Editing John the Evangelist (section)

==Authorship of the Johannine works==
{{Main|Authorship of the Johannine works|Johannine epistles}}
Since at least the 2nd century AD, [[Biblical criticism|scholars]] have debated the authorship of the [[Johannine works]]—whether they were written by one author or many, and if any of the authors can be identified with John the Apostle.<ref>F. L. Cross, ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 45</ref>

The gospel and epistles traditionally and plausibly came from [[Early centers of Christianity#Asia Minor|Ephesus]], {{c.|90–110}}, although some scholars argue for an origin in [[Early centers of Christianity#Damascus|Syria]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Raymond E. |author-link=Raymond E. Brown |title=Introduction to the New Testament |year=1997 |publisher=Anchor Bible |page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/334 334] |location=New York |isbn=0-385-24767-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontone00brow_0/page/334 }}</ref> Eastern Orthodox tradition attributes all of the Johannine books to John the Apostle.<ref name=Harris>Stephen L Harris, ''Understanding the Bible'', (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985), 355</ref> Some today agree that the gospel and epistles may have been written by a single author,<ref name=Harris/> whether or not this was the apostle.

Other scholars conclude that the author of the epistles was different from that of the gospel, although all four works originated from the same community.<ref>Ehrman, pp.&nbsp;178–9.</ref>  In the 6th century, the {{lang|la|[[Decretum Gelasianum]]}} argued that the [[Second Epistle of John|Second]] and [[Third Epistle of John]] have a separate author known as "[[John the Presbyter|John the priest]]."{{efn|Since the 18th century, the {{lang|la|Decretum Gelasianum}} has been associated with the [[Council of Rome]] (382), although historians dispute the connection.}}

