1, 2 & 3 John by Constantine R. Campbell

Abstract

Reviewed by: 1, 2 & 3 John by Constantine R. Campbell Cornelia van Deventer Campbell, Constantine R. 2017. 1, 2 & 3 John. The Story of God Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Hardcover. ISBN 978-0310327325. Pp. 246. $29.99. The Story of God Bible Commentary series is a collection of commentaries based on the 2011 New International Version translation, aimed to serve laypersons in their understanding of biblical material. The series covers all the books of the OT and NT (including a separate commentary by McKnight on the Sermon on the Mount), following a similar pattern. The commentaries aim to package the text in such a format that it relates to the "Bible's grand Story" (xii) and informs its readers on how to live in their contexts on the basis of biblical truths. The commentary at hand is written by Constantine Campbell, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Campbell has lectured on a senior level in both NT and Greek and is well known for his publications on Greek verbal aspect. This commentary is Campbell's first book on the Johannine literature. Like most commentaries on the Johannine epistles, most of the book (176 out of 230 pages) revolves around 1 John, with the commentary on 2 and 3 John consisting of a mere 30 and 24 pages each. While the second and third epistles are significantly smaller than the first, Campbell does lament the neglect of these epistles in the scholarly and ecclesial contexts, arguing that underplaying them is "unhelpful and ought to be corrected" (177). He begins the discussion of each epistle with a (short) introduction, wherein he discusses usual matters like authorship, occasion, themes, structure, the relationship to other material in the Johannine corpus and addressees. Campbell affirmatively anchors the first epistle in the Johannine Gospel and argues for authorship by John, the son of Zebedee. By discussing common themes and language, he also attaches the second and third epistles to the first, arguing for the plausibility of 2 John as a cover letter for 1 John. Campbell hints at alternative approaches to authorship, but does not discuss or rebut them. [End Page 169] The discussion of the first epistle is divided into 13 thematic chapters (1 John 1:1–4; 1:5–10; 2:1–6; 2:7–11; 2:12–17; 2:18–27; 2:28–3:10; 3:11–18; 3:19–24; 4:1–6; 4:7–21; 5:1–12; 5:13–21), and the portions on the second and third epistles comprise of 3 chapters each (2 John 1–3; 4–6; 7–13; 3 John 1–4; 5–10; 11–14). Each chapter follows a similar pattern, in which the text is examined from three distinct angles. The first section to each chapter is titled "Listen to the Story." Here, the NIV text is provided, followed by references to biblical (and some extra-biblical) parallels or echoes. This is followed by an introduction that aims to tie the passage into the wider biblical narrative. The second section is titled "Explain the Story." This section discusses the biblical background, historical background, cultural context and theological interpretation(s) of the passage at hand. Finally, each chapter is concluded with a third section titled "Live the Story," comprising a more devotional section discussing the possible application(s) of the theological gist of the discussed portion to the reader's daily life. The commentary series is openly evangelical, something clearly reflected in Campbell's discussions on matters like marriage (120). One also does not have to read between the lines to notice that this is a commentary intended for a wider audience than the scholarly community. McKnight (xii) explicitly states in the foreword that "this is not an academic series." Keeping this in mind, the author does an excellent job of bringing scholarly ideas and technical knowledge into the realm of the layperson. Technical and theological terms are defined, and theological arguments surrounding interpretation are well outlined and explained. Moreover, in difficult passages, Campbell dives into the Greek in an understandable manner. The reader is, for instance, introduced to the difference between the objective and subjective genitive—a distinction that is...