Therefore, john sat down to write his gospel in a culture in which detailed accounts of jesus life and ministry had already existed for decades, had been copied for decades, and had been. The gospel of john has many touches that appear to reflect the recollections of an eyewitness such as the house at bethany being filled with the fragrance of the broken perfume jar see 12. John wrote his account of jesus life a full generation after the synoptic authors had recorded their worksperhaps even as late as the early 90s a. Who wrote the book of revelation and the fourth gospel. Yet only onethe gospel of john claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed disciple whom jesus loved. It is the book that is most often used at christian funerals. The internal evidence indicates that the author was 1 an apostle 1.
Gospel according to john, fourth of the four new testament gospels and the. But it takes only reason and evidence to believe mohammed wrote the quran, joseph smith wrote the book of mormon, or that john wrote his gospel. The author of johns gospel tells us that he has chosen not to record many of the. Moreover, the book makes a case for the author being lazarus, the one whom jesus raised from the dead. The three letters of john are among the last written in the apostolic era. Therefore the purpose of johns gospel is to confirm and secure christians in the faith. Yet only onethe gospel of johnclaims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed disciple whom jesus loved. And my favorite verse of scripture is in this book. He claimed, based on the writing style and the lack of an apostolic claim in the book, john the elder presbyter was the author not john the apostle. She argues that john mark was the scribe for jesus when he wrote the gospel of john.
Not surprisingly, the gospel of john never provides the name of its author. It is believed that john the apostle, the son of zebedee, wrote the gospel. Jesus is baptized, calls his disciples, and begins his earthly ministry. In our previous articles, we looked at evidence for mark and matthews authorship as. According to scholars, the gospel of john was written by the beloved disciple john. Introduction to the gospel of john study resources. The gospel of john in the new testament has always been my favorite book or letter in the bible ever since my late teens. As he probably wrote the gospel in the second hals of the first century, some think that he wrote this account to help correct some wrong teachings about jesus that had begun to creep their way into the. There may have been a single author for the gospel and the three epistles. Such evidence exists both internal to the documents in question and in testimony from external. These stories had been todl for decades, but then someone took the stories and wrote them down, turning them from oral tradition into the book we know as the gospel of john. John mark wrote a gospel in greek, based on simon peters accounts of the life of jesus, in the mid60s.
In the gospel, are the books of john also written by john. In the end, the most likely scenario is that the gospel of john was written by john son of zebedee. Eusebius argued that john wrote in order to complement the synoptics where they were lacking, while the muratorian canon suggested that his fellow disciples in asia minor urged him to write an account. He had greeks in mind, as the gospel is evangelical in nature. The book of john is a gospel that contains narrative history, sermons, parables, and a few prophetic oracles. In her book, jesus the man, thiering shows that jesus survived his crucufiction and necessarily led from behind the scene. Gospel according to john, fourth of the four new testament narratives recounting the life and death of jesus christ. Early writers such as irenaeus and tertullian say that john wrote this gospel, and all other evidence agrees see introduction to 1 john. The gospels, the first four books of the new testament, tell the story of the life of jesus. The gospel opens with a prologue in which jesus is identified with the word see logos. Gospel according to saint john, fourth book of the new testament. Speaking of the apocalypse from the previous post giving that odd video. Scholars have long concentrated on the content of this fourth gospel, analyzing how it differs from the gospels of matthew, mark, and luke and wondering how the different.
The purpose of johns gospel jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true john 21. It takes faith to believe that god revealed the new testament, the quran, or the book of mormon. Jimmy akin discusses whether john the beloved disciple, john the evangelist, and john of patmos are all the same person, embarking on a. Jesus was unable to write because his hands were crippled by the nails. Euangelion kata ioannen is the fourth of the canonical gospels. John the apostle, the beloved disciple of jesus, there has been considerable discussion of the actual identity of the author. The gospel of john is the fourth of the canonical gospels. A biblical history the gospel of john is one of four gospels in the holy bible and is the fourth book in chronological order presented in the new testament. The gospel of john is a unique perspective of the life of jesus christ. List of books and articles about gospel of john online.
