1 John 2:13

I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know the Father.

Having addressed the entire group of Christians in 1 John 2:12 as "little children," John here singled out three age groups: fathers, young men, and children, arranged quite logically in a descending order, and using a different word for "children" ([@paidia])[32] in order to distinguish the different meaning here from that in 1 John 2:12. Many scholars reject this interpretation, but the essential logic of it cannot be denied. Other scholars (including Westcott) "regard these words as indicating different age groups."[33] There has never been any other good explanation of why John used different words for children. The difference in "I write unto you" and "I have written unto you" is not clear at all and may be merely a variation of style. If "I have written" is understood as epistolary, the meaning of the various expressions is exactly the same.

It is by no means clear why many object to understanding children (especially in 1 John 2:13) in the ordinary sense. Many children who have reached an age of accountability are still "little children"; and those who had obeyed the gospel when John wrote were here included with young men and fathers as full participants in the total benefits of Christianity. Certainly, such an objection as that made by Barclay can have little merit. He wrote:

Literalism and poetry do not go comfortably hand in hand ... The fact that the passage is kin to poetry makes us think twice before insisting that so literal a meaning must be given to the words and so cut and dried a classification be taken as intended.[34]

Well, there you have it. This passage is "kin to poetry"; therefore, we do not need to take "children" literally! It must be a weak case indeed that requires support from an argument like this.

That the primary purpose of the whole passage is that of showing the full participation of various age groups is also derived from the synonymous nature of the affirmations made concerning each. There is no essential difference in them:

Of children (meaning the whole church), "your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake."

Of fathers, "ye know him who is from the beginning."

Of young men, "ye have overcome the evil one."

Of little children (literally), "ye know the Father."

The one and identical meaning of all these statements is that the persons indicated were walking in the light, enjoying salvation, possessed a knowledge of God and were abiding in Christ.

John extended his declarations further, mentioning two of the three sub-classifications again, that is, the fathers and the young men; but, in this case, the two groups stand for all three. Paul also mentioned three charismatic gifts in 1 Corinthians 13:8, making the three stand for all nine mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. John did a similar thing in the next verse.

[32] Ibid.

[33] R. W. Orr, op. cit., p. 612.

[34] William Barclay, The Letters of John and Jude (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 52.