John, the Apostle and author of the Gospel of John, wrote this letter around A.D. 92 (he is identified in the first verse as the "elder" and he would have been in his seventies then, depending on how young he was during the ministry of Jesus). This is the shortest book in the entire Bible, consisting of only one chapter of thirteen verses. Like the other General Epistles, this letter was directed to the church as a whole rather than any specific group.