The Apostle "John the Divine" or "John the Evangelist"

[Mamastrocity]

I’m trying to find out more about his lineage, particularly if he is the son of Salome or the son of Mary Magdalene, and if he is NOT the son of Mary Magdalene, then who is and what role did that man play?

I’ve heard that Mary Magdalene’s son was John the Baptist, and I’ve also heard that he’s not and that it was Elizabeth’s son who was John the Baptist.

I’ve done a little bit of digging in scripture and I think I’ve just ended up a confusing myself.

"Saint John the Divine as the son of Zebedee, and his mother’s name was Salome. [Matthew 4:21, 27:56; Mark 15:40, 16:1].

The reason I ask is that I was under the impression that John was Jesus’s cousin; but I don’t see where Salome is ever tied to the Virgin Mary.

Can someone help me out?

 

[LilyM]

John is most definitely the son of Zebedee, as the Gospels describe, and not related to Jesus at all.

Your confusion may stem from the fact that there are TWO different and unrelated Apostles both named James.

One of these Jameses is described as ‘brother of the Lord’, along with Joses (not John) and a few other individuals.

The OTHER Apostle James is the brother of John. These two brothers (James and John), the sons of Zebedee, are not related to Jesus in any way.

 

[puzzleannie]

OP raises several questions, first why is this discussion not in the scripture forum, second, what shred of evidence, biblical or otherwise, is there for the extraordinary theory that John, brother of James, son of Zebedee is the son of Mary Magdalene. If you accept that his mother was Salome, what is the source for his being a cousin of Jesus, and even if he is, why would that relationship necessarily come through Jesus’ mother Mary? The last question is, why is this even an issue?

 

[LilyM]

OP raises several questions, first why is this discussion not in the scripture forum, second, what shred of evidence, biblical or otherwise, is there for the extraordinary theory that John, brother of James, son of Zebedee is the son of Mary Magdalene. If you accept that his mother was Salome, what is the source for his being a cousin of Jesus, and even if he is, why would that relationship necessarily come through Jesus’ mother Mary? The last question is, why is this even an issue?

I think the ‘cousin’ thing simply stems from confusion between the two Apostles named James, one of whom was indeed Jesus’ cousin, but not the one who was John’s brother.

As for the Mary Magdalene theory - no idea. Way out of left field.

 

[Mamastrocity]

OP raises several questions, first why is this discussion not in the scripture forum, second, what shred of evidence, biblical or otherwise, is there for the extraordinary theory that John, brother of James, son of Zebedee is the son of Mary Magdalene. If you accept that his mother was Salome, what is the source for his being a cousin of Jesus, and even if he is, why would that relationship necessarily come through Jesus’ mother Mary? The last question is, why is this even an issue?

Easy there! I ~did~ explain that I was confused; I’m more than aware I have crossed my wires somewhere and I was hoping that someone could straighten me out; there is no need to be terse.

Furthermore, I posted it here because it did not seem to fit the content for the sacred scripture forum under apologetics; I figured this was more a scholarly-type of question, particularly since I’m going off of BOTH scripture and scholarly information–and I want to be sure I have my facts straight.

 

[Mamastrocity]

John is most definitely the son of Zebedee, as the Gospels describe, and not related to Jesus at all.

Your confusion may stem from the fact that there are TWO different and unrelated Apostles both named James.

One of these Jameses is described as ‘brother of the Lord’, along with Joses (not John) and a few other individuals.

The OTHER Apostle James is the brother of John. These two brothers (James and John), the sons of Zebedee, are not related to Jesus in any way.

Ok, that makes sense. And I think I may have found where part of my confusion arose…I somehow confused Elizabeth with Mary Magdalene, when Mary goes to visit her. No idea how or why I did that. Must have flipped my idiot switch. Whoopsie!

 

[puzzleannie]

definitely too late at night either we need more sleep or more coffee. I always thought John the Divine and John the Evangelist were the same person, John, brother of James, son of Zebedee, the apostle whom Jesus loved, and younger than Jesus and the other apostles. Is not the Episcopal cathedral in New York named for him? I thought John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, son of Elizabeth and Zachary, and consequently older than Jesus. Since he is the guy who was beheaded by Herod, he can’t be the same person as the apostle. If I were writing a novel I would be careful not to have several characters with the same name, or even beginning with the same letter, so I would have had a lot fewer Johns and Marys, but I guess the scripture writers have to go with the material and characters at hand.

 

[LilyM]

definitely too late at night either we need more sleep or more coffee. I always thought John the Divine and John the Evangelist were the same person, John, brother of James, son of Zebedee, the apostle whom Jesus loved, and younger than Jesus and the other apostles. Is not the Episcopal cathedral in New York named for him? I thought John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, son of Elizabeth and Zachary, and consequently older than Jesus. Since he is the guy who was beheaded by Herod, he can’t be the same person as the apostle. If I were writing a novel I would be careful not to have several characters with the same name, or even beginning with the same letter, so I would have had a lot fewer Johns and Marys, but I guess the scripture writers have to go with the material and characters at hand.

Ok, so looks like we have multiple switcheroos going on here - one being John the Baptist being confused with John the Apostle, who is indeed otherwise known as John the Evangelist or John the Divine :yup:

My prescription is indeed more sleep or more coffee. Sleep is better, coffee is quicker