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Written by Paul J Bucknell on August, 10, 2024

1 John 2:12-14: Three Interpretational Schemes by Paul J. Bucknell with Study Questions

In 1 John 2:12-14, the words and phrases, such as “have overcome the evil one,” hold significant meaning. Although I have delved into these meanings in other articles, we focus on a more fundamental interpretation here: identifying the three groups mentioned. We seek to understand who each group represents and how they form a framework for interpreting the words and phrases. Some suggest that the elderly Apostle John addresses different age groups within the church, while others, myself included, believe that John instructs various groups based on their spiritual maturity. Let’s examine the support and challenges of the three interpretations.

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:12-14, NASB).

1. Physical Age Development

#1 Physical - Physical - Physical

The first interpretation follows the familiar spiritual growth of Christian believers according to one’s physical age. John addresses different groups within the Christian community: children, young people, and fathers (adults). The term “little children” refers to toddler-aged believers and up, “fathers” to older-aged believers, and “young men” to those between childhood and older age.

Paul has identified and explicitly addressed young men and older men elsewhere, according to their physical age, instructing them to pay attention to various aspects of their spiritual lives.

“² Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance….⁶ Likewise urge the young men to be sensible” (Titus 2:2-8).

In verse 3, he also addresses other groups of believers, such as “older women.” While this physical age perspective has some support, Paul’s failure to address physically young Christian believers presents significant challenges to this interpretation.

Practical Challenges to Biological Children

The physical age approach creates numerous awkward situations, mainly because John twice begins by addressing little children.

Why does he begin addressing children rather than adults?
He must refer to young children who have come to faith and been baptized.
We doubt whether small children can read or understand John.

John initiates this tri-cycle twice by starting with children (2:12-13). A reference to small children is highly unlikely because protocol prevents adults from first addressing little children, such as Paul in Titus 2:2-3. Since this is a letter to the church, it further lacks propriety to first address young children as John did. If physical age were intended, he would speak to the elderly first, and then younger groups according to custom, seen in Titus 2. 2 John 1 and 3 John 1 first addresses the church elders.

Cognitively speaking, how many little children would understand John and the surrounding context? We must assume many little children would not be able to understand John’s address without much elaboration. He would probably ask the parents to tell their children about salvation if he meant to address them.

A general challenge occurs for all three groups when we peg a Christians’ spiritual maturity to their physical age. Consider the following statement: Those 45 and up are spiritually mature. There is a general crossover between age and maturity. This is why the age interpretation is first latched onto. However, we know this is not always true on several levels. Timothy is a good example. “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:12). He is younger but mature. Meanwhile, many older-aged believers are immature. How can spiritual advice be based on physical age?

An Evaluation: The Confusion of Little Children

The interpretation of 1 John 2:12-14 regarding physical development is supported by Titus chapter 2 but is challenged at the children’s level. John groups fathers as physically older Christians and young men as believers who are physically younger than the fathers. However, when it comes to children, there is confusion. John addresses them as old enough to believe and be clear in their faith, which may not be true in real life. Most little children cannot easily converse about their faith. As a former pastor and father, I know this physical development interpretation is not well-founded. As a result, many churches either do not allow young children to be baptized or wait until they are older for confirmation. It's important to remember that spiritual maturity does not always follow age maturity. There are better interpretations. While it’s true that the physically older are often more mature, it is certainly not guaranteed.

#2 The Mixed Interpretation

#2 Spiritual - Physical - Physical

Some avoid the awkward children-age interpretation by using John’s general use of “little children” as referring to all believers (2:12-14). Since John uses children throughout his letter, the assumption is that it should be used in 1 John 2:12,13. The young children and father groupings would remain describing physical age as in point 1.

John’s Usage of “Little Children”

John, as their spiritual father, uses the word children a surprising thirteen times in 1 John (2:1,12,13,18,28; 3:1,2,7,10,18; 4:4; 5:2,21). Among these include many uses of “little children” (Gr: teknia) (2:1,12,28; 3:7,18; 4:4; 5:21). Throughout this letter, John’s endearing and repetitive use of children signifies his relationship as an affectionate and caring spiritual father. This gentle, authoritative figure becomes more crucial when recognizing that one or more groups had left the Christian community (1 John 2:19), shaking the faith of others. Jesus appointed John as an apostle with the truth of the Gospel; they could trust him.

If this term for all believers is applied to the first group, “little children,” he must not refer to young-aged believers. 1 John 2:1, for example, teaches that Christ is the Advocate before the Father for all believers. It makes sense that he addresses all believers just a few verses later in verses 12 and 13.

So, this children category would go from describing a believer at a very young age—a physical child—to all believers, greatly upsetting the physical development scheme of interpretation. In essence, we have described another interpretational scheme: #2 The Mixed: Spiritual—Physical—Physical, but this interpretation has its problems, too.

Inconsistent Categorization

John does refer to children as an affectionate term for all believers, as discussed above, but there is some question about whether it should be used within this trio. It’s very natural to understand ‘little children’ in the Christian faith to refer to one’s belonging to God’s family, not age. Paul uses the same approach at times, “Just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children” (1 Thess 2:11).

However, this confounds the well-integrated developmental scheme John has set up in 12-14. This “all believers” interpretation for children creates two huge inconsistencies, making this option untenable.

