The First Catholic Epistle of John
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
has from the earliest times been ascribed to St. John the Theologian and consists of five chapters. Its style and spirit unmistakably point to Christ's beloved disciple as its writer. Like the other six Catholic Epistles, it is called catholic or general because it was addressed not to one person or one local church, but to believers in all places and times. The source dates it about AD 68. Its purpose is to warn believers against false teachers who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ; to urge all who confess God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to walk in the light of holiness and love, not in the darkness of sin and lawlessness; and to live in holy fellowship with the brethren, comforting themselves with the hope of eternal blessedness.