John
Author: John
Origen - "What shall we say of him who reclined upon the breast of Jesus, I mean John? who has left one gospel, in which he confesses that he could write so many books that the whole world could not contain them. He also wrote the Apocalypse..." (Book 6, Chapter 25). (1)
Irenaeus - "Afterwards John the disciple of our Lord, the same that lay upon his bosom, also published the gospel, while he was yet at Ephesus in Asia" (Book 5, Chapter 8). (2)
Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch - "About 180 he wrote: 'The Holy Scripture teaches us, and all the inspired writers, one of whom, John says, 'In the beginning was the Word...''" (3)
Date: Many say 90-95. I think a tad earlier.
"The existence of the Gospel is recognized as early as Ignatius and Polycarp, about 110 A.D. These and others after them use the Gospel..." (4).
Language: Probably Greek
I have found scholars who state that Aramaic could have been the language of the autograph, but most say Greek. Dr. Merrill Tenney was a dean and professor at Wheaton College in the 1960's, and he was an extraordinary scholar. What he states concerning John is interesting: "From the Gospel itself certain facts about the author can be educed. First, he was a Jew who was accustomed to thinking in Aramaic, although the Gospel was written in Greek. Very few subordinate clauses appear in its text, and not infrequently Hebrew or Aramaic words are inserted and then explained" (5).
Place: Ephesus
Irenaeus - "Afterwards John the disciple of our Lord, the same that lay upon his bosom, also published the gospel, while he was yet at Ephesus in Asia" (Book 5, Chapter 8). (6)
Purpose: To tell the Gospel that people may believe. Jesus said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40 NIV).
What kind of book: Ancient oriental biography.
Reflection: The first time I ever read the book of John, I was a bit frustrated by it. I even thought that sometimes Jesus was avoiding questions posed to Him. Years later, I read a commentary by Dr. J. Vernon McGee, who explained how the cultural roots of Israel was not Greek, rather "oriental." Having been educated in a clearly "Greek" manner at Falls Church High School and at Virginia Tech, John seemed elusive to me. After reading the statement by Dr. McGee, I realized it was due to John's oriental style. Once I worked to roll with that oriental style, which involves many metaphors, and which involves the need to pick out key points from flowing discourse, I was able to gain the riches from John.
Now a major theme of John is "Who is Jesus?" When I did a one and a half year in-depth study of John in 2000 and 2001, I made a list of all the names or titles given to identify Jesus, such as the Bread of Life, or the Good Shepherd. The list was extensive. The identity of Jesus is one major theme for John.
Hunter Irvine
(1) Eusebius, Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (1955; repr., Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 215.
(2) Ibid., 164.
(3) Samuel A. Cartledge, A Conservative Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1938), 182.
{The definition of "conservative" in this context means giving the biblical text the upmost of authority, working to interpret the writing as the author intended.}
(4) Ibid., 182.
(5) Merrill C. Tenney, New Testament Survey (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1961), 186.
(6) Eusebius, Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (1955; repr., Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 164.
