Understanding ‘sin’ in the Johannine epistles
The author of the Johannine Epistles has a good deal to say about sin. He abhors sin, seeing it as incompatible with God’ s character (o qeo" fw" estin, 1:5; [o qeo"] dikaio" estin, 2:29; and o qeo" agaph estin, 4:8) and with the status of believers as God’ s children. In th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2005
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| In: |
Verbum et ecclesia
Year: 2005, Volume: 26, Issue: 2, Pages: 543-570 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | The author of the Johannine Epistles has a good deal to say about sin. He abhors sin, seeing it as incompatible with God’ s character (o qeo" fw" estin, 1:5; [o qeo"] dikaio" estin, 2:29; and o qeo" agaph estin, 4:8) and with the status of believers as God’ s children. In this article attention is given to the following relevant aspects for understanding ‘hamartiology’ in the Johannine epistles from a ‘family perspective’: (1) the ‘family of God’ metaphor is used as the setting in which the author describes his symbolic narrative; (2) a differentiation is made between sin inside and sin outside the family; (3) sin outside the family is also described in terms of reciprocals to emphasize its condemnation; (4) finally, he focuses on the ‘forgiveness of sin’. This investigation is done against the socio-religious circumstances of the Johannine community in order to understand the Elder’ s ethical and doctrinal definitions of sin. |
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| ISSN: | 2074-7705 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Verbum et ecclesia
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4102/ve.v26i2.240 |