Footnotes

1. 1 John 2:12 The author addresses all with affection: “Dear children,” as he says. He wants to answer every one of them—the old as well as the young. He recalls that Christians are set free from sin, that they are the vanquishers of the power of evil, personified in the Bible as the devil, “the evil one.” This victory is attained by the action of God and not by adhering to the speculations that are being spread about. Adhering therein is the “world”—a term that refers to all that is opposed to God. The fourth Gospel had already accustomed us to this language that opposes God to the world and light to darkness. The author wishes to speak thereby of all the limitations of the human, e.g., unregulated desires, the need to possess, and the satisfaction of extravagance. In the face of this seduction that troubles every existence, believers can stand fast only by a life marked profoundly by the word of God.