Hi
John the Uneducated Apostle, and the one whom Jesus loved!
The four canonical gospels, can be divided into two, the Synoptics and the pro-Samaritan Gospel of John. With most Christians cherry-picking what they want from the gospels. They choose John for Jesus’ longer ministry, and the crucifixion, owing to Mary the mother of Jesus was standing beneath the cross, as she is absent in the Synoptics. The Bible contains within its pages, pseudepigrapha gospels and acts, authoritative epistles, non-authoritative epistle, and forged texts. By now every one should be aware that the four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John fall in the pseudepigrapha category. However, we are going to stick with John the Disciple. But who was John, the author of the pseudepigrapha text and supposedly the author of Apokalypsis/Revelations. John of Patmos, John the Evangelist, John the Elder, John the Presbyter, and John the beloved disciple of Jesus. Have all been quoted by Christians, as the author of the Gospel of John (GoJ), 1, 2, and 3 John, with the GoJ being dated between 95-105 CE. With most Christians accepting that all the names above are the alias of John the Disciple, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of James. Logically, even if John son of Zebedee was a year or two younger than Jesus, he would have been an old man around 100 years of age at the time the gospel was written. But the crux of the story is, and I quote the NT., John along with Peter were according to the Greek manuscripts, αγραμματοι εισιν και ιδιωται/ illiterate yes and idiots, if we translate word for word. Acts 4:13 So, my question is, how can an illiterate Aramaic-speaking fisherman write what is termed scholarly Greek of the 1st-century CE. Furthermore, what is odd is that the apostle, John son of Zebedee, met his end probably at the same time with his brother James in 43 CE. At the hand of Jews/King Herod Agrippa I (11 BCE-44 CE). So, one has to ask the questions which John was Polycarp (69-155 CE) a disciple too, and who was the author of the Gospel of John (95-100 CE) and the various books accredited to him? However, according to Ehrman and many other scholars, the author of the Gospel of John never claims or intimates that he was John, son of Zebedee and brother to James.
The historian and author Harding in his book when referring to John, quotes from Papias (60-130 CE) ancient works and also the works of 20th-century scholar Shonfield, Harding wrote: It is well established that James was later put to death by Herod Agrippa about 43AD (Acts 12:2). Shortly thereafter, Herod died in the seventh year of his reign over Judea, having suffered for five days with severe pains in his stomach. [Flavius Josephus, “Jewish Antiquities,” 19.343-350] According to the author of Acts, Herod was struck down by an angel and eaten by worms (Acts 12:23). What about John? Did he escape Herod’s wrath? Apparently not. “We have a testimony. That both the sons of Zebedee, John as well as James, had been executed in Palestine in the early days of Christianity. And the words of Jesus quoted by Mark confirm that both had suffered by the time the Gospels were written,” says Hugh Schonfield (1901-1988) in his book Those Incredible Christians, published in 1968. Other Bible scholars have said the same, such as R.H. Charles.
(Polycarp could not have worked with John the disciple, as he was born two decades after the disciple John had met his demise at the hands of the Jews, along with his brother James!)
I have also found another source that confirms Papias on the death of the disciple John and brother James from one of the fragment (fr.) manuscripts of Philip of Side (380-431) in fr. 4.6 to be precise, which reads: A quote from the second book of the Λογίων κυριακών έξήγησις of Papias: the martyrdom of John and James (an addition to Eusebius, HE III, 39). Heyden adds that this fragment is particularly interesting because Papias says that the Evangelist John and his brother James had been killed by the Jews. The same words are also quoted in a homily of John Chrysostom on 1 Corinthians 2, with the promise of resurrection for all the martyrs. Which alone would be a terminus post quem given for this source, but also further demonstrates the close relationship between Philip and John Chrysostom.
Christianity is lacking in authenticity due to ancient sources from early Jewish, Christian, and Pagan text, according to learned Bible scholars. Even Christian art when depicting the apostles show them as literate, when their Bible says otherwise. It is an impossibility that the illiterate fisherman, and disciple John was an author of his mother tongue, let alone the author of the Greek Good News. What do you say?
Cofion
Approved ~ FS
Jero Jones
Article URL : https://breakingnewsandreligion.online/discuss/