[[Historical criticism|Historical critics]] like H.P.V. Nunn,<ref>{{cite book|last=Nunn|first=Rev Henry Preston Vaughan (H.P.V.)|title=The Fourth Gospel: An Outline of the Problem and Evidence|url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_4thgospel_nunn.html|date= 1 January 1946|publisher=London The Tyndale Press|asin=B002NRY6G2|pages=10–13, 14–18, 19, 21–35, 37–39}}</ref> [[Reza Aslan]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Aslan|first=Reza |title=ZEALOT: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth|date= 16 July 2013|publisher=Random House; Illustrated Edition, New York Times Press|isbn=978-2523470201|page=XX}}</ref> and [[Bart Ehrman]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart |title=Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the Millennium|url=http://www.bartdehrman.com/jesus-apocalyptic-prophet-of-the-new-millennium/|date= May 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press Press|isbn=978-0195124743|pages=41–44, 90–93}}</ref> believe with most modern scholars that the apostle John wrote none of these works.<ref name="Fourth Gospel 1985 p. 355">"Although ancient traditions attributed to the Apostle John the Fourth Gospel, the Book of Revelation, and the three Epistles of John, modern scholars believe that he wrote none of them." [[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible'' (Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1985) p. 355</ref><ref name="Kelly2012">{{cite book|last=Kelly|first=Joseph F.|title=History and Heresy: How Historical Forces Can Create Doctrinal Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=923-w0Knq-AC&pg=PA115|date=1 October 2012|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5999-1|page=115}}</ref> Some scholars, though, such as [[John Robinson (bishop of Woolwich)|John Robinson]], [[F. F. Bruce]], [[Leon Morris]], and [[Martin Hengel]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Hengel |first=Martin |title=Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, 1st edition |page=40 |isbn=978-1-56338-300-7 |publisher=Trinity Press International |year=2000}}</ref> still hold the apostle to be behind at least some of the works in question, particularly the gospel.<ref name="Morris1995">Morris, Leon (1995) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=II-33dS9esAC&q=Continental+scholars&pg=PA4 The Gospel According to John]'' Volume 4 of The new international commentary on the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2504-9}}, pp. 4–5, 24, 35–7. "Continental scholars have{{nbsp}}[...] abandoned the idea that this gospel was written by the apostle John, whereas in Great Britain and America scholarship has been much more open to the idea." Abandonment is due to changing opinion rather "than to any new evidence." "Werner, Colson, and I have been joined, among others, by I. Howard Marshall and J.A.T. Robinson in seeing the evidence as pointing to John the son of Zebedee as the author of this Gospel." The view that John's history is substandard "is becoming increasingly hard to sustain. Many recent writers have shown that there is good reason for regarding this or that story in John as authentic.{{nbsp}}[...] It is difficult to{{nbsp}}[...] regard John as having little concern for history. The fact is John is concerned with historical information.{{nbsp}}[...] John apparently records this kind of information because he believes it to be accurate.{{nbsp}}[...] He has some reliable information and has recorded it carefully.{{nbsp}}[...] The evidence is that where he can be tested John proves to be remarkably accurate."
*Bruce 1981 pp. 52–4, 58. "The evidence{{nbsp}}[...] favor[s] the apostolicity of the gospel.{{nbsp}}[...] John knew the other gospels and{{nbsp}}[...] supplements them.{{nbsp}}[...] The synoptic narrative becomes more intelligible if we follow John." John's style is different so Jesus' "abiding truth might be presented to men and women who were quite unfamiliar with the original setting.{{nbsp}}[...] He does not yield to any temptation to restate Christianity.{{nbsp}}[...] It is the story of events that happened in history.{{nbsp}}[...] John does not divorce the story from its Palestinian context."
*Dodd p. 444. "Revelation is distinctly, and nowhere more clearly than in the Fourth Gospel, a historical revelation. It follows that it is important for the evangelist that what he narrates happened."
*Temple, William. "Readings in St. John's Gospel". MacMillan and Co, 1952. "The synoptists give us something more like the perfect photograph; St. John gives us the more perfect portrait".
*Edwards, R. A. "The Gospel According to St. John" 1954, p 9. One reason he accepts John's authorship is because "the alternative solutions seem far too complicated to be possible in a world where living men met and talked".
*Hunter, A. M. "Interpreting the New Testament" P 86. "After all the conjectures have been heard, the likeliest view is that which identifies the Beloved Disciple with the Apostle John.</ref><ref name="Strobel, Lee 1998">Dr. [[Craig Blomberg]], cited in Lee Strobel ''The Case for Christ'', 1998, Chapter 2.
*Marshall, Howard. "The Illustrated Bible Dictionary", ed J. D. Douglas et al. Leicester 1980. II, p 804
*Robinson, J. A. T. "The Priority of John" P 122
*Cf. Marsh, "John seems to have believed that theology was not something which could be used to read a meaning into events but rather something that was to be discovered in them. His story is what it is because his theology is what it is; but his theology is what it is because the story happened so" (p&nbsp;580–581).</ref>

The Book of Revelation is today generally agreed to have a separate author, [[John of Patmos]], {{c.|95}} with some parts possibly dating to [[Nero]]'s reign in the early 60s.<ref name="Hart 2023 p. 575">{{cite book | last=Hart | first=David Bentley | title=The New Testament: A Translation | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2023 | isbn=978-0-300-27146-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU6qEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA575 | access-date=1 January 2024 | page=575}}</ref><ref name="Hodgkins 2019 p. 597">{{cite book | last=Hodgkins | first=Christopher | title=Literary Study of the Bible: An Introduction | publisher=Wiley | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-118-60449-6 | chapter=15.2 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OOLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT597 | access-date=1 January 2024 | page=unpaginated}}</ref><ref name="Fletcher 2017 p. 70">{{cite book | last=Fletcher | first=Michelle | title=Reading Revelation as Pastiche: Imitating the Past | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | series=The Library of New Testament Studies | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-567-67271-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upSZDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 | access-date=1 January 2024 | page=70}}</ref><ref name=Harris/><ref name="Fourth Gospel 1985 p. 355"/><ref name="Kelly2012"/><ref name=Ehrman>{{Cite book|last=Ehrman |first=Bart D.|author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |title=The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford |location=New York |isbn=0-19-515462-2 |page=468 }}</ref>