JOHN 263 JOHN (1) John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, was the son of the priest Zacharias and Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, the mother of our Lord. He was a Nazarite from his birth, and he pre- pared himself for his mission by years of self aiscipline in the desert, until at length he appeared to startle his hearers with the preaching of repentance. The rite of baptism which he administered was a token and symbol of repentance and forgniveness of sins, preparatory to that baptism to follow, the distinctive quality of which was to be the gift of regeneration through the power of the Holy Spirit. With the baptism of Jesus the more especial office of the forerunner ceased, and soon after his ministry came to a close. He had fearlessly denounced Herod Antipas for taking Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and was accord- ingly flung into prison, where ere long he was executed et the request of Sa- lome, the daughter of the abandoned Herodias. The Mandaeans or Sabaeans still claim to be his disciples. (2) John the Apostle. His father was Zebedee (Matt. iv:21), his mother Sa- lome (Matt, xxvi: 56; Mark xv: 40, xvi: 1). His father was a fisherman who kept hired servants (Mark i: 20), and was therefore of some position. John was called with his brother James to follow Jesus (Matt, iv: 21). His nature was of that sensitive kind which is the temperament of genius, eloquence, pas- sion, and love. In the first three Gospels he figures as Boanerges, or Son of Thun- der (Mark iii: 17), and in the excess of his zeal he wished to call down fire from heaven on a village of the Samaritans because "they did not receive" Jesus (Luke ix: 54). In the 4th gospel the loving elements of his character alone appear. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved (John xx: 2). He was personally acquainted with Caiaphas, the high priest (John xviii: 15, 16, 19, 28). At the crucifixion the mother of Jesus was intrusted to his care, and he took her to his house (John xix: 27). With Peter he was early at the sepulcher (xx: 2-4). After the resurrection he remained at Jerusalem for at least 15 years (Acts iii., iv:; see xv: 6 and Gal. ii: 9). Tradi- tion asserts that he visited Rome, and was there, before the Latin Gate, plunged into a caldron of boiling oil, from which he was supernaturally de- livered, so that he was a martyr in will, though not in deed. The Roman Church commemorates this circumstance on May 6, under the title S. Johannes ante Por- tam Latinam. At a later period he was banished to Patmos, where he saw the apocalyptic vision (Rev. i: 9) Tradi- tion makes his last sphere Ephesus, where he died at an advanced age. (3) A dignitary mentioned in Acts iv:6. (4) John Mark. Christians of St. John, Disciples of John. — The first name was given by Eu- ropeans to, and the pecond assumed by, a Jewish sect, perhaps descended from the Hemero-baptists mentioned by an early Christian writer. They are fol- lowers of John the Baptist rather than of John the Apostle. They live in Persia and Arabia, especially at Bassora, and are called by the Orientals Sabaeans. The Epistles General of John. — The first epistle : No name indicating author- ship appears in the letter itself, but the style is that of the 4th gospel, and 35 passages are nearly the same in each. The external evidence for its genuine- ness and authenticity is very strong. Evidence in its favor is adduciblc from Polycarp, Papias as quoted by Eusebius, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and Ter- tullian. The general opinion of Chris- tians is strongly in its favor. Its date has been fixed between A. D. 70 and 96 or 100, the last being the most probable. The epistle treats of love. The second epistle: It is written by "the elder" to "the elect lady and her children." The external evidence for it is much weaker than that for the 1st epistle. The third epistle: This was addressed by "the elder" to "the well-beloved Gaius." The domineering Diotrephes is censured, Demetrius commended. In point of evidence it stands like the 2d epistle. The Gospel According to John. — The 4th Gospel, and distinct from the others in various respects. They record chiefly the ministry of Jesus in Galilee ; it treats of His labors in Jerusalem. While they chiefly illustrate His humanity, it gives special prominence to His divinity. The author of the book of John was well acquainted with the topography of Jerusalem (v: 2, ix: 7), and with the Jewish feasts, which he carefully records (ii: 13, vii: 2, x: 22, etc.). His Greek is of a Hebraic type, though not so much so as that of the Apocalypse. The book itself does not name its author; the nearly uniform voice of antiquity as- signed it to John. In modern times there has been serious controversy on the subject, rationalists maintaining that it was penned too late in the 2d century to have emanated from John, who, at latest, cannot have lived beyond A. D. 100. The large majority of theologians, how- ever, consider it of earlier date. Hilgen- feld^ a rationalistic writer (1875), is willing to grant it as early a date as 132
