christ, abiding in Christ’s word, abiding
in God’s love. According to S. Smalley, this “abiding in Jesus” concept is a characteristically
Johannine theme (2:24, 27-28). He believes that “John’s Christology is such that he maintains
a unity between Jesus and God, as well as between Jesus and man.”89 This means that believers
are described as ‘being in’ both the Father and the Son together.
84
B.F. Westcott, The Epistles of St. John (5th ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 12.
85
86
87
88
89
24
In some verses of the Epistle the author speaks of Christians abiding in God or Jesus (or
both) – 2:5-6, 24, 27-28, 3:6 and sometimes of God’s indwelling in the people (4:12). But we
also can find a verse (3:24) which tells us that the relationship is actually mutual or reciprocal:
Christ or God abides in people and people abide in Christ or God the Father. As D. Ihenacho
put it, “The Johannine communal relationship seems mystical in the sense that it involves an
immediate transaction between human and divine.”90
According to this Epistle (2:1) Jesus is the mediator or Advocate between Christians
and God the Father. God can now indwell in the believers because His Son assumed flesh and
lived among people. God’s people became “the dwelling place of God.”91 This is what was
promised by the Old Testament prophets (Ezek 37:27) and what “John now depicts as the
fulfilment of this hope.”92 We already noted in the previous chapter that this is the community
of the new covenant. One of the important ideas which the author of the Epistle wants to
communicate to his readers is that God has created this community and supports it through His
presence in this community. As Law remarked, “No thought is more interwoven with the
whole texture of epistle than this of divine Immanence, by which the Life of God is sustained
and nourished in those who are ‘begotten’ of God…”93
Another synonym of koinonia, the verb ‘being in’ (eijnai ejn), appears less frequently
but it conveys the same ideas. First of all, it implies that one’s entire existence – the whole
person - should “be in God.” As Malatesta phrased it, “A relationship of communion with God
modifies and conditions one’s whole being.”94 Secondly, we can find another allusion to the
Old Testament. The verb “to be” was always a very important part in the covenant formula
90
91
92
93
Quoted in Malatesta, Interiority and Covenant, 28-29.
94
Malatesta, Interiority and Covenant, 25.
25
between God and His people: “I will be your God and you shall be my people” (Ex. 3:14). 95 In
this Epistle “to be” expresses the Christian way of existence.
All these words ‘fellowship’ (koinwnia), ‘abide in’ (mevnein ejn) and ‘being in’ (eijnai
ejn) set the tone for the message of the letter. After using them the author provides his readers
with an explanation of what it means to be part of the new covenant community of God. There
are at least two main conditions: “to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another” (3:23). The theme of ‘abiding’ or ‘being in’ is also linked with obeying his
commandments (3:24) and imitating His life style. Those who abide in Christ follow his
example but at the same time they are able to do it because He abides in them. As Smalley
phrased it, “God’s remaining in the believer is not a reward given for obedience, but the source
of this obedience.”96 This abiding in God and fellowship with God also helps believers to be
filled with joy (1:3), to walk in the light (1:7), to love our brothers (2:10), to know God and His
word (2:14), to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit (2:27), to confess Jesus as the Son of God
(4:15), to receive forgiveness of sins (1:9), and not to sin (3:6).
The last two statements sound a little bit of a contradiction.97 Many scholars provided
different interpretations of these verses and came to some reasonable solutions: habitual and
occasional sinning, the “already” Christian is “not yet” what he will be in the eschatological
future, idealistic and realistic Christianity, orthodox and heretical forms of perfectionism.98
Actually, the concern of this chapter is not the possibility of Christians to sin or not to sin but
the question is how the concept of sin is related to life in the community and God’s mystical
presence in the life of believers.
95
See Malatesta, Interiority and Covenant, 25.
96
97
For example, Brown seems to admit that a contradiction does exist. See Brown, The Epistles of John, 413, 415-
416. Also see Bogart, who speaks about a contradiction in 1 John, when he discusses perfectionism; Bogart,
Orthodox and Heretical Perfectionism, 90-91, 120-121.
98
See the best overview of these solutions in Kruse, The Letters of John, 126-132; see another good summary of
interpretations in Marshall, The Epistles of John, 178-184.
26
The perspective of the Eastern Church which is more communal in general will be
helpful at this point.99 The Orthodox Church believes that the result of Christ’s dwelling among
people is recreation or new creation which also implies the restoration of relationship with
God. According to Gregory of Nyssa “our salvation was made effectual… by the deeds of Him
Who has realized an actual fellowship with man, and has effected life as a living fact.” 100 Then,
the sinlessness of a Christian is “a consequence and a continuation of his regeneration in Christ
and his communion in ‘the Church of first born’.”101 The Orthodox theologian S. Agouridis
remarked that this state of “abiding” in Christ is “that stage of likeness of God and spiritual
progress at which man as it were instinctively perceives evil and sin and turns away from
them.”102 In this sense the Christlikeness of the believer is seen as “his imitation of the death
[of Christ]” which means that through dying to sin he “works out the suppression of the evil”
and the result at the end will be “not imitation but identity.”103 From one side, the Orthodox
interpretation of these passages is close to the “already”/”not yet” concept. They do believe
that through freely accepting the preaching of Christ and becoming a member of the Christian
community the Christian will “enter upon a new age of sinlessness and holiness; yet despite
this, he does not cease to exist in the sinful world of the present, and is still assailed by its
powers of evil.”104 But from the other side, there is an interesting nuance in this Eastern
interpretation. They teach that in this new age between now and the age to come it is “the work
99
