THE THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN

Introduction

THIS Epistle is addressed to Gaius, whom St. John commends for his faith, for his charity and hospitality towards strangers and the ministers of the Gospel. Who this Gaius is, cannot be known for certain. Some, with the Venerable Bede, say, that he is the Corinthian referred to by St. Paul (Rom. 16, and 1 Cor. 1), and commended for the virtues on account of which St. John here eulogizes the person whom he addresess. Others say it was Gaius of Derbe, mentioned in Acts, 20; while others infer from verse 4, of this Epistle, that he was neither one nor the other; since the Apostle here regards him as one of his children, whom he either instructed in the faith or baptized. Nothing certain can be known regarding him.