Cross-Reference Analysis
09 Cross-Reference and Theme Analysis — 1 John (English → Mandarin)
0. Conventions
- Citation normalization (working/English form):
Book Chapter:Verse, full English book name, Arabic numerals, no abbreviations — e.g.Genesis 15:6,Romans 3:25,1 John 4:10. This is the authoritative normalized form for all cross-reference tables in this document and for machine-matching against the Romans curriculum’s citation store. - Citation form for destination-language output: follows the baseline’s CUV book-name conventions plus this curriculum’s established book name from
07_semantic_analysis.md: 1 John = 约翰一书 (Yuēhàn Yīshū). Output citation form:约翰一书4:10(no space before colon, Arabic numerals retained). Romans citations inside 1 John study materials use the baseline’s established form:罗马书3:25. - Important base-rate note: unlike Romans, 1 John contains no formal introductory OT citation formulas (“as it is written,” “the Scripture says”). Its use of the Old Testament is entirely through allusion, motif, and typology, not direct quotation. Translators and reviewers must not over-attribute formal-quotation status to these connections; the matrix below distinguishes “allusion” from “typological connection” from “direct narrative reference” (e.g. Cain and Abel) accordingly.
- Risk tiers (Critical/High/Medium/Low) follow
doctrine_risk_registry.jsondefinitions. Every row is assigned a Translation Sensitivity rating using this same framework. - Terms already fixed in the baseline
translation_memory.jsonor promoted in08_core_glossary.mdare referenced by their established Mandarin form; this document does not re-derive them but shows where they interlock across passages.
1. Rendering-Consistency Rules for Shared Quotations and Confessional Formulas
1 John shares three structural features with Romans that require verbatim cross-document consistency, extending the principle already established in the baseline (12_ai_translation_requirements.md, “Same rendering of Romans 10:9-10 across all documents”).
| Shared element | Romans form (fixed) | 1 John form (to be fixed identically in kind) | Consistency rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salvation-identifying confession | 耶稣是主 (Romans 10:9, “Jesus is Lord”) | 耶稣是神的儿子 (1 John 4:15; 2:23); 耶稣是基督 (1 John 5:1) | Treat all three confessional formulas as a fixed family of salvation-confessions. Each must be rendered identically at every occurrence across the whole 1 John curriculum, exactly as Romans 10:9 is fixed. Do not vary word order or add qualifiers (“Jesus is truly the Son of God,” etc.). |
| Son of God / Sonship of Christ | 神的儿子 (Critical, baseline) | 神的儿子 (1 John 2:23; 3:8; 4:15; 5:5,10,12,13,20) | Byte-identical reuse required; never abbreviate, never substitute 天子. |
| Propitiation / mercy seat | 挽回祭 (ἱλαστήριον, Romans 3:25) | 挽回祭 (ἱλασμός, 1 John 2:2; 4:10) | Same Chinese compound for both the noun ἱλαστήριον (Romans, “mercy seat/propitiation”) and the cognate ἱλασμός (1 John, “propitiation”) — the terms are etymologically and theologically continuous (both trace to Leviticus 16’s atonement cover); rendering must be identical so that a Mandarin reader moving between curricula recognizes the same doctrine. |
| Grace/love priority formula | Romans 5:8 “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” | 1 John 4:10, 19 “not that we loved God, but that he loved us” / “we love because he first loved us” | Both must be taught with the identical doctrinal note used for the baseline’s Critical “grace” entry: divine initiative precedes and is independent of human merit (anti-功德 guard). Mandarin renderings need not be lexically identical (different Greek constructions) but the teaching note attached to both must use matching language. |
| Spirit-testimony of sonship | Romans 8:16 “the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God” | 1 John 3:24; 4:13; 5:6-10 (testimony of the Spirit) | Use 圣灵 consistently (never 灵 alone); use 见证 for the testimony vocabulary in both curricula. |