We also have to mention that the Eastern understanding of original sin and nature of sin is a little bit different.
The Eastern Fathers did not see evil as some thing but as an action. Accordingly they believed that sin is not a
thing in a human nature but a wrong attitude of man. As John of Damascus explains, “But God made him by
nature sinless, and endowed him with free will. By sinless, I mean that sin could find no place in him, but that sin
is the result of the free volition he enjoys rather than integral part of his nature.” See John of Damascus,
“Exposition of the Orthodox Faith” (NPNF IX, 2nd series, Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1973), 31. It also
would be useful to mention that the Eastern tradition do not teach about the inherited sin or inherited guilt of
original sin. The Orthodox Church believes that “Adam’s sin was a personal choice and act, not a collective guilt
nor a ‘sin of nature.’” In the Eastern Patristic thought the law of original sin means inherited mortality not guilt.
But sin can and do become actual in every person individually. Thus, in the Eastern Church sin is a personal
problem. See Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology, 52.
100
Gregory of Nyssa, “The Great Catechism,” 502.
101
Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 65, with inner quotation from Gregory Palamas.
102
Quoted in Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 66.
103
See Gregory of Nyssa, “The Great Catechism,” 503.
104
27
of the Church in providing salvation for men” and to “preserve unstained the purity of Christ’s
body.”105 The idea of communal responsibility for each member reflects perfectly the tone of
John’s Epistle. The community has to pray for its members in order to help them get rid of sins
that do not lead to death and to restore these “brothers” to eternal life (5:16a).106 As a
community of people in whom God abides we have to help each other to live life free from sin
and to abide in God.
In this study we have to mention one more aspect of fellowship with God. It is very
important to remember that it is fellowship not only with two persons of the Holy Trinity, the
Son and the Father, but with the Holy Spirit as well.107 There are several important passages
related to the Spirit in 1 John. In 2:28 it is implied that they received all the proper teaching
from the “anointing” and “have no need for anyone to teach” them. Usually commentators
understand this “anointing” (to crisma) as the Holy Spirit.108 He taught the believers about
“all things” which in the context of the letter should be understood as their knowledge about
the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ (see also 5:7). In this sense the Spirit “continues and
expands the revelation that Jesus has brought, as if the Spirit were Jesus himself under a
different form.”109 Christ saves humankind and the Spirit perfects this salvation. As Winslow
formulated for us this idea from Gregory of Nazianzen, “If the incarnate Son of God is the
agent of redemption for mankind in general, the Spirit is the agent of providing for us,
105
See Mantzaridis, The Deification of Man, 67-68. We have to remember that the Orthodox Church uses
sacraments as a means of this preservation and it is essential for Eastern view. Some scholars think that content of
the First Epistle of John is very sacramental. See, for example, Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 344-345
about Eucharist.
106
Christians are not called to pray for those who commit sins which lead to death (5:16b). There have been
various ways of interpreting this difficult passage. Traditionally it was thought of sins for which there is no
forgiveness – idolatry, apostasy. It is very likely that the author has in mind the sin of the secessionists. These are
people who deny Jesus’ divinity or humanity and also the significance of atoning sacrifice of Christ. In this case
they cannot receive forgiveness and He is not their Advocate (2:1). See Kruse, The Letters of John, 192.
107
It would be helpful to mention that the Eastern Fathers finally reached the understanding of the full deity of the
Spirit through the focus on deification in the doctrine of salvation. See Karkkainen, Salvation as Deification and
Justification, 35. The idea that the Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity and deity Himself was defended by the
Eastern Fathers on the basis of what the Spirit does in the lives of the believers. See Winslow, The Dynamic of
Salvation, 129.
108
See, for example, Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 123.
109
28
individually, the means whereby we can appropriate that redemption.”110 On these terms the
Holy Spirit enables us to abide with God.
The next texts (3:24) and (4:13) tell us that the Holy Spirit is the source of our
knowledge that God abides in us. And once again in (4:2) the author explains to his readers
how to distinguish the Spirit of God from other spirits: He is the One who “confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh.” Probably, the secessionists claimed as well that they are
indwelled by the Spirit and speak in His name.111 The role of the Spirit in 1 John is not to give
any absolutely new revelation but to testify about Jesus and to continue His work in the
community. Thus the Spirit “gives continuity and growth to the present reality of koinonia
preparing it for the accomplishment in the Parousia-glory.”112
This Epistle represents the Christian community as the community of people united
with one another because they have fellowship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
This means that we experience the fullness of koinonia with God only through koinonia with
other people. This is the condition of our participation in divine life. We are not an assembly of
believers who individually has a relationship with God but our community is “a living
exchange in which one person’s participation in God is enriched by the distinctive quality of
another.”113 This is the reason why our involvement in the life of the Christian community
which is the indwelling place of God is important for our Christian life and even for our
salvation.
110
111
See Kruse, The Letters of John, 154.
112
113
S. Mark Heim, “Witness to Communion: A Trinitarian Perspective on Mission and Religious Pluralism,”
Missiology 33:2 (2005), 196.
29
IV. LIFE IN A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AS A PROCESS OF
SALVATION AND ESCHATOLOGICAL FUTURE
There are many different images in the First Epistle of John, which might help us to
