John the Evangelist

John the Evangelist (Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; يوحنا الإنجيلي, Ioannes, יוחנן ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although this has been disputed by most modern scholars. Johannine literature and Four Evangelists The Gospel of John refers to an otherwise unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved", who "bore witness to and wrote" the Gospel's message. The author of the Gospel of John seemed interested in maintaining the internal anonymity of the author's identity, although interpreting the Gospel in the light of the Synoptic Gospels and considering that the author names (and therefore is not claiming to be) Peter, and that James was martyred as early as AD 44, it has been widely believed that the author was the Apostle John (though some believe he was pretending to be). Christian tradition says that John the Evangelist was John the Apostle. The Apostle John was along with Peter and James the Just one of the three Pillars of the Jerusalem church after Jesus' death. He was one of the original twelve apostles. It is traditionally believed that John was the youngest of the apostles and survived all of them. He is said to have lived to old age, dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan, thus becoming the only apostle who did not die as a martyr. It had been believed that he was exiled (around AD 95) to the Aegean island of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. However, some attribute the authorship of Revelation to another man, called John the Presbyter, or to other writers of the late first century AD. Bauckham argues that the early Christians identified John the Evangelist with John the Presbyter. Authorship of the Johannine works and Johannine epistles The authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century AD.