| ”Test/examine” vocabulary | Romans 12:2 δοκιμάζειν (“test/discern what is good”) | 1 John 4:1 δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα (“test the spirits”) | Same Greek verb family (δοκιμάζω); render with the same Mandarin verb 试验 in both curricula wherever the sense is doctrinal/moral discernment, preserving lexical linkage across the two books. |
2. Cross-Reference Matrix by Chapter
Chapter 1 — The Word of Life; Light and Darkness; Confession and Cleansing
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 1:1-4 | The eternal Word made known | The apostolic eyewitnesses; the Word (Christ) | Allusion to Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning”) and direct intertextual echo of John 1:1-4, 14 (same author’s Gospel prologue) | Critical. 生命之道 must be taught as the personal, eternal, historically-touchable Word (1:1, “heard… seen… touched”), not the impersonal Daoist 道. Reinforces baseline 道成肉身 guard. |
| 1 John 1:5 | God is light, no darkness at all | — | Allusion to Genesis 1:3-4 (God separates light from darkness at creation); echoes Psalm 27:1; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 60:19-20; conceptually parallels 1 Timothy 6:16 (“who alone… dwells in unapproachable light”) | High. Absolute moral antithesis, not a balanced cosmic yin-yang polarity. See 光/黑暗 glossary entries. |
| 1 John 1:6-7 | Walking in the light; fellowship | — | Echoes covenantal “walk” language throughout the Torah (e.g. Leviticus 26:3 “if you walk in my statutes”) and Isaiah 2:5 (“let us walk in the light of the LORD”) | Medium. 行/行事为人 is a standard idiom; ensure the covenantal “walking with God” sense is retained, not merely “behaving well.” |
| 1 John 1:7 | Cleansing by the blood of Jesus | Christ | Typological fulfillment of Leviticus 16 (Day of Atonement blood rites) and Leviticus 17:11 (“the blood makes atonement”); parallels Romans 3:25 (Christ’s blood as ἱλαστήριον) | Critical. Direct rendering-consistency link to Romans 3:25 — see Section 1 table above. |
| 1 John 1:9 | Confession and forgiveness | — | Echoes Proverbs 28:13 (“whoever confesses and forsakes [sins] will obtain mercy”) and Psalm 32:5; Psalm 51 penitential pattern | High. 认罪/赦免 must reflect a judicial pardon grounded in God’s covenant faithfulness (信实/义), not psychological “letting go” or imperial amnesty. |
| 1 John 1:10 | Universal sinfulness; calling God a liar if we deny sin | — | Parallels Romans 3:23 (“all have sinned”) — direct doctrinal parallel to the baseline “universal_human_accountability” doctrine | High. Retain universal, unqualified scope; do not soften toward a graded moral hierarchy, per baseline validation rule. |
Chapter 2 — Advocate; Old/New Commandment; Love Not the World; Antichrist; Anointing
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 2:1-2 | Christ our Advocate and Propitiation | Christ, the Father | Typological fulfillment of the high priest’s intercessory role (Leviticus 16); echoes Zechariah 3:1-5 (the accuser opposed by a heavenly advocate/defender); echoes Isaiah 53:12 (“makes intercession for the transgressors”) | Critical. 中保/挽回祭 — see Section 1 rendering-consistency rule; must reverse folk-ritual appeasement direction. |
| 1 John 2:3-6 | Keeping his commandments; walking as Christ walked | Christ (example) | Echoes Deuteronomy 5:29, 33 (walking in God’s ways as covenant obedience) | Medium. Obedience-as-fruit-of-relationship, not merit-earning; connects to baseline “obedience_of_faith” doctrine (因信而生的顺服). |
| 1 John 2:7-8 | Old commandment / new commandment (love) | — | The “old commandment” is Leviticus 19:18 (“love your neighbor as yourself”) and the Shema tradition (Deuteronomy 6:4-5); the “new commandment” echoes John 13:34 (same author’s Gospel) | High. Must render 命令 so as not to collapse into 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) — see baseline “law” guard. |
| 1 John 2:9-11 | Hatred as darkness | — | Extends the light/darkness motif of 1:5-7 | Medium (as 1:5). |
| 1 John 2:12-14 | Address to children, fathers, young men | The readers as spiritual family | Pastoral address; no direct OT citation | Low. |
