The Fourth Gospel Who wrote it? When? Why? Possible Suspects: John the apostle John the elder John Mark The Beloved Disciple The Johannine Community Who wrote it? When? Why? Purpose of the Gospel – next lesson

When? Many scholars argue that it was written about 90-100 AD. This fits with John’s dates as he died a very old man. If John the apostle was not the author, it may have been written early 2nd century. Evidence for this is the advanced Christology. J.A.T. Robinson argues for a very early date – 65AD, even before the Roman War: "One of the oddest facts about the New Testament is that what on any showing would appear to be the single most datable and climactic event of the period – the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, and with it the collapse of institutional Judaism based on the temple – is never once mentioned as a past fact.”

When? In 1920, The Rylands Papyrus P52 was discovered. The front contains parts of seven lines from John 18:31–33, in Greek, and the back contains parts of seven lines from verses 37–38. P52 is generally accepted as the earliest surviving NT text. It has been dated to 100-175 AD. So we know that the Gospel was not written later than that.

But, is this the man who wrote the fourth gospel? John the apostle One of the twelve disciples Son of Zebedee Brother of James Jewish Fisherman Born in Galilee Died c.100 AD, aged 93-94, in Patmos, Greece But, is this the man who wrote the fourth gospel?

Archbishop William Temple: “I regard as self condemned any theory about the origin of the gospel which fails to find a very clear connection between it and John, the son of Zebedee. The combination of internal and external evidence is overwhelming on this point.” Internal evidence: Clues in the text itself that the author was Jewish, an apostle and an eyewitness to the events. External evidence: From other historical sources, claiming that the gospel was written by John the apostle

Internal Evidence – that the author was Jewish Stone Jars (2:6) suggest that author knew details of Jewish beliefs Author has knowledge of Jerusalem and the surrounds – Bethesda Pool (5:2) Setting of the last supper (13:4) – the towel 13:24 – ‘…the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.’ Resurrection appearances – 20:22 – ‘…receive the Holy Spirit…’ Gospel itself declares it is written by disciple – the one following Peter and James (21:24) post resurrection. Internal Evidence – that the author was a disciple

Internal Evidence – that the author was an eyewitness Chapter 18 - author records John’s questioning by High Priest Private meeting. Peter waited outside (18:16) ‘the other disciple’ was allowed in 18:19-24 appears to be an eye witness account Was this John? Chapter 19 - Author shows detail about trial before Pilate Includes smallest detail Witnessed for himself? e.g. Pilate “… brought Jesus out …” 21:11 Gives exact number of fish (153) Only eye witness able to describe? How convincing is all this internal evidence? Explain why it might be seen as strong/ weak evidence.

External Evidence – John seen as author from very early times Late 2nd century – Irenaeus (140-210 CE) – Bishop of Lyons – “John, the disciple of the Lord who reclined on his breast and himself issued the Gospel at Ephesus” Irenaeus was told this by Polycarp who heard it directly from John himself. Clement of Alexandria spoke of John as author of a ‘Spiritual Gospel’ – late 2nd century Papias (disciple of John) claimed he’d written Gospel from John’s dictation Polycrates – Bishop of Ephesus – in a letter to Victor, Bishop of Rome claimed it was written by John (190 CE)

External evidence – more recently Muratorian fragment Discovered in 1740 Lists the books considered to be scripture Includes the Gospel of John Dated to c.170 AD Which is more convincing – internal or external evidence? Why?

Arguments against John’s authorship Some events are not in the same order as the synoptics (e.g. cleansing of the temple) – assuming Matthew, Mark & Luke were correct, was the author an eye witness? Factual inaccuracies 6:1 – “Sea of Galilee, also called Sea of Tiberius” which was not known at the time of the Gospels – does this show it was written later? Changing name of the High Priest 18:13 = Caiaphas 18:19 = Jesus was questioned by Annas 18:24 = Caiaphas again

Arguments against Johannine authorship A disciple known to High Priest was allowed to stay while Jesus was questioned (18:15) John was a fisherman – was he educated enough and have connections to have access to the High Priest? 21:24 – the claim that it was written by the apostle is questionable as it is not part of the original text.

John the Elder Thought to have written 2 John and 3 John Lived in Ephesus at the right time BUT – these letters are very different in style to the gospel, and to 1 John (anonymous but similar to the gospel)

John Mark Lived in Jerusalem at the time From a priestly family so had knowledge of the Temple Wealthy Known to the disciples (Acts 12:12-15) May have been the mysterious man who fled from the arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:51) BUT- this isn’t really evidence that he wrote the gospel

The Beloved Disciple 13:23 “Mysterious figure” 21:24 – stated as the author 13:23 – the last supper 19:26 & 35 – The cross 20:2 – the empty tomb 21:20 – resurrection appearances This figure is therefore a witness to all that happened – was he John himself? Others say it may be Nicodemus Or Lazarus (11:3 – “The one you love is sick …”)

The Johannine Community Raymond Brown claimed: That it was likely to have been written by the Johannine community – a Messianic community – followers of John in Ephesus 1:14 & 3:11 – “We…” is used to suggest a writing community which was rejected or oppressed by the Temple for following Jesus 21:24 – “We know that his testimony is true…” – links the Johannine community with the Beloved Disciple. Bultman (1971) – a community editor was behind the final work – the community had moved away from Judaism by this time and were sharing beliefs through reliable witnesses.

John’s relationship to the synoptic gospels C. H. Dodd argued that John was completely independent of the synoptic gospels. not only has contradictions of the order of events (e.g., the time of the cleansing of the temple, the nature of the Last Supper, etc.), but there is also much material in the synoptics which would have been beneficial to put in this gospel had the author had ready access to it.

So, what conclusion does the evidence point you to? Why? Analyse the view that there is enough evidence to suggest that the Fourth Gospel was written by John the Apostle. (20)