This commentary has great summarizations. It supports the view that some of the epistles were written by a leading elder in the community that John the Apostle was associated with, and that this elder was also named John. His argument is based on the idea that this elder was so familiar with the apostles gospel that he followed the flow of thought as he wrote. The author is Thomas E. Johnson who used to be the President of Sioux Falls College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After reading other commentaries on this subject and studying the epistles myself, I'm not convinced by his view. However, he did make a strong case and he caused me to almost switch views. Pretty good for a condensed commentary. His material is helpful throughout for sermon prep. I do favor the Pillar NT Commentary over this one and have found myself going to it instead when I don't have time to look at everything. Smalley is also very good on 1 John and I favor him over this commentary, even though he is much more technical and the technical commentaries don't offer as much practical assistance to the average pastor, in this part of the series (Word) Smalley is more helpful in my opinion than Johnson. Almost always it is the other way around in my reviews. Still, I think this is a commentary worth owning and I do give it a five star. It ought to be on your short list if you are into Johannine literature right now.
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