| 1 John 2:15-17 | Do not love the world; the world’s three lusts | — | Allusion to Genesis 3:6 — Eve’s temptation triad maps onto the three lusts: “good for food” (flesh), “pleasing to the eye” (eyes), “desired to make one wise” (pride); also echoes Ecclesiastes 1-2 vanity themes | High. This is a significant typological/allusive connection worth surfacing in teaching notes: the “world’s” pattern of temptation in 1 John 2:16 recapitulates the primal temptation narrative. |
| 1 John 2:18-23 | Antichrist; denial of the Father and the Son | Antichrist(s) | Echoes Daniel 7:8, 11:36 (the self-exalting eschatological adversary); conceptually parallel to 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4’s “man of lawlessness” (not part of this language pair’s existing curricula but a useful cross-canon anchor for teaching) | Critical. 敌基督 defined exclusively by Christological denial; see baseline Incarnation guard. |
| 1 John 2:24-25 | Abide in what you heard from the beginning; promise of eternal life | — | Echoes covenant-promise language throughout the Torah/Prophets (e.g. Deuteronomy 30:19-20, life/death set before the people) | High (住/永生, per glossary). |
| 1 John 2:26-27 | The anointing teaches you all things | — | Strong echo of Jeremiah 31:33-34 (new covenant: “I will write my law on their hearts… no longer shall each teach his neighbor… for they shall all know me”); also Joel 2:28 (Spirit poured out on all people); background in priestly/royal/prophetic anointing (Exodus 30:30; 1 Samuel 16:13; Isaiah 61:1) | High. 恩膏 must be tied to this new-covenant, Spirit-given internal teaching, not a ritual-oil rite conferring power (baseline 神通/法力 guard). This Jeremiah 31 connection is a key theological anchor and should be surfaced explicitly in teaching materials. |
| 1 John 2:28-29 | Confidence at his coming; born of him | — | Anticipates the fuller “born of God” treatment in 3:1-2, 9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18 | Critical (从神生的, per glossary). |
Chapter 3 — Children of God; Cain and Abel; Sin as Lawlessness; Love in Deed
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 3:1-2 | Children of God; future glory (“we shall be like him”) | — | Echoes Hosea 1:10 (“sons of the living God”) and Deuteronomy 14:1 (“you are the sons of the LORD your God”); the future-glory hope echoes Psalm 17:15 (“I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding your face”) and Daniel 12:2-3 (resurrection glory) | High. 神的儿女 — see baseline adoption cross-note; complementary to, not a lesser status than, Romans’ 儿子的名分. |
| 1 John 3:3-3 | Purifying hope | — | No direct OT citation; general purity motif | Low. |
| 1 John 3:4-6 | Sin as lawlessness (ἀνομία); Christ appeared to take away sins | Christ | Echoes Psalm 51:5 (sin as inherent condition) and general Torah-violation concept | High. 违背律法/不法 — reinforces baseline 律法 guard against 礼/法律 substitution. |
| 1 John 3:7-8 | Practicing righteousness vs. the devil’s works; “the devil has sinned from the beginning” | The devil; Christ | Direct allusion to Genesis 3 (the serpent’s deception, the origin of sin); the clause “the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil” is the epistle’s clearest echo of the protoevangelium, Genesis 3:15 (“he shall bruise your head”) — a foundational messianic/typological text | Critical. This is a major typological connection that should be explicitly taught: Christ as the promised serpent-crusher of Genesis 3:15. Must not be flattened into a generic “good vs. evil spirit” folk-cosmology framing (see 魔鬼 glossary note). |
| 1 John 3:9-10 | God’s seed abides; children of God vs. children of the devil | — | Extends Genesis 3 typology above; echoes Genesis 3:15’s “seed” language (though a different Greek/Hebrew referent) — translators should note the thematic resonance of “seed” vocabulary without claiming a direct lexical citation | Medium-High (神的种, per glossary). |
