John the Evangelist

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St John the Evangelist, imagined by Jacopo Pontormo, ca 1525 (Santa Felicita, Florence)

John the Evangelist (? - c. 110; יוחנן "The LORD is merciful", Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew Yôḥānān) is the name used to refer to the author of the Gospel of John and the first epistle of John. Tradition has identified him with John the Apostle (an apostle mentioned in the Gospels), John the Presbyter (the author of the second and third epistles of John), and with John of Patmos (the author of the Book of Revelation).

1 In the Bible
2 Question of authorship
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] In the Bible

Tradition says that he was one of Christ's disciples, the only one to live into old age and not be martyred for his faith. John is associated with Ephesus (where his reputed grave is), and in Ephesus John lived with and cared for Mary, the mother of Jesus. After a long life he was exiled to Patmos between 90-95, where he wrote the Book of Revelation.

[edit] Question of authorship

Main article: Authorship of the Johannine works

Numerous modern scholars dispute that these were the same person. The most widely accepted view is that - whether or not the same man wrote all the Johannine literature - it all came out of the same community in Asia Minor, which had some connection to John.

The author of the fourth Gospel never identifies himself. He is generally assumed to be the "beloved disciple" repeatedly referred to in the work. The author of this Gospel is also sometimes presumed to be the author of 1 John, and rarely also 2 John and 3 John, though the fourth century Council of Rome decreed that the author of 1 John and that of 2&3 John should be regarded as distinct individuals, and modern textual criticism agrees. There are also schools of thought which attribute some of these five works (always including The Gospel of John) to John the Apostle and others (usually including the 2nd and 3rd epistles) to another.

Collectively, the Gospel, the three Epistles, and Revelation are known as Johannine literature, and there is some internal textual evidence to suggest they may have been authored by the same person (see textual criticism). Of the Johannine literature, Revelation bears the least grammatical similarity to the Gospel.

For more information on the apostle of Jesus, see John the Apostle.

For more information on the author of the Book of Revelation, see John of Patmos.