This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column
of the Christian Research Journal, volume 27, number 4 (2004).
For further information or to subscribe to the Christian
Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org “If anyone comes to
you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into
your house, and do not give him a greeting” (2 John 10).1 Not
long ago, a friend e-mailed me to express his concern about
allowing Jehovah’s Witnesses into his home for the purpose of
evangelism. His concern was rooted in his desire not to violate
2 John 10, which he understood as a restriction not to let
people who hold a heretical view of Christ into our homes. He
could not understand why the apostle John — himself an
evangelist — would object to evangelism in the home. My friend
asked me if I could help him clear up the mystery. In this case,
a review of history removes the mystery. When investigating the
historical context of a particular biblical book, the
interpreter’s goal is to examine such issu