John the Evangelist
Encyclopedia
Saint John the Evangelist (יוחנן Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew
Yôḥānān meaning "Yahweh
is gracious", Greek
: Εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης) (c. 1 - c. 100 AD) is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John
. Traditionally he has been identified with the author of the other Johannine works in the New Testament
– the three Epistles of John
and the Book of Revelation
, written by a John of Patmos
– as well as with John the Apostle
and the Beloved Disciple mentioned in the Book of John. However, at least some of these connections have been debated since about 200 AD.
The Gospel of John refers to an unnamed "Beloved Disciple" of Jesus who bore witness to the gospel's message. The editors of the Gospel, who record the Beloved Disciple's death, seem interested in the author's anonymity. Apparently this disciple of Jesus had not been well known, but had greatly outlived Peter.
The apostle John was a historical figure, one of the "pillars" of the Jerusalem church after Jesus' death. Some scholars believe that John was martyred along with his brother (Acts 12:1-2), although many other scholars doubt this. Harris believes that the tradition that John lived to old age in Ephesus
developed in the late 2nd century, although the tradition does appear in the last chapter of the gospel. By the late 2nd century, the tradition was held by most Christians.
, where he is said to have lived and been buried. Some believe that after a short life he was exiled to (c.a. 95) Patmos
, where he wrote the Book of Revelation
. However this is a matter of debate, with some attributing authorship to John of Patmos
or John the Presbyter
. It is also debated whether John the Evangelist is the same as St. John the Apostle
.
John was the son of Zebedee
and Salome
, and the brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels the two brothers are often called after their father "the sons of Zebedee" and received from Christ the honourable title of Boanerges, i.e. "sons of thunder" . Originally they were fishermen and fished with their father in the Lake of Genesareth
. According to the usual and entirely probable explanation they became, however, for a time disciples
of John the Baptist
, and were called by Christ from the circle of John's followers, together with Peter
and Andrew
, to become His disciples . The first disciples returned with their new Master from the Jordan
to Galilee
and apparently both John and the others remained for some time with Jesus (cf. John ii, 12, 22; iv, 2, 8, 27 sqq.). Yet after the second return from Judea
, John and his companions went back again to their trade of fishing until he and they were called by Christ to definitive discipleship . In the lists of the Apostles John has the second place (Acts 1:13), the third , and the fourth , yet always after James with the exception of a few passages .
From James being thus placed first, the conclusion is drawn that John was the younger of the two brothers. In any case John had a prominent position in the Apostolic body. Peter, James, and he were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus's daughter , of the Transfiguration , and of the Agony in Gethsemane
. Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the Last Supper . At the Supper itself his place was next to Christ on Whose breast he leaned (John 13:23, 25). According to the general interpretation John was also that "other disciple" who with Peter followed Christ after the arrest into the palace of the high-priest (John 18:15).Saint John alone remained near his beloved Master at the foot of the Cross on Calvary with the Mother of Jesus and the pious women, and took the desolate Mother into his care as the last legacy of Christ (John 19:25-27). After the Resurrection John with Peter was the first of the disciples to hasten to the grave and he was the first to believe that Christ had truly risen (John 20:2-10).
When later Christ appeared at the Lake of Genesareth John was also the first of the seven disciples present who recognized his Master standing on the shore (John 21:7). The Fourth Evangelist has shown us most clearly how close the relationship was in which he always stood to his Lord and Master by the title with which he is accustomed to indicate himself without giving his name: "the disciple whom Jesus loved".
After Christ's Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, John took, together with Peter, a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the Church. We see him in the company of Peter at the healing of the lame man in the Temple (Acts 3:1 sqq.). With Peter he is also thrown into prison (Acts 4:3). Again, we find him with Peter visiting the newly converted in Samaria (Acts 8:14).
We have no positive information concerning the duration of this activity in Judea. Apparently John in common with the other Apostles remained some twelve years in this first field of labour, until the persecution of Herod Agrippa I led to the scattering of the Apostles through the various provinces of the Roman Empire (cf. Acts 12:1-17). Notwithstanding the opinion to the contrary of many writers, it does not appear improbable that John then went for the first time to Asia Minor and exercised his Apostolic office in various provinces there. In any case a Christian community was already in existence at Ephesus before Paul's first labours there (cf. "the brethren", Acts 18:27, in addition to Priscilla and Aquila), and it is easy to connect a sojourn of John in these provinces with the fact that the Holy Ghost did not permit the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey to proclaim the Gospel in Asia, Mysia, and Bithynia (Acts 16:6 sq.). There is just as little against such an acceptation in the later account in Acts of St. Paul's third missionary journey. But in any case such a sojourn by John in Asia in this first period was neither long nor uninterrupted. He returned with the other disciples to Jerusalem for the Apostolic Council (about AD 51). St. Paul in opposing his enemies in Galatia names John explicitly along with Peter and James the Just (the brother of Jesus) as a "pillar of the Church", and refers to the recognition which his Apostolic preaching of a Gospel free from the law received from these three, the most prominent men of the old Mother-Church at Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). When Paul came again to Jerusalem after the second and after the third journey (Acts 18:22; 21:17 sq.) he seems no longer to have met John there. Some wish to draw the conclusion from this that John left Judea between the years 52 and 55.
