D CANONICITY The second and third epistles of John were not recognized as Holy Scripture by the church as quickly as John’s other writings This is mainly because the letters took longer in becoming part of the churches’ public reading programs because of their brevity and their appearance as merely private letters.13 But the internal and external evidence is strong in favoring canonicity of these letters E OCCASION AND PURPOSE You will observe these as you survey this short epistle CHART 117: JOHN: TRUTH AND THE CHRISTIAN XII SURVEY OF JOHN Read this short letter a few times, observing key words and phrases Mark your Bible as you read According to the text, what were some of the conditions existing at this time that occasioned the writing of the epistle? What were some of John’s main purposes in writing the letter? Mark your Bible to show paragraph beginnings at these verses: 1, 4, 7, 12 Read the paragraphs and assign a title for each What is the main subject of each paragraph? Is there an introduction and conclusion? Compare the paragraphs starting with verses four and seven Study the subject of truth from paragraph to paragraph Study Chart 117 Compare its outlines and solitary entries with observations you have already made For new items, refer to the Bible text to justify the entries Note the title assigned to John XIII PROMINENT SUBJECTS OF JOHN Study the Bible text and record what John teaches about each of these subjects: truth (1-3); commandment (4-6); teaching (7-11) XIV THEME, KEY WORDS AND VERSES FOR JOHN What key words and verses you observe in John? Compare these with the ones shown on Chart 117 In your own words, what is the theme of John? XV APPLICATIONS OF JOHN Write a list of applications based on this second letter of John For example, what does it mean for a Christian to walk in the truth? XVI REVIEW QUESTIONS ON JOHN How is the author identi ed in the text? To whom was this letter sent? When and where was it written? ... occasioned the writing of the epistle? What were some of John’s main purposes in writing the letter? Mark your Bible to show paragraph beginnings at these verses: 1, 4, 7, 12 Read the paragraphs... items, refer to the Bible text to justify the entries Note the title assigned to John XIII PROMINENT SUBJECTS OF JOHN Study the Bible text and record what John teaches about each of these subjects:... title for each What is the main subject of each paragraph? Is there an introduction and conclusion? Compare the paragraphs starting with verses four and seven Study the subject of truth from paragraph