John is also traditionally credited with writing 1, 2, and 3rd john as well as the book of revelation. But john, the last of all, seeing that what was corporeal was set forth in the gospels, on the entreaty of his intimate friends, and inspired by the spirit, composed a spiritual gospel. He wrote, john, the disciple of the lord, who leaned back on his breast, published the gospel while he was resident at ephesus in asia. How do we know who wrote the gospels in the new testament. The phrase the disciple whom jesus loved appears 5 times in the fourth gospel. According to the traditional view of these three letters, they were written by john the son of zebedee, one of the twelve apostles, most likely the beloved disciple in the gospel of john. Such identifications were not made in any of the other three. It most likely reflects a johannine community in conflict with. Someone recently asked me if the same author could have written both the book of revelation and the gospel of john. The fact that a copy of johns gospel was circulating in egypt, where the fragment was discovered, by that time gives strong support that the good news according to john was recorded in the first century c. John the apostle, the beloved disciple of jesus, there has been considerable. The gospel of john is often the first new testament book recommended to new christians for study.
This account of jesus life is clearly set off from the other three gospels see synoptic gospels, although it is probable that john knew and used both mark and luke as sources. He also wrote the gospel of john and the book of revelation. Johns is the only one of the four not considered among the synoptic gospels i. This gospel is the best gospel tract you will ever see and has, in fact, probably been handed out evangelistically as a gospel tract to more people than any other book of the bible. John also wrote first, second, third john, and revelation. John 1 niv the word became flesh in the bible gateway. Internally, as the other gospels, the author is unnamed.
As a student of polycarp who wrote of his discourses with the apostle john, there was no doubt for irenaeus who authored the fourth gospel. He was probably the youngest of the twelve apostles of jesus. Traditionally, both books have been identified as coming from the same person, john the son. The authorship of the johannine worksthe gospel of john, epistles of john, and the book of revelationhas been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century ad. It varies from the other three gospels of matthew, mark and luke also known as the synoptic gospels, by focusing more on. Settings in the book include bethany, galilee, capernaum, jerusalem, judea. John, who wrote the gospel of john, wrote it exquisitely, for he was steeped in jewish tradition and heritage. While our modern bibles attach johns name to the beginning of the gospel, john just like the other gospel authors never documented his name within the book. The evangelist john rests one hand on his gospel book, in this. Therefore the origin of the gospel must in some way be connected to this personthe gospel of john may be a record of his eyewitness account of jesus life. Later in the first century or perhaps in the early second century, matthews aramaic gospel was rerendered into a greek text that constituted a separate literary production distinct from the aramaic version.
In the gospel, it is says that the book was written by the disciple whom jesus loved. However, a clear reading of the fourth gospel denotes that the one named the beloved disciple, or the disciple whom jesus loved, is also the author of the book. It was written by the discipleapostle john around 8595 a. After they had further proclaimed the word of the lord and testified about jesus, peter and john returned to jerusalem, preaching the gospel in. He is believed to have outlived the other apostles. John, the son of zebedee, is the author of this gospel. Many others believe the author was in fact a committee of unknown authors, editors, and redactorsthe johannine community. Who wrote the gospel of john and was it the same person. The author also is not dependent on the septuagint the greek translation of the old testament used in jesus day. Book of john overview insight for living ministries. It appears that towards the end of the second century, it was noticed that john, one of the three most important disciples in the synoptic gospels, is never mentioned by name in the fourth gospel. His story with jesus even concludes the gospel assuming that chapter 20 originally ended the book and parallels the resurrection story of the. The book is written anonymously, although it identifies an unnamed disciple whom jesus loved as the source of its traditions, and reached its final form around ad 90110.
Of the 12 disciples, john, james, and peter formed the inner circle, chosen by jesus to become his closest companions. Ignatiuss quotation of the fourth gospel illustrates that the book was viewed in a positive light and authoritative. The key personalities of this book are jesus christ, his twelve disciples, mary magdalene, john the baptist, lazarus, his sisters mary and martha, jewish religious leaders. I recently read a book that argues that there is no verse in that particular gospel which says that john wrote it. Polycarp, a secondcentury christian martyr who knew john personally, told irenaeus that john had written the book during the apostles time serving the church in ephesus. The title says that the gospel was written by john, and other evidence identifies this john as the son of zebedee. In christian tradition, johns gospel has always been referred to as the fourth gospel, meaning it was composed after the other three. In the popular view the author of the fourth gospel is normally viewed as the aging apostle john, but it is important to remember that nowhere in the. He and his brother james are called the sons of thunder, most likely for their lively, zealous personalities. John wrote his gospel so that those reading it might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god. Certainly not the beloved disciple, according to modern scholarship, which claims the book is more or less. The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, can be ascribed to a common author. Who wrote the gospel of john learn about the author of this biblical book and study his call to jesus.