Of the other New-Testament writings, it is only from the three Epistles of John and the Apocalypse that anything further is learned concerning the person of the Apostle. We may be permitted here to take as proven the unity of the author of these three writings handed down under the name of John and his identity with the Evangelist. Both the Epistles and the Apocalypse, however, presuppose that their author John belonged to the multitude of personal eyewitnesses of the life and work of Christ (cf. especially 1 John 1:1-5; 4:14), that he had lived for a long time in Asia Minor, was thoroughly acquainted with the conditions existing in the various Christian communities there, and that he had a position of authority recognized by all Christian communities as leader of this part of the Church. Moreover, the Apocalypse tells us that its author was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus", when he was honoured with the heavenly Revelation contained in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:9).
. Traditional Christian thought on the subject points to St. John the Apostle as the author of the Gospel, the three Epistles and the Book of Revelation that bear his name, 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. Many modern scholars hold that the Apostle John wrote none of these texts. Others, however, maintain the traditional position with respect to some or all of these books. Craig Blomberg argues that disagreements over Johannine authorship of the fourth gospel tend to reflect methodological differences.
Numerous modern scholars dispute that these works were by 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 Evangelist, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter.
The author of the Gospel of John
never identifies himself by name, but the text identifies him as the "Beloved Disciple" repeatedly referred to in the Gospel. The author of this Gospel is also sometimes presumed to be the author of 1 John, and also, more rarely, of 2 John and 3 John. The 4th century Council of Rome
decreed that the author of 1 John and that of 2 and 3 John should be regarded as distinct individuals.
Orthodox Roman Catholic scholarship, some Protestant Churches, and the entire Eastern Orthodox Church
attributes all of the Johannine literature to the same individual, the "Holy Apostle and Evangelist, John the Theologian", whom it identifies with the "Beloved Disciple" in the Gospel of John.
, which calls him "Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist", and in the Anglican Communion
, which calls him "John, Apostle and Evangelist", is on 27 December. 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.
The 27 December feast is found in the Syriac Breviary
of the end of the 4th century and the Martyrology of Jerome. But at present Saint John is celebrated on a wide variety of dates in Eastern rites: 29 December for Armenians, 30 December for Copts, 7 May for Syrians and 26 September for Christians of Byzantine Rite.
The Tridentine Calendar
also had on 6 May a feast of "St John before the Latin Gate", associated with a tradition recounted by Saint Jerome
that St John was brought to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian
, and was thrown in a vat of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously preserved unharmed. A church, San Giovanni a Porta Latina
, dedicated to him was built near the Latin Gate (Porta Latina) of Rome, the traditional scene of this event. The feast is supposed to commemorate the dedication of this church, and is first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Adrian I (772-95). Pope John XXIII
removed this feast from the General Roman Calendar in 1960, along with various other second feasts of a single saint.
The Coptic Orthodox Church Synaxarium commemorates him on the fourth of the month tobi (January 12, equivalent to December 30 in the Gregorian calendar due to the current 13-day Julian-Gregorian offset). It records his year of departure as 100 AD, and states that he preached in Asia Minor, and that he went to preach in Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. The Coptic Synaxarium states that St. John the Evangelist lived over 90 years, and they used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. Because of his old age, he only gave very short sermons saying, "My children love one another." It states that he wrote the gospel known after him, the Book of Revelation, and the three epistles ascribed to him. It confirms that he did not suffer martyrdom and died of old age in Ephesus.
(better known as the Freemasons). The festival of St John on 27 December is the beginning of the lodge year in many jurisdictions of that fraternity, and is marked by special commemorations, and was once (though no longer) a traditional meeting day for the English Grand Lodge
, the fraternity's ruling body.
Beyond regular mainstream Freemasonry there are certain 'additional' Orders, which Freemasons may, optionally, join. One of these is the Order of St John the Evangelist, which is today associated with the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine
.
, symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel. The chalice as symbolic of St John, which, according to some authorities, was not adopted until the 13th century, is sometimes interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, again as connected with the legend according to which St. John was handed a cup of poisoned wine, from which, at his blessing, the poison rose in the shape of a serpent. Perhaps the most natural explanation is to be found in the words of Christ to John and James "My chalice indeed you shall drink" .
The painting Saint John the Evangelist
by Domenico Zampieri
was auctioned in London in December 2009, for an estimated US$16.5 million. it sold for £9,225,250.
Tiberian Hebrew
Tiberian Hebrew is the extinct canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh and related documents in the Roman Empire. This traditional medieval pronunciation was committed to writing by Masoretic scholars based in the Jewish community of Tiberias , in the form of the Tiberian vocalization...
Yôḥānān meaning "Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
is gracious", Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης) (c. 1 - c. 100 AD) is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
. Traditionally he has been identified with the author of the other Johannine works in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
– the three Epistles of John
Epistles of John
Three books in the New Testament, thought to have been written between 90-100, are collectively called the Epistles of John:*First Epistle of John*Second Epistle of John*Third Epistle of JohnThe traditional author of these letters is John the Evangelist....
and the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, written by a John of Patmos
John of Patmos
John of Patmos is the name given, in the Book of Revelation, as the author of the apocalyptic text that is traditionally cannonized in the New Testament...
– as well as with John the Apostle
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
and the Beloved Disciple mentioned in the Book of John. However, at least some of these connections have been debated since about 200 AD.
The Gospel of John refers to an unnamed "Beloved Disciple" of Jesus who bore witness to the gospel's message. The editors of the Gospel, who record the Beloved Disciple's death, seem interested in the author's anonymity. Apparently this disciple of Jesus had not been well known, but had greatly outlived Peter.
The apostle John was a historical figure, one of the "pillars" of the Jerusalem church after Jesus' death. Some scholars believe that John was martyred along with his brother (Acts 12:1-2), although many other scholars doubt this. Harris believes that the tradition that John lived to old age in Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
developed in the late 2nd century, although the tradition does appear in the last chapter of the gospel. By the late 2nd century, the tradition was held by most Christians.
In the Bible
Christian tradition says that John the Evangelist was one of Christ's original twelve apostles; the only one to live into old age; and not killed for his faith. John the Evangelist is associated with EphesusEphesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, where he is said to have lived and been buried. Some believe that after a short life he was exiled to (c.a. 95) Patmos
Patmos
Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
, where he wrote the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
. However this is a matter of debate, with some attributing authorship to John of Patmos
John of Patmos
John of Patmos is the name given, in the Book of Revelation, as the author of the apocalyptic text that is traditionally cannonized in the New Testament...
or John the Presbyter
John the Presbyter
John the Presbyter is an obscure figure of the early Church who is either distinguished from or identified with the Apostle John, by some also John the Divine. He appears in fragments from the church father Papias of Hierapolis as one of the author's sources and is first unequivocally distinguished...
. It is also debated whether John the Evangelist is the same as St. John the Apostle
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
.
Zebedee
Zebedee is a name which may refer to:-People:* Zebedee , father of James and John* Zebedee Armstrong , an American outsider artist...
and Salome
Salome (disciple)
Salome , sometimes venerated as Mary Salome, was a follower of Jesus who appears briefly in the canonical gospels and in more detail in apocryphal writings...
, and the brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels the two brothers are often called after their father "the sons of Zebedee" and received from Christ the honourable title of Boanerges, i.e. "sons of thunder" . Originally they were fishermen and fished with their father in the Lake of Genesareth
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
. According to the usual and entirely probable explanation they became, however, for a time disciples
Disciple (Christianity)
In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. While Jesus attracted a large following, the term disciple is commonly used to refer specifically to "the Twelve", an inner circle of men whose number perhaps represented the twelve tribes of Israel...
of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, and were called by Christ from the circle of John's followers, together with Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
, to become His disciples . The first disciples returned with their new Master from the Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
to Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
and apparently both John and the others remained for some time with Jesus (cf. John ii, 12, 22; iv, 2, 8, 27 sqq.). Yet after the second return from Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
, John and his companions went back again to their trade of fishing until he and they were called by Christ to definitive discipleship . In the lists of the Apostles John has the second place (Acts 1:13), the third , and the fourth , yet always after James with the exception of a few passages .
From James being thus placed first, the conclusion is drawn that John was the younger of the two brothers. In any case John had a prominent position in the Apostolic body. Peter, James, and he were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus's daughter , of the Transfiguration , and of the Agony in Gethsemane
Gethsemane
Gethsemane is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.- Etymology :...
. Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the Last Supper . At the Supper itself his place was next to Christ on Whose breast he leaned (John 13:23, 25). According to the general interpretation John was also that "other disciple" who with Peter followed Christ after the arrest into the palace of the high-priest (John 18:15).Saint John alone remained near his beloved Master at the foot of the Cross on Calvary with the Mother of Jesus and the pious women, and took the desolate Mother into his care as the last legacy of Christ (John 19:25-27). After the Resurrection John with Peter was the first of the disciples to hasten to the grave and he was the first to believe that Christ had truly risen (John 20:2-10).
When later Christ appeared at the Lake of Genesareth John was also the first of the seven disciples present who recognized his Master standing on the shore (John 21:7). The Fourth Evangelist has shown us most clearly how close the relationship was in which he always stood to his Lord and Master by the title with which he is accustomed to indicate himself without giving his name: "the disciple whom Jesus loved".
After Christ's Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, John took, together with Peter, a prominent part in the founding and guidance of the Church. We see him in the company of Peter at the healing of the lame man in the Temple (Acts 3:1 sqq.). With Peter he is also thrown into prison (Acts 4:3). Again, we find him with Peter visiting the newly converted in Samaria (Acts 8:14).
We have no positive information concerning the duration of this activity in Judea. Apparently John in common with the other Apostles remained some twelve years in this first field of labour, until the persecution of Herod Agrippa I led to the scattering of the Apostles through the various provinces of the Roman Empire (cf. Acts 12:1-17). Notwithstanding the opinion to the contrary of many writers, it does not appear improbable that John then went for the first time to Asia Minor and exercised his Apostolic office in various provinces there. In any case a Christian community was already in existence at Ephesus before Paul's first labours there (cf. "the brethren", Acts 18:27, in addition to Priscilla and Aquila), and it is easy to connect a sojourn of John in these provinces with the fact that the Holy Ghost did not permit the Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey to proclaim the Gospel in Asia, Mysia, and Bithynia (Acts 16:6 sq.). There is just as little against such an acceptation in the later account in Acts of St. Paul's third missionary journey. But in any case such a sojourn by John in Asia in this first period was neither long nor uninterrupted. He returned with the other disciples to Jerusalem for the Apostolic Council (about AD 51). St. Paul in opposing his enemies in Galatia names John explicitly along with Peter and James the Just (the brother of Jesus) as a "pillar of the Church", and refers to the recognition which his Apostolic preaching of a Gospel free from the law received from these three, the most prominent men of the old Mother-Church at Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). When Paul came again to Jerusalem after the second and after the third journey (Acts 18:22; 21:17 sq.) he seems no longer to have met John there. Some wish to draw the conclusion from this that John left Judea between the years 52 and 55.
Of the other New-Testament writings, it is only from the three Epistles of John and the Apocalypse that anything further is learned concerning the person of the Apostle. We may be permitted here to take as proven the unity of the author of these three writings handed down under the name of John and his identity with the Evangelist. Both the Epistles and the Apocalypse, however, presuppose that their author John belonged to the multitude of personal eyewitnesses of the life and work of Christ (cf. especially 1 John 1:1-5; 4:14), that he had lived for a long time in Asia Minor, was thoroughly acquainted with the conditions existing in the various Christian communities there, and that he had a position of authority recognized by all Christian communities as leader of this part of the Church. Moreover, the Apocalypse tells us that its author was on the island of Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus", when he was honoured with the heavenly Revelation contained in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:9).
Authorship
Collectively, the Gospel, the three Epistles, and Revelation are known as Johanine literatureJohannine literature
Johannine literature is the collection of New Testament works that are attached by tradition to the person of John the Apostle. The collection is usually considered to include:*The Gospel of John*The First Epistle of John*The Second Epistle of John...
. Traditional Christian thought on the subject points to St. John the Apostle as the author of the Gospel, the three Epistles and the Book of Revelation that bear his name, and there is some internal textual evidence to suggest they may have been authored by the same person (see textual criticism
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
). Of the Johannine literature, Revelation bears the least grammatical similarity to the Gospel. Many modern scholars hold that the Apostle John wrote none of these texts. Others, however, maintain the traditional position with respect to some or all of these books. Craig Blomberg argues that disagreements over Johannine authorship of the fourth gospel tend to reflect methodological differences.
Numerous modern scholars dispute that these works were by 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
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, which had some connection to John the Evangelist, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter.