understand the process of salvation and the future of the Christian community. First of all,
salvation from the author’s point of view implies eternal life which begins here and now.
Second, there are perfect images that describe the proper relationship of members inside the
Christian community both now and in the future – it is an analogy of the family relationship
and of the relationship inside the Trinity.
IV. 1. Eternal Life
The community to which the Epistle was addressed can be described as the community
of eternal life. The Epistle begins with a statement about eternal life (1:1-2). This theme
develops throughout the body of the letter and at the end the author reminds his readers, “these
things were written to you… in order that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13).
This is the Good News – people can have eternal life through the Word of life. 114 As Ihenacho
phrased it, “Zwh aiwnioV is the gospel it preaches, the promise it makes, as well as day-to-day
experience. It is embodiment of all that the Johannine community holds dear.”115
The significant idea behind this concept of “life eternal” (zwh aiwnioV) is the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ. He is the life which was manifested or revealed (efanerwqh) to the
author(s) of the letter (1:2) and which was proclaimed to the readers (1:3). The previous
expressions “we have heard,” “we have seen” and “our hands handled” (1:1) are allusions to
the earthly ministry of Jesus. Eternal life according to the message of this Epistle is God’s gift
to man and it was revealed historically in Jesus.116 The words “life, which was with the Father”
(1:2) implies that the Father is “metaphysically the source of this life” but Jesus is the One who
114
The commentators have noticed that the first verses of the Epistle echoes the prologue of Forth Gospel. See, for
example, Smith, First, Second and Third John, 37; Kruse, The Letters of John,185.
115
116
See Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 9.
30
“transmits” this life to those who believe in Him (5:11-13).117 Jesus is the Life and people can
experience a personal encounter with this “living and historical Word of God.”118
It is interesting to mention that for the Eastern theologians spiritual life means that we
are “incorporated into Christ, we receive a Christian being, that is, a christocentric and
christlike being, and the form and life which correspond to it.”119 This point of view is closely
connected with what the author of the Epistle means by the ‘life eternal’. It is not just physical
or biological life which was extended to eternity. Brown explains that the Johannine
understanding of eternal life is “qualitatively different from natural life (psyche), for it is a life
that death cannot destroy.”120
According to the author of the Epistle, those who rejected Christ’s humanity or divinity
and left the community (2:19), do not have the promise of eternal life which was promised by
Him (2:25). As Ihenacho put it, “The evangelist’s sense of “going away from us, (ejx hJmwn
ejxhlqon), has the implication of leaving the life-giving Johannine community to embrace the
deadly world.”121 The Orthodox theologian Panayiotis Nellas uses an interesting metaphor,
“The physical birth is a separation of child from mother, the spiritual birth is an enduring
union, and if a person is separated from Christ he dies.”122 Once again it is not immediate
physical death but it means that the person has chosen the way which consequently will bring
him to this death as well as to a destruction of the spiritual dimension of his life.
This eternal life also implies the ethical dimensions of life in the community. In other
words our eternal life is not just an eschatological future but it is here and now. Throughout the
letter it is emphasised that eternal life is a present experience as well as a future possibility.
117
See Brown, The Epistles of John, 169.
118
119
120
Brown, The Epistles of John, 168.
121
Ihenacho, The Community of Eternal Life, 63, footnote 3.
122
31
The First Epistle of John and the Gospel are noted for the so-called realized eschatology.123
The Good News is that the believers already “have passed out of death into life” (3:14a). But
the author also clearly explains to his readers the ethical requirements of this realized
eschatology and these requirements are closely connected with relationship of the believer
inside the community with his brothers and sisters. The author suggests in this letter that in
order to have eternal life we have to love the brethren and those who do not love “abide in
death” (3:14b). It seems that in John’s vocabulary love, light and life belong together, as do
hatred, darkness and death.124 On these terms our eternal life is conditioned by our earthly life
and relationships in the Christian community. It means that our salvation depends on our
attitude toward the other Christians around us. As long as we participate in the life of the
community we are changed by the community and by God’s presence in this community. We
have to remember that “the Church is not a static situation. It is dynamic, transforming
movement.”125 In this sense our eschatological future starts now in the community which is
supposed to help the believers grow in faith and become like Christ. The process of our
salvation and our transformation depends on the community in which people prefer to live. If it
is the community of those who believe in Christ and follow His example then they may have
eternal life. If people choose the world which rejects the Son of God and they do not love their
brothers and sisters then they do not have “eternal life abiding” in them (3:15).
When Christians live together in unity they already live the life eternal and they are
undergoing a process in which they learn how to live like Christ. As Nellas phrased it, “A
marvellous synthesis thus takes place in which each person is unique and self-determining yet
simultaneously an inseparable member of the body of Christ, functioning with the functions of
Christ.”126
123
Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple, 136.
124
See John R.W. Stott, Epistles of John (TNTC 39; 2nd ed., London: Tyndale Press, 1966), 141.
125
126
Nellas, Deification in Christ, 118
32
IV. 2. Trinity Imagery
As we observed earlier the believers in the First Epistle of John have fellowship with
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They have Jesus as their example (2:6) and the Spirit as