The first group differs in nature: Spiritual (by faith) => Physical (by age) => Physical (by age). Second, the categories aren’t continuous if the first grouping, children, gain their distinction from faith while the other two groups are from physical age; they are incompatible. “Children" represents all Christians. Young men are select Christians young in age, and fathers are select Christians older in age. They are not logically separated. This problem is exacerbated by how John twice states this trio. The second occurrence of "children" in verse 13 compels the readers to envision young children, presuming the other two categories are age-specific believers.

While we can accept that “little children” generally refers to all believers, verses 12-14’s immediate context does not allow it. Children is the first of three steps, allowing believers of all ages, but this defining key counters the context, forcibly throwing off this scheme because it’s twice written. One might be able to brush this off if written once, but not twice.

The twice-presented trio of verses becomes a strong interpretational umbrella over these verses, giving us room to otherwise understand children, defined by the context rather than the book. The three groups must be exclusive to make sense.

3. Spiritual Maturity

#3 Spiritual - Spiritual - Spiritual

The third possible interpretational scheme is that the Apostle John wrote to three groups according to spiritual maturity, not physical age. Each believer belongs to one specific group for which John gives targeted spiritual advice.

Children: The “little children” group refers to new believers learning about Christian life; John provides hints on how to grow as a new believer and understand the major issues they confront.

Young men: Young believers are overcomers, those who must master God’s Word to battle the world, Satan, and the flesh successfully.

Fathers: The mature believers, steady in their faith, must develop a deep and strong faith in God to carry out His work.

Let’s look at support for this third interpretation. In this scenario, spiritual development follows the biological analogy. A believer must grow at one level before entering the next. There are two compelling reasons to support these three categories of the Christians’ spiritual development, in addition to their groupings otherwise mentioned in the New Testament.

1. Consistency

The two repetitive cycles in verses 12-14 compel us to think of three similar categories, all addressing their level of spiritual development. The three categories are developmental based on a family analogy. The way he “is writing” and “have written” undoubtedly demonstrates his twice-given advice. Each cycle’s terms refer to the same group. The “young men,” for example in verse 13 is the same as in 14. Little children in verse 12 are the same as in verse 13. (The different Greek word for child shouldn’t make any significant difference.) The reason he wrote twice to these groups might be due to those who left the faith and caused further questions (2:19).

2. Exclusivity

The three categories twice used serve as demonstrably strong evidence for the exclusivity of the groups. There is no crossover of those from one group to be part of another group. The family analogy requires exclusivity just as fathers are not children or young men, children. There is sometimes murkiness in the transitions between two stages, such as child to youth, but each group carries distinctive features and challenges.

3. Sequential

The family analogy, dictated by the children—young men—father terminology, provide a picture of spiritual development. Development requires sequential growth, one stage following another. The path of spiritual development leans on the family analogy.

4. New Testament Support

The New Testament also uses the family analogy to identify this growth process and even to categorize Christian believers. In 1 Corinthians 3:1 and Hebrews 5:13, he refers to immature believers as babes in Christ, needing to grow. The believer’s growth pertains to his development of faith.

5. Spiritual Advice

John’s advice is undoubtedly related to spiritual life. The children are reminded to foster their faith in the Father, “I have written to you, children, because you know the Father” (1 John 2:13). This is true of all believers, yet the comments are specifically relevant to those new in faith. The young believers wrestle in faith through the Word of God. If John writes according to spiritual maturity, then it is no longer according to age.

What about John’s main usage of little children in 1 John?

We need to tidy up a loose thought. In the second viewpoint, we observed how the term children usually refers to all believers in 1 John. This third scheme requires us to understand “little children differently.” The adjacent tri-cycles require exclusivity and sequential development. The general usage is impossible with John’s two trios. The context forms a tape around them, boxing them in their own context and allowing for another understanding and usage of little children. In this family analogy, we find compelling support for children to mean children, not teens and adults.

John uses fewer words than most writers, allowing one word to have various meanings. For example, the world (cosmos) used in verse 14 refers to the dark system controlled by the evil one. This greatly contrasts 1 John 2:2, where the cosmos (world) refers to the “whole world,” wherever people live. Light, too, physically refers to the sun, but John often uses it to refer to God and His truth.

‘Children,’ under well-defined circumstances like in 1 John 2:12-14, refers not to all Christian believers but to the believers engaged in the first stage of Christian development, regardless of their age.

Conclusion

Out of the three interpretational schemes of 1 John 2:12-14, only the third framework possesses the needed consistency. Its interpretational scheme follows John’s family analogy and provides spiritual advice. The only sensible interpretation provides a sequential and exclusive framework, which the twice-written cycle demands.

Study Questions on 1 John 2:12-14’s Category Groups

How many interpretations of 1 John 2:12-14 are there?
What does the first group represent?
Why is the first interpretation so appealing?
How does Titus 2:2-3 favor this age-related interpretation?
In this first interpretation, who would “little children” include?
Why is this understanding challenging to accept?
What does the second (mixed) interpretation mean?
Look up some of the verses above where John uses “children” in 1 John. What does it mean in each verse?
Is it best to use this general sense of “children” and use it in 1 John 2:12-13? Why and why not?
What distinguishes the third interpretation?
What does it mean by sequential groups?
What does it mean by exclusive groups?
Do you think one has to use John’s general use of little children (affectionally referring to all Christians) in 1 John 2:12-13? Why or why not?
Which of the three interpretations best fits 1 John 2:12-13?