Around the time of the epistles that were written by “John” (possibly John, son of Zebedee), a rift began between some Christian believers that is referenced in 1 John 2:19 when it says, “But by going out they made it plain that none of them belong to us.” The controversy that the Johannine community faced… Continue reading →

The main crisis that affected the John group was the question of whether or not Jesus was human. John’s group believed that he was, and they thought it offensive that other’s believed that he wasn’t. This was mainly because it would mean he didn’t actually die on the cross (because if Jesus was divine, he… Continue reading →

Ten to twenty years after the production of Johns gospel sparked some controversy that led to conflict and ultimately created a division within the Johannine community. Scholars reconstruct these events into three stages, the pre-gospel stage, the gospel stage and finally the Letters stage. In the pre-gospel stage the Johannine community developed as a palestinian… Continue reading →