the teacher who through the “anointing” teaches them all things (2:27) and the Father as the
source of love and life. We also mentioned that this is the community of people who will
become like Christ (3:2). From one side, this suggests that the relationships in this community
should reflect the relationships which Jesus had with people during His earthly ministry. From
the other side, these relationships among the believers also should reflect the relationship
inside the Trinity.
In the beginning of the letter we find a reference to fellowship with God the Father and
the Son (1:3). As D. M. Smith noted, “In Johannine writings the fatherhood of God is
constantly set over against the sonship of Jesus and is a way of expressing their most intimate
relationship. This relationship is entered into and shared by believers.”127 It implies that
Christian faith and salvation presupposes social dimensions, which are vertical and horizontal.
We believe in God as a communion of persons and our salvation depends on communication
with this ecclesial community or ecclesial divine being.128 But also when a human being
becomes a member of the church he “becomes an “image of God,” he exists as God Himself
exists, he takes on God’s “way of being.””129 This means that the community of believers
becomes an image of the way in which God exists. To be God, on these terms, is “to be in
perfect communion between persons and to be human is to exist in communion that reflects
that perfect divine communion.”130
127
128
John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (Crestwood: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985), 16.
129
Zizioulas, Being as Communion, 15.
130
Rodger E. Olson and Christopher A. Hall, The Trinity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002),
114.
33
The Eastern tradition is a source from which we can learn a lot about the social model
of Trinity.131 The Cappadocian Fathers and other Eastern theologians used the social analogy
in which Father, Son and Spirit were linked to three persons in order to illustrate the doctrine
of the Trinity.132 There are several important lessons from the Eastern doctrine of the Trinity,
which perfectly reflect the ideas from 1 John about communal relationships.
First of all, God is not isolated self-sufficiency but it is “personhood: the “ecclesial
being,” which exists in and for others.”133 The true mode of this divine Being is Love which
creates and sustains everything. The most famous term that describes the inner relation
between the persons of the Godhead is pericwrhsiV (perichoresis), which means “mutual
internal abiding and interpenetration of the trinitarian persons.”134 In perichoresis a love-
centred character of the Trinity is shown. These are the relationships of love between three
equal persons, “each one dwelling in the other two by virtue of an unceasing movement of
mutual love.”135 On these terms, to be the divine-like community means to love each other (1
John 3:2, 3:11). As T. Ware explains it, “Man, made in the image of the Trinity, can only
realize the divine likeness if he lives a common life such as the Blessed Trinity lives: as the
three persons of the Godhead ‘dwell’ in one another, so a man must ‘dwell’ in his fellow men,
living not for himself only, but in and for others.”136 This suggests deeply reciprocal
relationships in the community which should lack any selfishness. This is our goal in the
present life and this is our ideal for the eschatological future.
131
See, for example, a good explanation of relationship inside the Trinity in Basil, “Letter XXXVIII: To his
Brother Gregory, Concerning the Difference Between oujsia and uJpostasiV” (NPNF VIII, 2nd series, Grand
Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1968), 139.
132
John L. Gresham, Jr., “The Social Model of the Trinity and its Critics,” Scottish Journal of Theology 46
(1993), 325. At the West beginning with the Augustine the Church moved away from the social to psychological
analogy. Recently, this social analogy attracted a diverse group of Western theologians.
133
Olson and Hall, The Trinity, 114.
134
135
Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way (London & Oxford: Mowbrays, 1979), 33.
136
34
Second, the mystery of the Trinity is “a mystery of unity in diversity.” 137 Christians are
not called to sacrifice their individuality but to share with others the gifts which they have. As
Pinnock put it, “We are distinct from other persons but realize ourselves in and through them.
Persons are individuals in relationship and communion, not in isolation.”138 To become like
God means that we must exist in and for communion but we still keep our personality and
actually develop it in the right direction. As the Father is not the Son and He is also not the
Spirit, so do humans keep their personal characteristic in the Christian community in order to
enrich the fellowship and to help others to grow and to fulfil their destiny. Colin Gunton noted
that as the persons of the Trinity “constitute each other as persons” so the participants of
community “constitute each other as believers.”139
God created us as social beings and there is no “non-relational person”140. It means that
we need this fellowship in the community and it is an important part of human life. The
Eastern theologians teach that Christlikeness (deification) involves a common life, but “only
within the fellowship of the church can this common life of coinherence be properly
realized.”141 According to Basil the Great man is “a political and social animal… Nothing,
indeed, is so comparable with our nature as living in society and in dependence upon one
another and as living our own kind. Now, our Lord himself gave us the seed of these qualities
and expected them to yield fruits in due time… (Jn 13:34).”142 The life of a person in its
completeness means life in the loving community which has fellowship with the source of this
love – God the Trinity. Then a process of salvation is somehow a process of learning how to
live together as divine community. In other words, fellowship in a Christian community is a
137
138
Clark H. Pinnock, Flame of Love (Downer Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 31.
139
Colin E. Gunton, The Promise of Trinitarian Theology (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991), 78.
140
Olson and Hall, The Trinity, 113.
141
142
Quoted in Peter Phan, Social Thought: Message of the Fathers of the Church, 119-120.
35
