Apostles

THE APOSTLES : M.M.NINAN
John probably knew and undoubtedly approved of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but
these gospels spoke of Jesus primarily in the year following the imprisonment and death of John
the Baptist. Around 600, however, Sophronius of Jerusalem noted that "two epistles bearing his
name ... are considered by some to be the work of a certain John the Elder" and, while stating that
Revelation was written by John on Patmos, it was different works who wrote what was dictated
by John in their literary style. Hence literary analysis cannot be used to negate the authenticity of
the epistles.
Some modern scholars have raised the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and
John of Patmos were three separate individuals. Certain lines of evidence suggest that John of
Patmos wrote Revelation but neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. For one, the
author of Revelation identifies himself as "John" several times, but the author of the Gospel of John
never identifies himself directly. Some Catholic scholars state that "vocabulary, grammar, and style
make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s)
responsible for the fourth gospel".
John shared the title "Sons of Thunder" along with his brother James. Like his elder brother
James he was one of the inner three disciples who were with Jesus in the crucial events.
5:37)
Peter, James and John were the only witnesses of the raising of Daughter of Jairus (Mk
All three also witnessed the Transfiguration in the mountain (Mt. 17:1) ,