JOHN, GOSPEL OF

the fourth of the Gospels, and a unique book. It has been almost more than any other book the battleground of criticism. It differs markedly from the first three ‘Synoptists.’ The discourses in it are quite unlike those in Matthew and Luke. Alone, it gives the turning of water into wine, and the raising of Lazarus. Scholars are still sharply divided as to whether it is from the hand of J.,*the s. of Zebedee. Its defenders argue it is the work of an eye-witne , a Jew, a Jew of Palestine, an apostle, the Apostle of St. J. Its a ailants argue such a work could not be the work of one who had known Jesus, and | that its style and theology are later. The question of evidence is exceedingly complicated, and here it can only he said that the external evidence is doubtful; the internal evidence is curiously conflicting, but on the whole, against the traditional authorship. Even its defenders aliow that the thought of Christ’s discourses is colored by the writer, while, on the other hand, it is generally adxeitted that J.’s date for the Crucifixion fs right as against the Synoptists. It can hardly be earlier than 90 A.D., or much later than 110 (Schmiedel, 140, is too late), though it is uncertain it was used by Justin Martyr. It has been attributed to J. from Irenzeus downwards. Some think it is the work of a presbyter J., confused with the apostle and s. of Zebedee. It seems impo ible to deny the difficulties in accepting it entirely,or to deny not only its spiritual but hist. value. It can hardly be unconnected with the other Johannine writings, or, ultimately, with the apostle. John, Epistles of, three in number. (1) John has been held to be by the author of the Gospel since Irenzeus, and only a few critics deny it. The traditional authorship is supported by the Mura tori an fragment on the Canon, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian. It probably dates from the first quarter of the II. cent. The heresy denounced is probably Docetism. 2 and 8 John were sometimes reckoned among the ‘doubtful’ writings They appear in the Mura tori an fragment, but the early Syriac Church did not recognize them. 2 John is addre ed to an ‘elect lady,’ and by this some Asian Church is probably signified. $ John is written to Gaius, and is probably closely connected with 2 John. All three Epistles are of the same school, and are connected with the Gospel.