“Jesus Christ the Propitiation for the Whole World” (2)
PMT 2025-070 by Benjamin B. Warfield
[Gentry note: This is part 2 of an excellent article by renowned postmillennial Princeton scholar, B. B. Warfield.]
“And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.”
(1 John 2:2)
The Problem of “the World”
The search for John’s meaning naturally begins with an attempt to ascertain what he intends by “the world.” He sets it in contrast with an “our” by which primarily his readers and himself are designated: “And he is himself a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but for the whole world.” John’s readers apparently are immediately certain Christian communities in Asia Minor; and it is possible to confine the “our” strictly to them. In that case it is not impossible to interpret “the whole world,” which is brought into contrast with the Christians specifically of Asia Minor, as referring to the whole body of Christians extended throughout the world. Continue reading
“Jesus Christ the Propitiation for the Whole World” (1)
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