| 1 John 3:11-12 | Cain and Abel | Cain, Abel | Direct narrative reference to Genesis 4:1-12, specifically Genesis 4:3-5 (Abel’s offering accepted, Cain’s rejected) and Genesis 4:8 (Cain murders Abel) | Critical. This is the one instance of a named OT character and direct narrative reference in 1 John. Teaching materials must retain the specific historical reference (not generalize to “a bad person once…”) and connect Cain’s hatred to the diagnostic logic of 1 John 3:15/4:20 (“whoever hates his brother is a murderer” / “cannot love God”). Normalize citation as Genesis 4:1-12 with pinpoint Genesis 4:8. |
| 1 John 3:13 | The world’s hatred of believers | — | Echoes John 15:18-19 (same author’s Gospel) | Low-Medium. |
| 1 John 3:14-15 | Passing from death to life; hatred as murder | — | Continues Cain typology (3:11-12); echoes Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (life/death set before the people) | High (ties to 从神生的/永生). |
| 1 John 3:16-18 | Christ laid down his life; loving in deed and truth | Christ | Echoes Isaiah 53:12 (“poured out his soul/life”); the practical-love instruction echoes Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (“open your hand to your brother, to the needy”) | High. 真理 (truth verified in deed) must remain personal/revealed, not an abstract 道/理 apprehended by contemplation. |
| 1 John 3:19-24 | Confidence before God; keeping his commandments; the Spirit given to us | — | Anticipates the fuller παρρησία treatment in 4:17-18; the Spirit-given assurance anticipates Romans 8:16 (Spirit’s testimony) — direct cross-curriculum parallel | High. See Section 1 rendering-consistency rule on Spirit-testimony. |
Chapter 4, verses 1-6 — Testing the Spirits (outside the core passage)
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 4:1 | Test the spirits; many false prophets | False prophets | Echoes Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (testing a prophet’s word against God’s revealed word); echoes the true-vs-false-prophet conflict narratives of 1 Kings 22:5-28 and Jeremiah 23:16-22 | High. 试验 must denote doctrinal discernment against a fixed standard, as in Deuteronomy’s prophet-testing law, not divinatory verification (占卜). |
| 1 John 4:2-3 | The Christological test: Jesus Christ come in the flesh | — | Direct anti-docetic polemic; theologically continuous with Romans 1:3 (“descended from David according to the flesh”) and the baseline Incarnation doctrine | Critical. This is the doctrinal hinge connecting “Testing the Spirits” to “The Incarnation and Antichrist.” See Section 1 confessional-formula rule. |
| 1 John 4:4-6 | Victory over false spirits; spirit of truth vs. spirit of error | — | No direct OT citation; conceptual continuity with Deuteronomy’s prophet-testing law above | Critical (灵-qualification risk, per glossary “Spirits (generic)” entry). |
Chapter 4, verses 7-21 — Core Passage: God is Love (see 07_semantic_analysis.md Part 1 for full verse-by-verse treatment; summarized here for matrix completeness)
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 4:7-8 | Love is from God; God is love | — | Echoes Exodus 34:6-7 (the LORD’s covenant character, “abounding in steadfast love”); Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (God’s love as the unearned ground of election); Jeremiah 31:3 (“I have loved you with an everlasting love”) | Critical. 神就是爱 — fixed rendering; see baseline-parallel note in Section 3 below. |
| 1 John 4:9-10 | God sent his Son; propitiation | Christ, the Father | Typological echo of Genesis 22 (the Father’s provision of a substitute, foreshadowing the giving of the Son); fulfillment of Isaiah 53 (the suffering servant); continuous with Leviticus 16 and Numbers 21:4-9 (the bronze serpent, cf. John 3:14-16, same author) | Critical. 挽回祭 — see Section 1. The Genesis 22 (Abraham/Isaac) and Numbers 21 (bronze serpent) typological threads should be surfaced in teaching material as background enriching this verse’s “sending” language. |
| 1 John 4:11-12 | Obligation to love; God abides in us | — | Continues Exodus 34 covenant-love motif; “no one has seen God” echoes Exodus 33:20 (“you cannot see my face and live”) and John 1:18 | High (应当/住). |