way of life where believers may share more deeply with each other, and so share more deeply
in the fullness of God in order to become like God.
IV. 3. Family Imagery
One more interesting image from 1 John which reflects the communal character of
salvation is the fellowship of God’s children or communion of siblings. This image tells us that
we are saved not as individuals but as a community of believers, as members of God’s family.
It also reflects the unbreakable unity of the Christian community that usually is a characteristic
of a good family.
In chapter three of this Epistle the author makes a very important statement: the love of
God is so great that when He bestows it upon us we can be called children of God (3:1). And in
(3:2) John assures his readers that they are already children of God. For us as people separated
from this community both historically and culturally it is not always easy to understand the full
meaning of some verses. For example, when the author of the Epistle calls a person a “child of
God” “he activates a whole set of socio-cultural associations relating to family life.” 143 Family
in the ancient world was a very special social structure. In order to understand the meaning of
this metaphor completely we have to review a couple of important aspects of the first century
Mediterranean family.
First of all, belonging to a particular family was “an important way of determining
one’s identity and honour, one’s position within the social reality.”144 And we see the sharp
contrast between two families in 1 John “children of God” and “children of devil” (3:10). The
father of the family or its head gives identity to the family members. This means that usually
children look and act like their fathers. John tells his readers that they are members of God’s
family and, actually, they will become exactly like He is (3:2) when they will see Him.
Therefore they should act like Him. They have to be who they already are – children of God’s
143
144
36
family. The world does not know them (3:1) or cannot recognize the family likeness because it
does not know the Father or the oldest Son.
Second, each family has its own specific characteristics and rules. In the ancient world
families, parents or people appointed by them were “responsible for educating children
according to the customs of the family.”145 It seems that the author of the letter as the older
brother reminds his siblings of these rules which they already received because of the
“anointing”. They also have the example of the perfect Son of the Father which all of them
should follow. The members of this family should walk in the light; they have eternal life,
know their Father and abide in Him, practice righteousness, do not sin, and they “are bound to
love those who share the same parentage.”146 These rules describe for us what kind of family
people join as Christians, what they are supposed to do and not to do, what is their identity and
what are the norms of their behaviour. It is also important to mention that they are not just
adopted by this family, but they join it according to their birthright (3:9). From one side, to be a
member of the family is linked with some social expectations and obedience to these family
rules. From the other, it suggests that we have the ability, the “seed”147 from God, to develop
this family likeness and become like God (3:2). This seed could be interpreted as “a divine
principle that remains and is operative in the one who is born of God.” 148
In the third chapter of this dissertation we have already looked at the connection
between membership in the community and the ability not to sin which was mostly discussed
in terms of communal responsibility. Here again we have to explain what it means that children
145
146
Judith Lieu, The Theology of the Johannine Epistles (2 ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997),
34.
147
The meaning of the “seed” is very ambiguous and several interpretations have been offered by different
scholars. It could be something from God that protects the believers from sin. See Lieu, The Theology of the
Johannine Epistles, 34. This “seed” could be Jesus Christ himself or the Holy Spirit according to T. C. Mitchell,
“Holiness – Bearing the Family Likeness” in Biblical Resources for Holiness Preaching: From Text to Sermon
(Edited by H. R. Dunning and Neil B. Wiseman, Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1990), 58.
I. H. Marshall thinks that it could refer “metaphorically to a divine principle of life.” See Marshall, The Epistles of
John, 186. See also different options in Brown, The Epistles of John, 408- 416, 430-431.
148
Matthew Vellanickal, The Divine Sonship of Christians in the Johannine Writings (Rome: Biblical Institute
Press, 1977), 269.
37
of God do not sin and cannot sin. It implies that from now on they live in a different reality and
even the nature of the believer is under reconstruction.149 In this sense “the consequent freedom
from sin is not just freedom from committing certain acts but belonging to the sphere where sin
has no place and where the evil cannot touch the one born of God.”150 It suggests that the
loving community as the family should somehow guarantee and support the proper life of its
children. The Orthodox Church uses the perfect metaphor to reflect this family image. They
have a famous saying, “A man cannot have God as his Father if he does not have the Church as
his Mother.”151 T. Ware explains it, “[Christians] cannot think of God and the Church apart
from one another. God is salvation, and God’s saving power is mediated to man in His Body,
the Church.”152 This does not mean that a person cannot be saved outside the church 153 but it
reminds us again of the function of the Christian community – to be the loving Mother for
God’s children and help them to live lives free from sin.
149
This reconstruction in the Eastern Church means deification or transformation of believer into Christlikeness.
In the Western Church theologians usually talk about sanctification and perfection which linked with the idea that
we are called to become holy as God our Father is holy.
150
Lieu, The Theology of the Johannine Epistles, 36.
151
152
153
The Orthodox Church, according to Timothy Ware, believes that a person can be saved outside the Church. See
38
V. THE MISSION OF THE DEIFIED COMMUNITY IS SALVATION
OF THE WORLD OR DEIFICATION OF THE WORLD
The relationship between the world and the community in the First Epistle of John is
