"They were not of us" verse

[tabibito]

There might be a parallel with Galatians 2:12 here. "Before certain men from James came, Peter ate with the gentiles." It seems likely that the apostles had "schools" within the church, though not intended to be competing. - also note the "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos" (1 Cor 1:12)

[The Remonstrant]

I've been Googling for hours now. It's the verse from 1 John 2:19. I've always thought that it was about those who fell away from the faith. But upon reading it again, it looks like it's about antichrists... isn't there a verse about general people?? I feel like I've got the wrong interpretation all this time!

I cannot recall a single text in the New Testament (NT) that posits a universal principle

[tabibito]

I'm not satisfied that "they were not of us" indicates that "they never had been of us." I think that "once were of us" is a more expected interpretation arising from "had remained" μεμενηκεισαν (pluperfect: it isn't used very often in the NT). Still, I can't be certain without a lot more checking.

[awretch]

Woah, so many responses. Thanks everyone for helping me out. Yes, after reading the passage a few times, I have to agree... it's about the antichrists. Though I wish I had read it more carefully early on! Better to catch it late than never.

[Rushing Jaws]

The theology of 1 John seems to have a theme of "you're either in Christ or you're not", and polemically, those who are not are antichrists.

Arminians (of which I consider myself one) understandably find this to be an inconvenient verse as at face value, it seems to indicate that apostasy is inherently impossible, and the general Arminian explanation that this only refers to a specific group of defectors strikes me as special pleading. I think the tack of considering it polemically is more promising, but there is still exegetical work to do here, and I haven't made my mind up.