| 1 John 4:13-16 | Mutual abiding; confession of the Son; God is love (repeated) | — | As above; 4:15’s confession formula parallels Romans 10:9 structurally (see Section 1) | Critical. |
| 1 John 4:17-18 | Confidence at the day of judgment; perfect love casts out fear | — | The “day of judgment” echoes prophetic Day-of-the-LORD language (e.g. Joel 2:1-11; Malachi 4:1) reframed personally; direct doctrinal parallel to Romans 8:1 (“no condemnation”) and Romans 8:31-39 (nothing can separate us) | High. See Section 3 Romans-parallel table. |
| 1 John 4:19-21 | We love because he first loved us; love for God and brother inseparable | Cain (implicit backdrop from 3:12) | Echoes Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (divine initiative in love) and Leviticus 19:17-18 (do not hate your brother; love your neighbor) | High. 4:20-21 functions as a direct echo of the Levitical love-command already cited at 2:7-8. |
Chapter 5 — Overcoming the World; Testimony; Eternal Life; Idols
| Passage | Theme | Related Character(s) | OT/NT Connection | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 5:1 | Born of God; believing Jesus is the Christ | — | Messianic confession echoes the Davidic/royal sonship language of Psalm 2:7 (“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”) — the same psalm cited at Romans 1:4’s “declared to be the Son of God” | Critical. Direct cross-curriculum parallel; see Section 3. |
| 1 John 5:2-3 | Loving God’s children means keeping his commandments | — | Continuity with 2:7-8’s Leviticus 19:18 echo | Medium. |
| 1 John 5:4-5 | Overcoming the world through faith | — | Echoes Isaiah’s new-exodus victory theme (Isaiah 40-55, esp. deliverance imagery); direct doctrinal parallel to Romans 8:37 (“more than conquerors”) | High. See Section 3 Romans-parallel table. |
| 1 John 5:6-8 | Water, blood, and Spirit as threefold testimony | Christ | Typological continuity with Exodus 12 (Passover blood) and John 19:34 (same author’s Gospel, blood and water at the cross); echoes Zechariah 13:1 (“a fountain opened… to cleanse from sin”); background in Numbers 19 water-purification rites | High. Anti-docetic; must not be flattened into generic ritual-purification symbolism. |
| 1 John 5:9-13 | God’s testimony concerning his Son; knowing you have eternal life | — | Echoes covenant-witness language (e.g. Deuteronomy 19:15, “two or three witnesses”); connects to Romans 8:16 (Spirit’s testimony) | Critical (永生; see Section 3). |
| 1 John 5:14-15 | Confidence in prayer according to God’s will | — | Continuity with 3:21-22, 4:17 παρρησία | High. |
| 1 John 5:16-17 | Sin unto death; sin not unto death | — | Echoes Numbers 15:30-31 (presumptuous/“high-handed” sin under Torah, with no prescribed sacrifice) and 1 Samuel 2:25 (Eli’s sons — sin the LORD determined to punish, prayer notwithstanding) | High. Pastoral caution; not a karmic-retribution mechanism (报应). |
| 1 John 5:18-19 | Born of God does not sin; the whole world lies in the power of the evil one | — | Echoes Genesis 3 fall background; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6 (the accuser’s permitted, but limited, authority over the created order) | Medium. |
| 1 John 5:20-21 | The true God, eternal life; keep yourselves from idols | — | Direct echo of Exodus 20:3-5 (first and second commandments) and Deuteronomy 4:15-19; parallels 1 Corinthians 10:14 (“flee from idolatry”) | Critical. 偶像’s pastoral scope (ancestor tablets, deity figures, modern secular idols) must be unpacked; see glossary. |
Chapter coverage confirmation: All five chapters of 1 John have been reviewed in full. No verse range in Chapters 1-5 was found to contain OT/NT cross-reference material beyond what is tabulated above; sections not producing a distinct cross-reference row (e.g. 1 John 2:12-14’s pastoral address, 3:3, 5:2-3, 5:14-15 as continuations) are explicitly noted above as reviewed with either “no direct OT citation” or “continuity with” an already-tabulated connection, per the full-book-coverage mandate.