slightly complicated. At first sight it appears that there is a strong polarization between the
members of the community and the world (kovsmoV). The confrontation between these two
groups is obvious: the world denies the Father and the Son (2:22) and hates the believers
(3:13). As Brown put it, “The human race is divided into non-believers and believers, into
those who prefer darkness and those who prefer light, into those who are condemned and those
who already have eternal life.”154 Believers are supposed to live according to a new set of rules
which are incompatible with the world. This could lead us to a false conclusion - that believers
remain completely isolated from the world and in this sense keep a sectarian attitude. 155 Yet,
this Epistle communicates a different message - God cares for this world and the Incarnational
event happened not just for this little group of believers but for the whole world (4:14). G.
Strecker noted that the statement “Saviour of the world” (4:14) cannot be separated from the
person who says it but “presupposes the faith of the community in the saving significance of
the Christ event.”156 In other words, this is the community’s confession of faith – the Son of
God came to save the world.
In the context of the letter the term “the world” (kovsmoV) means people or “human
society, temporarily controlled by the power of evil.”157 It is not a universe or life on the earth
but a society which is in opposition to God. Accordingly, the command “do not love the
world” does not mean “do not love” what God has created. The world in this sense is a social
system which lives according to its own rules. All the actions of the people in this kovsmoV are
154
Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple, 60. Brown noted that these are “non-believers” from the
Johannine point of view – if one does not believe in Jesus, one does not believe in God. On these terms it could be
Jews who believed in God and Gentiles who believed in their gods.
155
John Bogart believes that in the early centuries of our era all Christians were sectarians from the standpoint of
Jews or pagans. Bogart, Orthodox and Heretical Perfectionism, 140.
156
Strecker, The Johannine Letters, 150
157
Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, 81. See also Grayston, The Johannine Epistle, 56. See Brown,The Community of the
Beloved Disciple, 63-66 (the meaning of ‘the world’ in the Fourth Gospel).
39
motivated by “the lust of flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (2:16). In
contrast, believers form an alternative society which has different patterns of behaviour
introduced to them by the Son of God. However, the statement that the ‘world is passing away,
and also its lust’ (2:17) does not mean that God’s creation will be completely destroyed. The
reason the Son of God appeared is “that He might destroy the works of the devil” (3:8) but not
the world and humanity. God’s purpose is to save this world and to change it through the
Incarnation of His Son. As St. Athanasius phrased it, “For being Word of the Father, and above
all, he alone of natural fitness was both able to recreate everything, and worthy to suffer on
behalf of all and to be ambassador for all with the Father.’158 Now the world lies in the power
of the evil one (5:19) but this evil ruler loses his control of humankind – “the darkness is
passing away, and the true light is already shining” (2:8).
The whole content of the letter is about changes in the lives of believers. Once they
were in this world but eternal life was proclaimed to them (1:2) and they moved from “the
world of darkness to the sphere of light.”159 They are called to walk like Christ, to love like
Christ, and to become like Christ. Christlikeness of the community implies that the community
should act like Christ toward the world and its salvation. As Winslow put it, “The
comprehensive pattern for the redeemed life which Christ provides resides in its being the
expression of God’s mercy toward mankind.”160 This reflects a very important aspect of John’s
teaching: this Christlike community should have the same goal and ministry as Christ had. As
158
Athanasius, “On the Incarnation of the Word” (NPNF IV, 2nd series, Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans, 1971),
40.
It is worth mentioning that according to Eastern theology the Incarnation is not seen as simply an answer
to the Fall but as a part of eternal plan of God. Even if people had never fallen, God would still have become
human in His love for humanity and in order to help people become like Christ. Because humans fell, the
Incarnation became also the act of salvation. The purpose of Christ Incarnation became the “recreation” of man
and transformation of the whole universe. God through His Incarnation reopens for all created order the way to
union with Himself. The goal is an eschatological union of the whole creation with God or its deification. In this
sense Eastern thinking is “not merely ‘philosophical’ but, Christologically soteriological and eschatological”.
See Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology, 34.
159
160
Winslow, The Dynamic of Salvation, 153. Wilmslow formulated this statement describing the beliefs of
Gregory of Nazianzus.
40
Johan Ferreira phrased it, “[the Johannine community] does not exist for itself, nor is not an
end in itself… rather the community is important only because it is Christus prolongatus, that
is, it is one with Jesus in terms of function.”161
The mission of Christ is mentioned in several verses of this Epistle. In verse (2:2) He is
called “the propitiation” for the sins of the whole world. Although the meaning of the word
“propitiations” (iJlasmoV) is not very clear162 we can understand from the context that the
possibility of salvation is universal. As far as the author of the Epistle is concerned this atoning
sacrifice was offered for the sins of the whole world. B. F. Westcott perfectly phrased this idea,
“But for all alike Christ’s propitiation is valid. The propitiation extends as far as the need of it,
through all places and all time.” The same idea of iJlasmoV is repeated again in (4:10). The
main meaning is that the initiative for salvation is not taken by humans but “by God Himself in
sheer unmerited love… by His own self-giving to die the death of sinners.”163
In chapter four of this Epistle the idea that salvation is provided for the whole of
humanity is even more obvious: “the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”
