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Polycarp

Epistle to the Philippians

About this book

The Confession That Jesus Came in the Flesh

Chapter 7

1 For everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is antichrist;⁠ and whoever does not confess the testimony of the Cross is of the devil; and whoever twists the sayings of the Lord to suit his own desires and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, that person is the firstborn of Satan. 2 So let us abandon the empty ways of the many and their false teachings, and turn back to the word that was handed down to us from the beginning, being self-controlled in prayer and persistent in fasting, asking the all-seeing God in our prayers not to bring us into temptation, just as the Lord said, The Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 John 1:7 and Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians 7:1

New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

2 John defines the antichrist as anyone who refuses to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. The early Christian theologian Polycarp repeats this formula very closely in his letter to the Philippians.

Passages

2 John 1:7

New Testament
6 (Now this is love: that we walk according to his commandments.) This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning; thus you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not confess Jesus as Christ coming in the flesh. This person is the deceiver and the antichrist! 8 Watch out, so that you do not lose the things we have worked for, but receive a full reward.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 John

Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians 7:1

Early Christian
1 For everyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is antichrist; and whoever does not confess the testimony of the Cross is of the devil; and whoever twists the sayings of the Lord to suit his own desires and says that there is neither resurrection nor judgment, that person is the firstborn of Satan. 2 So let us abandon the empty ways of the many and their false teachings, and turn back to the word that was handed down to us from the beginning, being self-controlled in prayer and persistent in fasting, asking the all-seeing God in our prayers not to bring us into temptation, just as the Lord said, The Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.
135–155 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians

References

“... Let us notice the probable Johannine allusions. First, as is fairly widely admitted, Polycarp’s statement of the first confessional problem involves a direct conflation of 1 John 4: 2-3 and 2 John 7, whether this was intentional or not. It is interesting to note that, like Polycarp, Irenaeus uses 2 John 7 and 1 John 4: 2-3 together, citing them formally in Against Heresies 3. 16. 8. Second, in the next clause, confessing the testimony of the cross, may go back to 1 John 5: 6-8, which speak of a testimony of the water and the blood. But this is itself dependent upon the account in John 19: 34-5, which speaks of a testimony in relation to the cross. That this text lies behind Polycarp’s phrase is made more likely by a passage in Irenaeus. Irenaeus specifically points to John 19: 34-5 when dealing with the docetic heresy of Marcion in Against Heresies 4. 33. 2 ...”
Charles E. Hill, The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 419.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 John 1:7 and Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians 7:1

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