3. Messianic References Summary
| Reference | Text | Nature of messianic connection | Rendering note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 John 2:22 | ”Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” | Christological confession; denial defines antichrist | 基督 fixed per baseline; see Section 1. |
| 1 John 4:2 | ”Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” | Confession of genuine incarnation as the test of the true Spirit | Critical compound phrase; see 08_core_glossary.md. |
| 1 John 4:15 | ”Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God…” | Salvation-confession, structurally parallel to Romans 10:9 | Fixed per Section 1. |
| 1 John 5:1 | ”Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” | Messianic confession as the ground of new birth; echoes Psalm 2:7, also cited at Romans 1:4 | Fixed per Section 1; cross-reference to Romans 1:3-4 “seed of David”/“declared Son of God” doctrine. |
| 1 John 5:20 | ”…his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” | Full deity of Christ affirmed in the letter’s closing summary | Reinforces baseline “deity_of_christ” Critical guard. |
No 1 John passage directly quotes a Hebrew Bible messianic proof-text (contrast Romans 15:8-12’s chain of Isaiah/Psalms/Deuteronomy citations). 1 John’s messianism operates entirely through confessional formula and typological fulfillment (see Section 4).
4. Typology Summary
| Type (OT) | Antitype/Fulfillment (1 John) | Normalized OT citation | Teaching note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The serpent’s deception; the promised seed who crushes the serpent’s head | Christ appeared “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8) | Genesis 3:1-6, 15 | Foundational protoevangelium typology; must not be reduced to a generic good-vs-evil-spirit folk framing. |
| Cain’s rejected offering and murder of righteous Abel | The pattern of the “children of the devil” who hate the righteous “children of God” (1 John 3:10-12) | Genesis 4:1-12 | Only named-character OT reference in 1 John; retain specific historical reference. |
| Abraham’s provision of a substitute in place of Isaac | God’s sending of his own Son as the propitiation (1 John 4:9-10) | Genesis 22:1-14 | Secondary/supportive typology; do not overstate as a formal citation — offered as illuminative background only. |
| The Day of Atonement’s mercy seat and sacrificial blood | Christ’s blood cleanses from sin; Christ as ἱλασμός (1 John 1:7; 2:2; 4:10) | Leviticus 16:1-34; Leviticus 17:11 | Direct doctrinal and lexical continuity with Romans 3:25 — see Section 1. |
| The bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness | Eternal life given through belief in the Son (background to 1 John 5:11-13, via John 3:14-16) | Numbers 21:4-9 | Background typology shared with the Johannine Gospel; supportive, not primary, for 1 John’s own text. |
| The Passover lamb’s blood applied for deliverance | The “blood” of the threefold testimony (1 John 5:6-8) | Exodus 12:1-13 | Anti-docetic use; historical-testimonial function, not ritual-purification symbolism. |
| Presumptuous (“high-handed”) sin under the Law, without provided sacrifice | ”Sin that leads to death” (1 John 5:16) | Numbers 15:30-31 | Pastoral caution; avoid mechanical/karmic reading. |
5. Parallels to Other Curricula in This Language (Romans)
