nation not to be welcomed; the writer, expecting to visit his
correspondents, closes his letter.

THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN

[Sidenote: The Author.]

It is generally admitted, both by those who deny and those who accept
the authenticity of the works of St. John, that this Epistle was
written by the author of 2 John. It presents several close parallels
both with 2 John and with the Gospel. Its obviously private character
accounts for the fact that it is seldom quoted in early literature. It
is found in the Old Latin version of the New Testament, though not in
the _Muratorian Fragment_. It was known to Origen and Dionysius of
Alexandria. Eusebius places it among the _Antilegomena_ (_H. E._ iii.
25), but it was generally accepted in the 4th century.

[Sidenote: To whom written.]

"Unto Gaius the beloved." The name was a common one, being a form of
the Latin "Caius." There is no reason for identifying this Gaius with
one of the persons of the same name who are mentioned as living in
Corinth, Macedonia, and Derbe respectively, all of whom may have been
dead at the late period when this letter was written. The Gaius of
this Epistle was evidently a faithful and hospitable Christian. Baur
displayed more than even his {264} usual powers of invention by
suggesting that Gaius was a Montanist of the latter part of the 2nd
century, and "Diotrephes" a symbolical name for one of the Catholic
bishops of Rome opposed to Montanism.

[Sidenote: Where and when written.]

Probably at Ephesus; subsequently to the First Epistle, and probably
very soon after the Second.

[Sidenote: Character and Contents.]

This little letter gives us a few brief glimpses of the life of the
Church near the end of the 1st century. The purpose of the letter is
to commend a Christian of good character, named Demetrius, to the
hospitable care of Gaius. It appears, therefore, to be one of those
"letters of commendation" which are mentioned by St. Paul in 2 Cor.
iii. 1, and were common in later times. By the side of this
pleasantness there is distress. Connected with the Church to which
Gaius belongs there is an ambitious schismatic named Diotrephes, who
refuses to admit the authority of the apostle. The fact that he was
guilty of casting the friends of the apostle out of the Church (ver.
10), suggests that Diotrephes was at least a presbyter, and perhaps a
bishop appointed by the apostle. We are told by Clement of Alexandria
that St. Jo