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3 John Reflection

Decent Essays

Many scholars believe that because 3 John is the shortest book in the New Testament it is the void of any doctrinal content.The paper sets out to argue that 3 John is deeply doctrinal but it is embedded within the author's view of the character of God and his plan for the world. I must confess that as I read 3 John I did not grasp the message.It was only after reading the article a few times I was able to comprehend the 3 John. The article explains that in order to understand this letter we must dig deep into the background, and find the author's intentions and the reaction he expect from the recipient. 3 John seems to a reply to a previous letter,which we no access to.In letter the Elder commends Gaius for supporting the missionaries who have arrived,even at the cost of his excommunication. The elder speaks of Diotrephes who has rejected his authority and placed himself leader, refusing to help missionaries, and threatening anyone who supports them. Although this letter was not thought to offer much deep theological reflections, Lieu found that it cast a light on the early patterns of ministry.It was by using a socio-narrative analysis,and rearranging the letter,we were able to grasp the big picture.When were introduced to John Searle's speech- act theory we saw how communication carries a force that affects and changes the receiver's behavior. The idea being that by reading 3 John and looking closely at the events surrounding the story we are able to get a clearer

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