John the Evangelist | |
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Evangelist, Apostle, Theologian | |
Born | Between c. AD 6–9 |
Died | c. AD 100 [1] |
Venerated in | |
Feast | 27 December (Western Christianity); 8 May and 26 September (Repose) (Eastern Orthodox Church) |
Attributes | Eagle, Chalice, Scrolls |
Major works |
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Part of a series of articles on |
John in the Bible |
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Johannine literature |
Authorship |
Related literature |
See also |
John the Evangelist [lower-alpha 1] is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, [2] although this has been disputed by most modern scholars. [3]
The exact identity of John – and the extent to which his identification with John the Apostle, John of Patmos and John the Presbyter is historical – is disputed between Christian tradition and scholars.
The Gospel of John refers to an otherwise unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved", who "bore witness to and wrote" the Gospel's message. [5] The author of the Gospel of John seemed interested in maintaining the internal anonymity of the author's identity, although interpreting the Gospel in the light of the Synoptic Gospels and considering that the author names (and therefore is not claiming to be) Peter, and that James was martyred as early as AD 44, [6] Christian tradition has widely believed that the author was the Apostle John, though modern scholars believe the work to be pseudepigrapha. [7]
Christian tradition identifies John the Evangelist with John the Apostle who was among the first two disciples (the other being Andrew) called by Jesus. John, along with his brother James and Peter, formed an informal triumvirate among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels. Jesus allowed them to be the only apostles present at three particular occasions during his public ministry, the Raising of Jairus' daughter, [8] Transfiguration of Jesus [9] and Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. [10] After Jesus' death he, along with Peter and James the Just, were collectively recognized as the three Pillars of the Church . [11] He was one of the original twelve apostles. It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived all of them. 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.
It had been believed that he was exiled (around AD 95) to the Aegean island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. However, some attribute the authorship of Revelation to another man, called John the Presbyter, or to other writers of the late first century AD. [12] Bauckham argues that the early Christians identified John the Evangelist with John the Presbyter. [13]
The authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century AD. [14] The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, can be ascribed to a common author.
Eastern Orthodox tradition attributes all of the Johannine books to John the Apostle. [2]
In the 6th century, the Decretum Gelasianum argued that Second and Third Epistle of John have a separate author known as "John, a priest" (see John the Presbyter). [lower-alpha 2] Historical critics, like H.P.V. Nunn, [15] as well as non-Christians Reza Aslan [16] and Bart Ehrman, [17] reject the view that John the Apostle authored any of these works.
Most modern scholars believe that the apostle John wrote none of these works, [18] [19] although some, such as J.A.T. Robinson, F. F. Bruce, Leon Morris, and Martin Hengel, [20] hold the apostle to be behind at least some, in particular the gospel. [21] [22]
There may have been a single author for the gospel and the three epistles. [2] Some scholars conclude the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel, although all four works originated from the same community. [23] The gospel and epistles traditionally and plausibly came from Ephesus, c. 90–110, although some scholars argue for an origin in Syria. [24]
In the case of the Book Revelation, most modern scholars agree that it was written by a separate author, John of Patmos, c. 95 with some parts possibly dating to Nero's reign in the early 60s. [25] [26] [27] [2] [18] [19] [3]
The feast day of Saint John in the Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran Calendar, is on 27 December, the third day of Christmastide. [28] 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. This Octave was abolished by Pope Pius XII in 1955. [29] The traditional liturgical color is white.
Freemasons celebrate this feast day, dating back to the 18th century when the Feast Day was used for the installation of Grand Masters. [30]
John is traditionally depicted in one of two distinct ways: either as an aged man with a white or gray beard, or alternatively as a beardless youth. [31] [32] The first way of depicting him was more common in Byzantine art, where it was possibly influenced by antique depictions of Socrates; [33] the second was more common in the art of Medieval Western Europe and can be dated back as far as 4th-century Rome. [32]
In medieval works of painting, sculpture and literature, Saint John is often presented in an androgynous or feminized manner. [34] Historians have related such portrayals to the circumstances of the believers for whom they were intended. [35] For instance, John's feminine features are argued to have helped to make him more relatable to women. [36] Likewise, Sarah McNamer argues that because of John's androgynous status, he could function as an 'image of a third or mixed gender' [37] and 'a crucial figure with whom to identify' [38] for male believers who sought to cultivate an attitude of affective piety, a highly emotional style of devotion that, in late-medieval culture, was thought to be poorly compatible with masculinity. [39]
Legends from the "Acts of John" contributed much to medieval iconography; it is the source of the idea that John became an apostle at a young age. [32] One of John's familiar attributes is the chalice, often with a snake emerging from it. [40] According to one legend from the Acts of John, [41] John was challenged to drink a cup of poison to demonstrate the power of his faith, and thanks to God's aid the poison was rendered harmless. [40] [42] The chalice can also be interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, or to the words of Christ to John and James: "My chalice indeed you shall drink." [43] [44] According to the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia, some authorities believe that this symbol was not adopted until the 13th century. [44] There was also a legend that John was at some stage boiled in oil and miraculously preserved. [45] Another common attribute is a book or a scroll, in reference to his writings. [40] John the Evangelist is symbolically represented by an eagle, one of the creatures envisioned by Ezekiel (1:10) [46] and in the Book of Revelation (4:7). [47] [44]
The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is termed John the Evangelist, who most modern scholarsbelieve is not the same as John the Apostle. Most scholars believe the three Johannine epistles have the same author, but there is no consensus if this was also the author of the Gospel of John.
