"2 which he faithfully carried out. After the Resurrection we find him associated with Peter on several important occasions,1 but not a single discourse of his is recorded in the Book of Acts. He still continued, however, to be revered as a leader of the Church, for we find him referred to by St. Paul, in connection with the Council of Jerusalem (50 A.D.), as one of those who were “reputed to be pillars.” In his later life, after the fall of Jerusalem (70 A.D.), according to a general and well-supported tradition,3 John resided in Ephesus as bishop of the Churches in Asia Minor which had been founded by Paul, and was banished under Domitian to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation, returning to Ephesus in the reign of Nerva, and living there till after the accession of Trajan (98 A.D.). It was in Ephesus, which had now become the chief centre of Christianity, and was beginning to be infected by the errors of which Paul had warned its elders at Miletus,4 that the earliest traditions represent John to have written his Gospel. He is said to have done so on the entreaty, and with the subsequent approval, of the Apostle Andrew and other leading members of the Church, in order to supplement the teaching of the three Gospels already published, and to counteract the errors which were beguiling some from the simplicity of the faith. Turning now to the evidence of its authorship afforded by the Gospel itself, we may first of all note the fact that the whole tone of the book would give one the impression that it was written by some one who was familiar with the inner life of Christ and His apostles. This circumstance 1 Acts iii., iv. (In the healing of the lame man at the door of the templein preaching to the people-in testifying before the Jewish authorities-in reporting to their own company). 2 Gal. ii. 9: "James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars." The recent attempt by Keim and Scholten to set aside this tradition has not been successful, their views being sufficiently refuted by Hilgenfeld and others of their own school. 4 Acts xx. 29, 30: "I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 5 i. 35-51 (Details of the first interview which Andrew and another (apparently John) and Simon Peter and Philip and Nathanael held with Jesus). ii. II (Effect of the miracle at Cana on the faith of the disciples, "his disciples points to one of the twelve disciples as the author-in accordance with the statement in the first chapter,1 "We beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father," and the explicit declaration in the last chapter (the whole of which seems to form a postscript 2 added by the apostle and endorsed by his companions),—“This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things, and believed on him"). ii. 17: "His disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house shall eat me up.' ii. 21, 22: "But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said." iv. 6, 8 (The hour, and other circumstances, of Jesus' sitting by Jacob's well). iv. 27: "And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her?" vi. 5-8 (Jesus' conversation with Philip and Andrew regarding means of feeding the multitude). vi. 67-71 (Jesus' conversation with Simon Peter and the Twelve whom He asked, Would ye also go away?). ix. 2: "And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?" xi. 7-16 (Jesus' conversation with His disciples about the death of Lazarus, and Thomas' remark to his fellow - disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him"). xii. 20-22: 66 'Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast: these therefore came to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus." xiii. (Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet, and His conversation with them). xviii. 15, 16: "And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known unto the high priest, and entered in with Jesus into the court of the high priest; but Peter was standing at the door without. So the other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, went out and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter." (Incidents on the morning of the Lord's Resurrection, and details of His mani XX. festation to Thomas and the other disciples). 1 i. 14. 2 A comparison of the language of this chapter with that of the Gospel generally, affords evidence of its genuineness. Cf. ὡς ἀπὸ πηχών διακοσίων ("about two hundred cubits off") in ver. 8 and ὡς ἀπὸ σταδίων δεκαπέντε ("about fifteen furlongs off") in xi. 18; ὀψάριον καὶ ἄρτον (‘fish and bread") in ver. 9 and the similar expression in vi. II, ὀψάριον being found nowhere in the New Testament except in John's writings; ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ τούτων in ver. 24: "This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true," and the many similar expressions in John's writings, e.g. xix. 35: "And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe"; the designation, peculiar to John's Gospel, of the Sea of Galilee as the Sea of Tiberias, in ver. 1 and vi. 1; the expression "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee" in ver. 2 as illustrated by i.45-ii. I; "Thomas called Didymus" in ver. 2, xi. 16, xx. 24, and nowhere else in the New Testament; 16 'the disciple whom Jesus loved" in ver. 7, ver. 20, xiii. 23, xix. 26, xx. 2, and nowhere else. The exact recollection and fine appreciation of the Saviour's words in ver. 23: "This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" is also characteristic of the Apostle John, and falls in with the supposition that when he wrote, his life seemed to be very near its close. The words in ver. 19, "Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God," may be taken as a proof that Peter was already dead. E wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true.”1 As to which of the disciples is here meant, we find a clue in the twentieth verse of the same chapter, which identifies him with "the disciple whom Jesus loved," who is twice previously referred to in association with Peter,2 and is also described as "reclining in Jesus' bosom" at the Last Supper. The presumption that the