ST. JOHN’S KNOWLEDGE AND IDENTITY
Some seem to be calling into question John’s knowledge and identity as a means to refute what he wrote. Unfortunately, that does not work, as we know much about this man from his scribe, his disciples and their disciples. It has been tried in the past and didn’t work then either.
WHO IS JOHN?
• Son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of James the Greater
• Originally a fisherman
• Together with Peter, a prominent force in the founding and guidance of the Church (Acts 3;1 sqq)
• Lived most of his adult life in Asia Minor, not Palestine
• Dies of natural causes near 100 CE, must have been a very young adolescent when he became an Apostle. Not uncommon among Jews, as boys become adults at their Bar Mitzvah at age 13 and assigned adult duties in the community of faith
• St. Iranaeus designates the Apostle and Evangelist as a resident of Asia Minor and expressly declares that he wrote the Gospel at Ephesus, a Greek community
HOW IS JOHN’S GOSPEL WRITTEN?
• Written in Greek with a distinctive character that suggests the author is highly fluent in Greek and knowledgeable of Hellenistic culture and though, such as
• Vocabulary, diction,
• Strong grammatical use of particles, pronouns, prepositions, vets, asyndta, reduplications, repetitions which is typical of Hellenistic speech of the first century rather than Hebrew or Aramaic
• Bishop Papias of Hierapolis in Phrygia, an immediate disciple of John details in his writings how he was employed as a scribe by John.
• John was obviously well connected with Hellenistic culture and employs a Greek scribe to complete his work
• In such a relationship there is an understanding of the minds between the author and the scribe, as was typical of Greek thinkers of the time. (i.e. Aristotle never wrote, but is the author of his works)
• It was an accepted Hellenistic practice to employ scribes to write and for the author to proofread and authorize publication
• What he dictates reflects a knowledge of Greek culture, language and thought
• The choice to translate the narrative from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek suggests a target audience being Greeks.
• It is reasonable to accept that his use of such terms as Logos and sign are used with the Greek nuance instead of the Hebrew understanding, as the semantics of the two societies were different, it would have made little sense to write for Greeks, in Greek using semantics, linguistic pragmatics and nuance that was foreign to them.
• In addition, there was no need to write another Jewish version of the Gospel. There were already three in existence and the letters
• John’s Gospel is written at the earliest 96 CE or shortly after.
• The second century Church, after 100 CE, confers upon him the title, The Theologian of the Evangelists, a title given to him by men of great knowledge of theology and philosophy and not given to any other NT writer, not even Paul, despite his eloquence.
• His tie-backs to prophecies and teachings of Jesus suggest that he is Palestinian Jew, but with a great deal of knowledge of geographical and social conditions of Palestine even in his slightest incidental references. Not other Evangelist has this quality in his writing.
• Focuses on the person of the Redeemer, rather than his works. Events seem to be only a frame for the words, conversation and teaching of Jesus
• From his opening sentences John turns his attention to the inmost recesses of eternity. This requires insight into metaphysics, eschatology, scripture, and apologetics.
Code:
Did he attend school or did he learn from his surroundings in Asia Minor? Who knows? Did he understand and use Hellenistic thought and language to his advantage? Obviously.
Was he a Mystic? Affirmative
Was he an intelligent man? Affirmative
Was he more intelligent than most of us here? Can anyone here write like him?
:clapping: :clapping: 
