Abstract
The given commentary of the Johannine Epistles draws from the merit of critical scholarship while supporting tradition in terms of presenting the three short letters as fierce, divisive, and somewhat polarizing in modern society as it was in the ancient world. The volume provides an explicit answer to the concrete meaning of ‘knowing God’ in lay terms. Knowing God entails loving God such that one becomes transformed. Either one’s loyalty rests with God, or with the things of the world. There lies no neutral zone. Campbell addresses the following themes: the challenge of the Christian life in a contrary culture, the democratic levelling of truth through competing accounts, and love as evidence of one’s faith. ‘Failure to love is also one of the worst indictments of the church in the eyes of the outside world’ (p. 73). Although the letters do not use the term ‘apostasy,’ the text and the commentator warn against such endeavors as culture presents trappings for potential faith abandonment.
Campbell’s Evangelical leanings does not prevent its potential appeal to Mainline, Catholic, and Orthodox scholars, clergy, and laity especially in leadership formation. As Jesus overcame the lure of succumbing to the world’s values, leaders can reference the given commentary to self-reflect on their basis of becoming a leader. Leaders who embrace the world’s perspective become driven by the quest for status and power; whereas those devoted to God’s truth may have rank, power, and position but have been set apart to serve others through valuing others over one’s self-interest. Furthermore, the commentary addresses the need for awareness of broad and subtle forms of idolatry, discerning false or mildly deceptive teachers, and the having role models throughout one’s faith journey. ‘The process of growth and maturity in faith is not a straight line up; it often seems to progress by two steps forward, one step back’ (p. 161). Although the commentary captures the essence of the Johannine letter’s aim to help true believers cultivate their sense of assurance in Jesus’ act of Atonement, the author’s critique of the Wesleyan concept of ‘Christian perfection’ needed further clarification that the doctrine describes ‘sanctification grace’ rather than ‘pursuing perfectionism.’