Some Catholic scholars state that “vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel.” Modern, mainstream Bible scholars generally assert that the Gospel of John has been written by an anonymous author and not written by an eyewitness. Many modern scholars such as Colin G. Kruse continue to affirm traditional authorship, but most modern critical scholars have their doubts. 35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

The disciple whom Jesus loved

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. The final editing of the gospel and arrangement in its present form probably dates from between A.D. Among them are the opposition to the synagogue of the day and to John the Baptist’s followers, who tried to exalt their master at Jesus’ expense, the desire to show that Jesus was the Messiah, and the desire to convince Christians that their religious belief and practice must be rooted in Jesus. The fourth gospel is not simply history; the narrative has been organized and adapted to serve the evangelist’s theological purposes as well.

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In Roman Catholic tradition he is considered patron of Turkey, Asia Minor and Turkish people. In the Tridentine calendar he was commemorated also on each of the following days up to and including 3 January, the Octave of the 27 December feast. The feast day of Saint John in the Roman Catholic Church, which calls him “Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist”, and in the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Calendars, which call him “Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist”, is on 27 December. It contains strong docetic themes, but is not considered in modern scholarship to be Gnostic. Most Johannine scholars doubt the reliability of its ascription to Papias, but a minority, including B.W.

Spend time (“They went and saw where He was staying and spent that day with Him”). • Jesus embodies grace—God’s generous favor—and truth—the reliable revelation of who God is. • Excavations at Al-Maghtas in modern Jordan reveal first-century pools, channels, and churches honoring the baptism site. • Josephus, a Jewish historian, confirms John’s widespread influence and eventual imprisonment by Herod Antipas. Moses brought the Law; Jesus brought grace and truth in person.

  • Some Catholic scholars state that “vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel.”
  • The apostle John is believed to be the author of this gospel, though some Bible scholars have debated the author’s identity and proposed others—is it Lazarus, Thomas, John Mark, or some other unnamed disciple perhaps?
  • Unscramble words, boost your memory, and test your Bible knowledge.

Episode 16: Can You Trust the Bible?

Although the gospel presents its implied author as an eyewitness to Jesus, Mendez argues that this claim should be doubted given the amount of historically dubious content in the work and the commonality of claims to eyewitness testimony in forgeries at the time. According to Hugo Mendez, both the original text of John’s gospel and the epilogue (chapter 21) claims that the work was ‘written’ by an eyewitness. John probably knew of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but these gospels spoke of Jesus primarily in the year following the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist.

Extrabiblical traditions

Other common attributes include a book or scroll, in reference to the writings traditionally attributed to him, and an eagle, which is argued to symbolize the high-soaring, inspirational quality of these writings. This symbol is interpreted as a reference to a legend from the Acts of John, in which John was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith (the poison being symbolized by the serpent). Legends from the Acts of John, an apocryphal text attributed to John, contributed much to Medieval iconography; it is the source of the idea that John became an apostle at a young age. Therefore, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist is used in many jurisdictions as the start of the new masonic year. Although Freemasonry is not a religion, it takes as its patron saints St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

However, the accuracy of much of the detail of the fourth gospel constitutes a strong argument that the Johannine tradition rests upon the testimony of an eyewitness. Other difficulties for any theory of eyewitness authorship of the gospel in its present form are presented by its highly developed theology and by certain elements of its literary style. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” The whole gospel of John is a progressive revelation of the glory of God’s only Son, who comes to reveal the Father and then returns in glory to the Father. The multiplication of the loaves is interpreted for the reader by the discourse that follows, where the bread of life is used first as a figure for the revelation of God in Jesus and then for the Eucharist.

  • 43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.
  • On this basis some traditions believe that John was first a disciple of John the Baptist, even though he is not named in this episode.
  • • John insists darkness “has not overcome” the light, offering hope that evil will never snuff out God’s life-giving presence.
  • Also according to some traditions, Salome was the sister of Mary, Jesus’ mother, making Salome Jesus’ aunt, and her sons John the Apostle and James were Jesus’ cousins.

Bible:

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.(J) 7 He came as a witness to testify(K) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.(L) 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 5 The light shines in the darkness,(H) and the darkness has not overcomea it.(I)

According to tradition, John and the other Apostles remained some 12 years in this first field of labour. The author of Revelation identifies himself as “John” several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. These scholars assert that John of Patmos wrote Revelation but neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. Some modern critical scholars have raised the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos were three separate individuals. This tradition is credible because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses.

He was prominent in john joseph kelly amy carter the early church but is not mentioned by name in this Gospel — which would be natural if he wrote it, but hard to explain otherwise. This summary of the Gospel of John provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Gospel of John. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, operated by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, 501 Nelson Pl, Nashville, TN USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway.

According to The New Oxford Annotated Bible (2018), modern scholars agree that the gospel was more probably written by a disciple of John son of Zebedee; it could have been the Beloved Disciple or someone who recorded his dictation. The apostle John is believed to be the author of this gospel, though some Bible scholars have debated the author’s identity and proposed others—is it Lazarus, Thomas, John Mark, or some other unnamed disciple perhaps? Regarding whether the author of the Gospel of John was an eyewitness, according to Paul N. Anderson, the gospel “contains more direct claims to eyewitness origins than any of the other Gospel traditions.” F. Although the authorship of the Johannine works has traditionally been attributed to John the Apostle, only a minority of contemporary scholars believe he wrote the gospel, and most conclude that he wrote none of them.

The gospel of John contains less narrative and far more dialogue than the other gospels. With this goal of belief in mind, John chose to exclude much that had already been said and instead focus on Christ’s words and miracles. The Rylands Fragment (a papyrus fragment of the gospel of John dated from roughly AD 135) was found in the Egyptian hinterland, indicating decades of prior circulation. It’s unclear whether John wrote independently of the other gospels (AD 50-70) or with their already existing content in mind. The author never identifies himself by name, but he does give us several details that can be used to piece it together. Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices?

Who Wrote the Book of John?

However, Eusebius mentions that the consensus is that the second and third epistles of John are not his but were written by some other John. The authorship of some Johannine literature has been debated since about the year 200. He also referred to the recognition that his Apostolic preaching of a gospel free from Jewish Law was received from these three, the most prominent men of the messianic community at Jerusalem.

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He is said to have lived to old age, dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan, thus becoming the only apostle who did not die as a martyr. John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.” Irenaeus writes of “the church of Ephesus, founded by Paul, with John continuing with them until the times of Trajan.” From Ephesus he wrote the three epistles attributed to him.

To solve these problems, scholars have proposed various rearrangements that would produce a smoother order. Jn 21 seems to have been added after the gospel was completed; it exhibits a Greek style somewhat different from that of the rest of the work. After the account of the seven signs, the “hour” of Jesus arrives, and the author passes from sign to reality, as he moves into the discourses in the upper room that interpret the meaning of the passion, death, and resurrection narratives that follow. Lazarus is presented as a token of the real life that Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, who will now ironically be put to death because of his gift of life to Lazarus, will give to all who believe in him once he has been raised from the dead. This is a narrative illustration of the theme of conflict in the preceding two chapters; it proclaims the triumph of light over darkness, as Jesus is presented as the Light of the world.

The Gospel according to John is quite different in character from the three synoptic gospels. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” Where the synoptic gospels say, “This is what happened,” John states with conviction, “This is the Son of God! This intense focus on Jesus’ identity is interrupted only by accounts of miracles, five of which are not found in any other gospel.