I think that we can all agree that persons who are not anointed Christians need someone to teach them the revealed principles of the faith, else they could never receive the anointing in the first place. So there is a sense in which John’s readers needed John to teach them, i.e., before they became Christians. A question that arises at this point is “Whether or not 1 John 2:27 implies that teaching such as that contained in John’s Epistle, and the indeed the entire Bible, is unnecessary for those who are already anointed Christians?”
Obviously, John is teaching things in this Epistle, and his teachings are explicitly addressed to anointed Christians. The same goes for the rest of the New Testament and indeed the Old Testament (“these things were written for our instruction”). But John says to the anointed: “you have no need that anyone should teach you.” Thus, it would follow, on one reading of this passage, that while Sacred Scripture and pastors and teachers might be useful, they are not necessary.
But I suspect that that interpretation, at least as regards Scripture, might be a bit too much for all but the most individualistic, subjectivist Protestants. But is the radically subjectivist, individualistic position, in which even the Bible is unnecessary for anointed Christians, really a straightforward reading of 1 John 2:27? Given the context, including the fact that John is teaching these Christians by means of this very Epistle, I think that such a reading is unwarranted.
For one thing, it seems natural to understand that by “anyone” John is referring specifically to teachers coming to his readers from outside the company of the Apostles (cf. 2:18-19). For another, the phrase “his anointing teaches you about everything” does not necessarily render John’s letter or the rest of Scripture unnecessary; rather, this anointing which teaches us about everything could be such that it only remains and / or properly functions within a certain context; i.e., the Body of Christ.
Obviously, it is not enough to claim to have the Holy Spirit to actually have the Spirit. Furthermore, the Spirit is not divided against himself, nor is he divided against the Body of Christ, or the teaching of the Apostles, or the sacraments, or the Church’s interpretation of divine revelation. Rather, it is the Spirit who gives life (including understanding of spiritual things) in and through all of these needful gifts of God. Thus, John’s readers would not need anyone *from outside the Body of Christ* to teach them anything. All things, including the deposit of faith, are theirs in Christ, and the Church is the Body of Christ, the “fullness of him who fills all in all.”
I sum, it seems to me that far from rendering the Church and the Bible unnecessary, this verse presupposes that the readers are squarely in the Church and being nourished by the Scriptures, as taught–and written–by Apostles and Apostolic men such as the author of 1 John.
also comment 199---you may have to go there for the link below:
also comment 199---you may have to go there for the link below:
Regarding 1 John 2:20 and 1 John 2:27, I recommend listening to the first five minutes of the following Q&A period by Prof. Feingold (Professor of Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary):
Prof. Feingold: Sacrament of Confirmation Q&A
In the peace of Christ,
- Bryan
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