the beloved disciple he isn't
Thomas Black at "Truth is Still Truth" responds to Tabor's claims that the beloved disciple is none other than James the brother of Jesus. He notes:...the [beloved] disciple names himself in John 21:20,24This seems to be an interesting point, and I support johannine authorship (and the johannine identity of the beloved disciple), but the book still says nowhere that John wrote it, only that the beloved disciple did. The identity of the beloved disciple is still in question. It seems, however that the external evidence in support of johannine authorship is quite strong. Irenaeus, who knew Polycarp personally (who knew John himself) states, "John the disciple of the Lord, who leaned back on his breast, published the Gospel while he was resident at Ephesus in Asia" (Against Heresies 3.1.2.). See pgs. 23 ff. in Carson's Pillar New Testament Commentary.John 21:20,24 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them… This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.If you accept the authorship of the gospel of John as being John, than the author has indeed identified himself.
Labels: controversy
posted by jdarlack @ 6.7.06
1 Comments:
Indeed, I left out the external evidence for John being the author. The Irenaeus/ Polycarp statements which you mention are among them as well as some similarities between John and 1,2,3 John - not to mention a simpler grammatical style which would be at least equivalent to a common man like John -vs- the more intricate linguistics of Dr. Luke.
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