The author of the Gospel of John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
never identifies himself by name, but the text identifies him as the "Beloved Disciple" repeatedly referred to in the Gospel. The author of this Gospel is also sometimes presumed to be the author of 1 John, and also, more rarely, of 2 John and 3 John. The 4th century Council of Rome
Council of Rome
The Council of Rome was a meeting of Christian Church officials and theologians which took place in 382 under the authority of the bishop of Rome, Damasus I. The previous year, the Emperor Theodosius I had appointed the "dark horse" candidate Nectarius Archbishop of Constantinople...
decreed that the author of 1 John and that of 2 and 3 John should be regarded as distinct individuals.
Orthodox Roman Catholic scholarship, some Protestant Churches, and the entire Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
attributes all of the Johannine literature to the same individual, the "Holy Apostle and Evangelist, John the Theologian", whom it identifies with the "Beloved Disciple" in the Gospel of John.
Feast day
The feast day of Saint John in the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, which calls him "Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist", and in the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, which calls him "John, Apostle and Evangelist", is on 27 December. In the Tridentine Calendar
Tridentine Calendar
The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope....
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
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
in 1955.
The 27 December feast is found in the Syriac Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
of the end of the 4th century and the Martyrology of Jerome. But at present Saint John is celebrated on a wide variety of dates in Eastern rites: 29 December for Armenians, 30 December for Copts, 7 May for Syrians and 26 September for Christians of Byzantine Rite.
The Tridentine Calendar
Tridentine Calendar
The Tridentine Calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope....
also had on 6 May a feast of "St John before the Latin Gate", associated with a tradition recounted by Saint Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
that St John was brought to Rome during the reign of the Emperor Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
, and was thrown in a vat of boiling oil, from which he was miraculously preserved unharmed. A church, San Giovanni a Porta Latina
San Giovanni a Porta Latina
San Giovanni a Porta Latina is a Basilica church in Rome, Italy, near the Porta Latina of the Aurelian Wall...
, dedicated to him was built near the Latin Gate (Porta Latina) of Rome, the traditional scene of this event. The feast is supposed to commemorate the dedication of this church, and is first mentioned in the Sacramentary of Adrian I (772-95). Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
removed this feast from the General Roman Calendar in 1960, along with various other second feasts of a single saint.
The Coptic Orthodox Church Synaxarium commemorates him on the fourth of the month tobi (January 12, equivalent to December 30 in the Gregorian calendar due to the current 13-day Julian-Gregorian offset). It records his year of departure as 100 AD, and states that he preached in Asia Minor, and that he went to preach in Ephesus, accompanied by his disciple Prochorus. The Coptic Synaxarium states that St. John the Evangelist lived over 90 years, and they used to carry him to the gatherings of the believers. Because of his old age, he only gave very short sermons saying, "My children love one another." It states that he wrote the gospel known after him, the Book of Revelation, and the three epistles ascribed to him. It confirms that he did not suffer martyrdom and died of old age in Ephesus.
Freemasonry
St John the Evangelist, with St John the Baptist, is considered a co-patron saint by the fraternal society of Free and Accepted MasonsFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
(better known as the Freemasons). The festival of St John on 27 December is the beginning of the lodge year in many jurisdictions of that fraternity, and is marked by special commemorations, and was once (though no longer) a traditional meeting day for the English Grand Lodge
Grand Lodge
A Grand Lodge, or "Grand Orient", is the usual governing body of "Craft", or "Blue Lodge", Freemasonry in a particular jurisdiction. The first Masonic Grand Lodge was established in England in 1717 as the Premier Grand Lodge of England....
, the fraternity's ruling body.
Beyond regular mainstream Freemasonry there are certain 'additional' Orders, which Freemasons may, optionally, join. One of these is the Order of St John the Evangelist, which is today associated with the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine
Red Cross of Constantine
The Red Cross of Constantine, or more formally the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and the Appendant Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and of St John the Evangelist is a Christian Order of Freemasonry...
.
In art
Christian art usually represents St John with an eagleEagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
, symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel. The chalice as symbolic of St John, which, according to some authorities, was not adopted until the 13th century, is sometimes interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, again as connected with the legend according to which St. John was handed a cup of poisoned wine, from which, at his blessing, the poison rose in the shape of a serpent. Perhaps the most natural explanation is to be found in the words of Christ to John and James "My chalice indeed you shall drink" .
The painting Saint John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist (Domenichino)
Saint John the Evangelist is a painting by the Italian Baroque painter Domenichino.-History:The painting is thought to have been commissioned by either Benedetto or his brother Vincenzo Giustiniani since it appears in the 1638 Giustiniani inventory...
by Domenico Zampieri
Domenico Zampieri
Domenico Zampieri was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School, or Carracci School, of painters.-Life:...
was auctioned in London in December 2009, for an estimated US$16.5 million. it sold for £9,225,250.