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VRSZ
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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Theophylact of Ohrid
Some thought that the present epistle, as well as the one following it, belonged not to John — the beloved disciple of the Lord, but to another person of the same name; because in both epistles the writer calls himself a presbyter, and one epistle is written to a certain woman, and the other to Gaius, again to a single person, which does not befit an epistle called catholic; moreover, the beginning of this epistle is not the same as that of the first epistle. To this we shall say the following. …
Oecumenius
Some have thought that this Epistle and the one that follows are not from John the Beloved, but from another who had the same name: because in these he writes of himself as an elder, and to a lady, and to another Gaius, and he writes of one just as he does of the lady; which does not happen in a Catholic Epistle. Furthermore, he did not make a title according to the previous epistle: for he did not begin it in that way. …
Clement of Alexandria
The second Epistle of John, which is written to Virgins, is very simple. It was written to a Babylonian lady, by name Electa, and indicates the election of the holy Church. He establishes in this Epistle that the following out of the faith is not without charity, and so that no one divide Jesus Christ; but only to believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. …
Western Saints
Jerome
Originally "presbyters" and "bishops" were the same. When later on one was chosen to preside over the rest, this was done to avoid schism. For apart from ordination, what function is there which belongs to a bishop which does not also belong to a presbyter?
Bede
And not I only, but also all, etc. Because he begins to write against heretics, as they have fallen from the truth of the faith, he rightly recalls that there is one love in the Holy Spirit among all who have known the truth, to frighten those who, being few, have separated themselves from the society of the many Catholics with their unanimity and multitude. …
Translation