Does Saint John have different names?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CutlerB
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

CutlerB

Guest
I have just gone through a list of Christian Martyrs in the first century. All the Apostles are listed, as far as I noticed, and a “John the Evangelist”.

Now, I am confused about this John. Is he the same as Saint John the Apostle, the Beloved Disciple, and John of Patmos?
 
Yup. Not that he has different names (unlike, say the Apostle Jude also known as Thaddeus), just that John is a common name, so various descriptions were used to distinguish this John from, say, John the Baptist.

This St John was known for many things - being an Apostle, writing the Gospel (hence Evangelist), being exiled to Patmos where he wrote Revelation, and is traditionally associated with the Beloved Disciple. There is at least one other title too, one which I love - St John the Divine (“divine” being another word for a theologian, since his Gospel is theologically very rich - not to mean that he actually was divine in any way!).

So - lots of achievements in his life, lots of titles he is known by.
 
I’m pretty sure Saint John the Apostle and the Beloved Disciple are the same person, as is Saint John the Evangelist (although it’s likely others, too, had a hand in writing the Gospel of John).

But isn’t it a matter of debate among Biblical historians if Saint John the Apostle and John of Patmos are the same person?

I don’t think we know for sure whether John of Patmos is Saint John the Apostle…
 
The author of the Book of Revelation did not write the Fourth Gospel. They are different John’s according to most modern scholarship.

It is also of great doubt in my mind that John was the Beloved Disciple. We do know that a certain John the Presbyter might have had a hand in writing the Fourth Gospel and perhaps two or the whole 3 of the Johannine Letters.

I am not convinced that any of these John’s are John of Zebedee, although the author of Revelation seems most like him in nature (Son of Thunder?).
 
The author of the Book of Revelation did not write the Fourth Gospel. They are different John’s according to most modern scholarship.

It is also of great doubt in my mind that John was the Beloved Disciple. We do know that a certain John the Presbyter might have had a hand in writing the Fourth Gospel and perhaps two or the whole 3 of the Johannine Letters.

I am not convinced that any of these John’s are John of Zebedee, although the author of Revelation seems most like him in nature (Son of Thunder?).
Who is the Beloved Disciple, based on what you’ve read? I always thought it was Saint John the Apostle - you know, John the son of Zebedee.
 
I have just gone through a list of Christian Martyrs in the first century. All the Apostles are listed, as far as I noticed, and a “John the Evangelist”.

Now, I am confused about this John. Is he the same as Saint John the Apostle, the Beloved Disciple, and John of Patmos?
He is also known as John the Theologian in the Eastern Churches.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top