(4:14). The sending of the Son of God happens ‘in’ and for the world (4:9, 14). It does not
mean that the world is merely a “’scene of action’ or field where the struggle between God and
Satan takes place”164 but it suggests that this world which is in opposition to God is in need of
redemption and salvation. It must not go unnoticed that ‘the world’ is not neutral and there is
“the evil one” who is active in this world, “so that the maxim Christus contra mundum (“Christ
against the world”) is not without truth.”165 But the believers are not alone in this world and
they are not doing their ministry only relying on their own strength. The meaning of the words
that God “abides” in the believers (4:12) suggests that He is constantly present in the
161
Johan Ferreira, Johannine Ecclesiology (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), 201-202.
162
The scholars have been debating in what sense this iJlasmoV translated as ‘propitiation’, ‘expiation’ or
‘atoning sacrifice’ should be used. See the very good explanation in Marshall, The Epistles of John, 117-120.
163
Stott, Epistles of John, 88.
164
Strecker, The Johannine Letters, 151.
165
Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple, 66.
41
community. His presence through the Spirit (4:13) constitutes the community: first, by adding
a person to the community, and second, by mediating faith to others through this person.166
As members of the Christlike community we have to remember that God’s love is
outward looking, not inward looking. For community to express God’s love means to share the
message of love and eternal life with the world. As Brown explains, this world is a
materialistic pagan society which is in a “transitory” state.167 Then to love the world is to
change the world and bring unbelievers into the community of God. Accordingly, when an
unbeliever becomes a believer he finds himself within the circle of Christian love. 168 It follows
that then the community is “the world transformed into the body of Christ and vivified by the
Spirit.”169 Community becomes a place where people can be saved and in this sense the
purpose of the existence of a Christian community must be completely soteriological: to save
and transform the whole world in order to bring it to union with God.
166
See Volf, After Our Likeness, 175.
167
See Brown, The Gospel and Epistles of John (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press,
1988), 113.
168
See van der Watt, “Ethics in First John,” 511.
169
42
CONCLUSION
Although, the concept of deification is foreign to many western scholars the use of such
a term as deification could make a contribution to theological and particularly soteriological
thought in the West. This, along with some other theological terms, is not found per se in 1
John,170 but the notion of deification is present in this Epistle. Salvation as deification of
community in the First Epistle of John means that this community is in the process of
becoming Christlike (3:2). In other words, the members of the community are gaining an
experience of mystical union with God through abiding in God; they are learning how to have
loving relationships with each other; they are obtaining an ability to resist to sin and they are
following Christ’s mission of saving the world which means sharing the Good News of eternal
life with other people.171
From the earlier discussion we can conclude that the soteriology of 1 John is
communal. Salvation as growth towards our ultimate destiny which is Christlikeness (3:2) is
inseparable from our life in the Christian community. Koinonia with God, a joyful life with
Christ (1:3-4) and fellowship of love with other believers – these are the marks of the eternal
life. They “constitute the fulfilment of the very purpose for which God originally created us
and for which, in economy of salvation he recreated us.”172
As was observed previously, through God’s presence in the community Christians can
become a family of God. As Mitchell put it, “God our Holy Father has set his heart on having a
family in which every member will be like himself.”173 Salvation then means sharing the
170
For example, we do not find the term Trinity in the First Epistle of John, but the notion of Trinity is there.
171
In the West there has been a widespread notion that the Orthodox Church is indifferent to mission. But a
careful study of the history of the Church reveals the important contribution of the Eastern Church to spreading of
Christianity. The Byzantine Church was very active and as a result the barbarian Rus’ [Russia] was converted.
The Russian Church adopted Byzantine missionary tradition. For example, from the beginning of the nineteenth
century until the revolution (1917), the Russian Church developed a systematic internal missionary activity and an
external one in China, Japan and Korea. See Anastasios Yannoulatos, “Discovering the Orthodox Missionary
Ethos,” in Marturia/Mission: The Witness of the Orthodox Churches Today (Geneva: Oikomene, 1980), 21-23.
See also Hilarion Alfeyev, Orthodox Witness Today (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2006), 202-227.
172
173
T. C. Mitchell, “Holiness – Bearing the Family Likeness,” 54.
43
responsibilities and privileges of the family member which include support, help, prayer and
love. This love should be practical where we are really concerned about the physical and
spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters (3:17, 5:16). The relationships with other children of
God reflect the depth and the quality of our knowledge of God. In this sense our fellowship
with other believers is a necessary condition of our union with God and our salvation as
transformation into Christlike beings (3:2).
The author of the Epistle reminds us that we have the eternal life only if God abides in
us and we abide in Him. God’s presence and God’s love saves us, and creates and shapes this
community. Through the example of His Son and the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to
participate in God’s life and God’s ministry. The expressions used in this Epistle are such as to
demonstrate that “Jesus’ offer of life to humans is at the heart of his earthly mission.”174
Moreover this implies what kind of mission we have here on the earth - as a Christlike people
we are supposed to show humanity the way which leads to liberation from lust, sin, hatred,
corruption and death. In other words, we have to save the world and change it into Christlike
community.
174
44
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49

