The _Gaius_ addressed is, of course, _Caius_ in Latin, a very common prænomen, no doubt. Three persons of the name appear in the New Testament[372]--unless we suppose St. John's Caius to be a fourth. But the generous and beautiful hospitality adverted to in this note is entirely of a piece with the character of him of whom St. Paul had written, "Gaius, mine host, and of the whole Church."[373] We know further, from one of the most ancient and authentic documents of Christian literature, that the Church of Corinth (to which this Caius belonged) was, just at the period when St. John wrote, in a lamentable state of schismatic confusion. Diotrephes may, at such a period, have been aspiring to put forward his claim at Corinth; and may, in his ambitious proceedings, have rejected from communion the brethren whom St. John had sent to Caius.[374] A yet more interesting reflection is suggested by a writing of considerable authority. The writer of the "Synopsis of Holy Scripture," which stands amongst the Works of Athanasius, says--"the Gospel according to John was both dictated by John the Apostle and beloved when in exile at Patmos, and by him was published in Ephesus, through Caius the beloved and friend of the Apostles, of whom Paul also writing to the Romans saith, _Caius mine host, and of the whole Church_."[375] This would give a very marked significance to one touch in this Third Epistle of St. John. The phrase here "and we bear witness also, _and ye know that our witness is true_"--clearly points back to the closing attestation of the Gospel--"_and we know that his witness is true_."[376] He counts upon a quick recognition of a common memory.[377]