Luke the Evangelist is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figures in early Christianity such as Jerome and Eusebius later reaffirmed his authorship, although a lack of conclusive evidence as to the identity of the author of the works has led to discussion in scholarly circles, both secular and religious.
Matthew the Apostle is named in the New Testament as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist.
Mary Magdalene was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be a toponymic surname, meaning that she came from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea.
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events relating to first-century Christianity. The New Testament's background, the first division of the Christian Bible, is called the Old Testament, which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible; together they are regarded as sacred scripture by Christians.
John the Apostle also known as Saint John the Beloved and in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother James was another of the Twelve Apostles. The Church Fathers identify him as John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, John the Elder, and the Beloved Disciple, and testify that he outlived the remaining apostles and was the only one to die of natural causes, although modern scholars are divided on the veracity of these claims.
Mark the Evangelist also known as John Mark or Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Modern Bible scholars have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than by Mark. According to Church tradition, Mark founded the episcopal see of Alexandria, which was one of the five most important sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.
An epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part of the scribal-school writing curriculum. The letters in the New Testament from Apostles to Christians are usually referred to as epistles. Those traditionally attributed to Paul are known as Pauline epistles and the others as catholic epistles.
The Epistle of Barnabas is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus, where it appears immediately after the New Testament and before the Shepherd of Hermas. For several centuries it was one of the "antilegomena" ("disputed") writings that some Christians looked on as sacred scripture, while others excluded them. Eusebius of Caesarea classified it with excluded texts. It is mentioned in a perhaps third-century list in the sixth-century Codex Claromontanus and in the later Stichometry of Nicephorus appended to the ninth-century Chronography of Nikephoros I of Constantinople. Some early Fathers of the Church ascribed it to the Barnabas who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but it is now generally attributed to an otherwise unknown early Christian teacher, although some scholars do defend the traditional attribution. It is distinct from the Gospel of Barnabas.
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the work is falsely attributed is often prefixed with the particle "pseudo-", such as for example "pseudo-Aristotle" or "pseudo-Dionysius": these terms refer to the anonymous authors of works falsely attributed to Aristotle and Dionysius the Areopagite, respectively.
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though widely circulated in early Christianity, were not included in the canon of the New Testament. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature which came to be part of the New Testament.
In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts. In the New Testament, they bear the following titles: the Gospel of Matthew; the Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of Luke; and the Gospel of John. These names were assigned to the works by the early church fathers in the 2nd century AD; none of the writers signed their work.
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches generally do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.
The authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by biblical scholars since at least the 2nd century AD. The debate focuses mainly on the identity of the author(s), as well as the date and location of authorship of these writings.
John of Patmos is the name traditionally given to the author of the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:9 states that John was on Patmos, a Greek island where, according to most biblical historians, he was exiled as a result of anti-Christian persecution under the Roman emperor Domitian.
Johannine literature is the collection of New Testament works that are traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, or to the Johannine community. They are usually dated to the period c. AD 60–110, with a minority of scholars such as John AT Robinson offering the earliest of these datings.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Christianity:
The term Johannine community refers to an ancient Christian community which placed great emphasis on the teachings of Jesus and his apostle John.
Saint Peter, also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repeatedly and prominently in all four New Testament gospels as well as the Acts of the Apostles. Catholic and Orthodox tradition accredits Peter as the first bishop of Rome—or pope—and also as the first bishop of Antioch.
The name John is prominent in the New Testament and occurs numerous times. Among Jews of this period, the name was one of the most popular, borne by about five percent of men. Thus, it has long been debated which Johns are to be identified with which.
On the Feast of St. John the Evangelist (the third day of Christmas) in 1665, for example, peranda presented two concertos in the morning service, his O Jesu mi dulcissime and Verbum caro factum est, and presented his Jesus dulcis, Jesu pie and Atendite fideles at Vespers.