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DEIFICATION OF COMMUNITY:

Life in the Christian Community as the Way of Salvation in 1 John

OLGA ALEXANDROVNA DRUZHININA

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment

MASTER OF ARTS IN THEOLOGY

NAZARENE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

I am deeply grateful to many people who have helped make this

I give special thanks to my family: my husband Alexey and my

I am thankful to my supervisor Dr Kent E. Brower who has

My sincere thanks to Dr David Rainey, Dr David McCulloch, Dr

Finally, I am thankful to the Church of the Nazarene in Russia

Word count including footnotes but excluding bibliography and

The Limitation of the Study………………………………………………….7

I. 2. Presuppositions about 1 John…………………………………………..13

II. LIFE IN A CHRISTIN COMMUNITY AND BECOMING

III. THE MYSTICAL PRESENCE OF GOD IN A LIFE OF

IV. LIFE IN A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AS A PROCESS

OF SALVATION AND ESCHATOLOGICAL FUTURE……………..30

IV. 1. Eternal Life………………………………………………………30

IV. 2. Trinity Imagery……………………………………………….....33

IV. 3. Family Imagery……………………………………………….....36

V. THE MISSION OF THE DEIFIED COMMUNITY IS SALVATION

OF THE WORLD OR DEIFICATION OF THE WORLD………….....39

the author for the Johannine community.3

what communal salvation means.

Union with God is inseparable from relationship with other people.

is discussed. The attitude of Christlike (deified) community is supposed to reflect Christ’s

“redemption”, “reconciliation,” and “justification.” Salvation in the Orthodox theology

mention only the most significant of them.7

some degree deified.21

(polytheism) or a fusion of the created world with the Creator (pantheism).23

universally available in the economy of incarnation.”27 The Orthodox theologians keep a

new state of being, and the sharing in the life of God.

assumptions are made in connection with the community in 1 John.

Thirdly, the community of 1 John was experiencing a crisis or as Brown described it –

theological interpretations of Christology, ethics, and Pneumatology. All these disagreements

and divisions in the community in the following chapters of this dissertation.

book’s theological contribution as a whole, rather than as a series of unconnected blocks of

tells us what kind of ideas it rejects.

misunderstanding or confusion but that these theological misinterpretations influenced the

doctrine and to protect the community against false teaching.

love is repeated over and over in 1 John.

core of Christian service.”66

truth” and not only “with word or with tongue” (3:17-18).

community is the theme of the next chapter of this dissertation.

community through His Son.

in God’s love. According to S. Smalley, this “abiding in Jesus” concept is a characteristically

immediate transaction between human and divine.”90

and nourished in those who are ‘begotten’ of God…”93

this Epistle “to be” expresses the Christian way of existence.

(4:15), to receive forgiveness of sins (1:9), and not to sin (3:6).

presence in the life of believers.

the sinlessness of a Christian is “a consequence and a continuation of his regeneration in Christ

and to abide in God.

Holy Spirit enables us to abide with God.

preparing it for the accomplishment in the Parousia-glory.”112

and of the relationship inside the Trinity.