What does 1 John chapter 1 verse 8 mean?

Answer 1

A:1 John 1:8-10: "8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

The straight-forward meaning of this is that we are all sinners and should not deny this. However, students of 1 John debate various underlying meanings. The polemic that the author of 1 John uses is considered by some to be so vicious, and his arguments ridiculous, that there is more to the epistle than seen at first sight.

Burton L. Mack (Who Wrote the New Testament) says that the Johannine community that produced the Gospel of John split soon after the gospel was written, with one group joining a more centrist Christian community, while the other joining a Gnostic sect. The first group is thought to have written 1 John as a polemic against their former colleagues. The author engaged in labelling his opponents 'liars' (1 John 1:6-10; 2:4; 4:20) or consigning them to demonic, cosmic, or divine destruction (1 John 3:4‑10). He wanted to charge his opponents with being sinners (1 John 1:8-10), but since his new soteriology (doctrine of salvation) was about sin and forgiveness, the topic could backfire. He did not want to offer his opponents the promise of forgiveness. On this view, 1 John 1:8 is an invective against the former colleagues of the anonymous author.