| 1 John doctrine/passage | Romans parallel passage | Shared theological ground | Consistency requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| God is Love (4:7-21) | Romans 5:8; 8:31-39 | Divine love precedes and grounds human response; unmerited, initiative-taking love | Teaching notes on divine priority must match in both curricula; see Section 1. |
| Confession and Forgiveness of Sin (1:9; 2:1-2) | Romans 3:24-25 (justification, propitiation) | Christ’s blood as the ground of forgiveness; 挽回祭 shared term | Byte-identical rendering required (Section 1). |
| Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth (3:10-18; 4:7-8, 20-21) | Romans 12:9-10; 13:8-10 (love fulfills the law) | Love as the identifying mark of the regenerate community | Terminology for 弟兄/爱 must align across curricula; both must resist Confucian graded-benevolence (仁) framing. |
| The Incarnation and Antichrist (4:2-3; 2:22) | Romans 1:3-4; 8:3 (Christ came in the flesh) | Genuine, historical incarnation as a non-negotiable doctrinal boundary marker | 道成肉身/肉身 shared rendering; both curricula must apply the same anti-docetic, anti-化身/下凡 guard. |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (4:17-18; 5:11-13) | Romans 8:1, 8:16, 8:28-39 | Present, settled confidence grounded in Christ’s finished work and the Spirit’s testimony, not an anxious merit-ledger | 坦然无惧/永生 notes must mirror Romans’ “assurance_of_salvation” doctrine note (功德-guard). |
| Overcoming the World (5:4-5) | Romans 8:37 (“more than conquerors”) | Victory secured through/in Christ, not self-cultivated power | 胜过 rendering must avoid baseline-forbidden 气/法力 vocabulary in both curricula. |
| Testing the Spirits (4:1-6) | Romans 12:2 (testing/discerning God’s will) | Shared δοκιμάζω vocabulary; discernment as a community practice grounded in revealed truth | 试验 rendering fixed across both curricula (Section 1). |
| Love for the Brethren / Children of God (3:1-2; 3:9-10) | Romans 8:14-17 (adoption, υἱοθεσία) | Complementary vocabulary (birth-origin vs. legal-placement) for the same reality of full inclusion in God’s family | 神的儿女 and 儿子的名分 must be taught as complementary, not competing or graded, per 08_core_glossary.md note. |
| Universal scope of sin and grace | Romans 3:23; 3:29-30 (no distinction) | 1 John 1:8, 10 (universal sinfulness); 1 John 2:2 (propitiation for “the whole world”) | Retain unqualified universal language in both curricula; do not soften toward civilizational or graded-merit hierarchy. |
6. Summary for Steps 2–4 Promotion
- The Cain and Abel narrative reference (
Genesis 4:1-12) is the single passage in 1 John requiring the same “named OT character with direct narrative citation” handling already established for Romans’ use of Abraham, David, and Moses — it should receive a dedicated entry in any extended cross-reference index. - The Genesis 3:15 protoevangelium connection at 1 John 3:8 and the Leviticus 16 / Romans 3:25 propitiation continuity at 1 John 1:7, 2:2, 4:10 are the two highest-value typological threads for teaching material, given their direct bearing on Critical-risk doctrinal terms (敌基督/魔鬼; 挽回祭).
- All three salvation-confession formulas (耶稣是主 [Romans]; 耶稣是神的儿子 and 耶稣是基督 [1 John]) must be governed by a single, unified cross-curriculum consistency rule at Phase 2, per Section 1.
- No new Hebrew/Greek OT-quotation-formula handling is required for 1 John (contrast Romans’ extensive formal-citation apparatus), but the allusion-and-typology handling introduced in this document should be added as a distinct citation category in the extended translation memory’s documentation, since it did not previously exist in the baseline Romans package.