disciple thus designated was one of the sons of Zebedee, who were admitted along with Peter (as the other evangelists tell us) to a closer fellowship with their Master than the rest of the disciples, is strengthened by the remarkable circumstance that the two brothers are never mentioned in this Gospel, except in the second verse of the last chapter, where they are referred to as “the sons of Zebedee." The position there assigned to them in the list of disciples is much lower than is usual in the other Gospels, and confirms us in the supposition that it was modesty that led the author to veil his own name, as well as that of his brother James and his mother Salome (whom he nowhere mentions unless perhaps once,5) as he is in general very precise and explicit in his mode of designation. As between the two brothers, there can be no hesitation in assigning the authorship to John, since James early fell a victim to the Herodian persecution 44 A.D. If the Gospel was not written by John, it must have been written by some one who wished to pass for that apostle. But where shall we find a writer of the post 3 xiii. 23. 4 i. 35-42: heard John (i.e. the Baptist) speak, and followed him" (i.e. Jesus), was Andrew; (the name of the other is not given). It is noteworthy that in the Fourth Gospel the Baptist is simply designated John, the writer not having to distinguish between two persons of that name, as the other evangelists had. xviii. 15, 16 (quoted on page 65). xix. 26: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the "One of the two that disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold, thy son!" This incident is not recorded in any of the other Gospels, being one of this disciple's own reminiscences. 5 xix. 25; see p. 63, note 3. 6 Acts xii. 2: "And he (i.e. Herod) killed James the brother of John with the sword." 7 In the latter case the claim would surely have been more plainly and directly made, as in other forgeries of the age (e.g. in the Gospel of the Infancy, and the Clementine Homilies). apostolic age possessed of the intellectual gifts and the spiritual elevation needed for the production of so sublime a work, a writer dishonest enough at the same time to claim for his fabrications, in the most solemn terms, the authority of an eye-witness and apostle who had reclined in Jesus' bosom? For those who reject the Johannine authorship this amounts to an insuperable difficulty.1 Besides the allusions to the inner life of Christ and His apostles which have already been referred to, there may be discerned in this Gospel, on a close examination, many other tokens of its apostolic origin. (1) In its account of Christ's ministry it gives a faithful picture of the Messianic expectations which existed among the Jews prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, as well as of the conflict which Christ waged with their hopes of temporal sovereignty; 2 while we also find traces of 1 From the writings of the Apostles to those of the Apostolic Fathers is a great descent. "We have to go to the fourth century, to the time of Chrysostom and Augustine, before we find any Christian writer whom it would not be absurd to regard as capable, even with the help of the Synoptic Gospels, of putting together such discourses as those in the Fourth Gospel" (Peabody). The character of the Apocryphal Gospels, in particular, confirms this view. 2i. 19-28: "And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ. iv. 25: about to come and take him by force, " acquaintance with the Temple arrangements of the same period.1 (2) It shows a minute acquaintance with Jewish customs, manners, and opinions,2 frequently giving in suspense? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my Father's name, these bear witness of me." xi. 47-53: "The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many signs. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. xii. 34: "The multitude therefore answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?" xix. 12: Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Cæsar's friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Cæsar." ་ 1 ii. 13-16: "And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables; and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.' iv. 20, 21: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father." viii. 20: "These words spake he in the treasury, as he taught in the temple." x. 23: "And Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch." 2 ii. 6: Now there were six waterpots of stone set there after the Jews' manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece." iii. 25: "There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purifying." vii. 22: "For this cause hath Moses given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the . " fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. xi. 55: "Now the passover of the Jews was at hand: and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the passover, to purify themselves." xix. 7: The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." 31: "The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." iv. 9: "The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)." 27: "And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman. vii. 2: " 'Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand." 37: "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." X. 22: "And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: it was winter." xi. 44: "He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-cloths; and his face was bound about with a napkin." xviii. 28: "They lead Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the palace: and it was early; and they themselves entered not into the palace, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover.' xix. 40: "So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury." i. 46: "And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" vii. 35: "The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?" 41: "Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, What, doth the Christ come out of Galilee? 52: "They answered and said unto him (i.e. Nicodemus), Art thou also of |