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Guide to the Book of John

Key Information and Helpful Resources

This is another one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ life, and we learn at the end of the book that it comes from one of Jesus’ closest followers, called “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He appears many times in the story itself (John 13:23, 19:34-37, 20:2), and there’s some debate about whether it’s John the son of Zebedee who was one of the twelve disciples, or a different John who lived in Jerusalem and was later known as John the Elder.

Whichever John it was, the book embodies his eyewitness testimony. It has been brilliantly designed with a clear purpose that he states near the end. He says he wrote the book, “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and that by believing, you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). John believes that the Jesus you read about in this book is alive and real and can change your life forever.

The book of John opens with an introductory poem and a short story (ch. 1) that is followed by a big block of stories about Jesus performing miraculous signs that generate increasing controversy (chs. 2-10). It all culminates in Jesus’ greatest sign, the raising of Lazarus, which also creates the greatest controversy. Israel’s leaders decide to kill Jesus (chs. 11-12), which launches us into the book’s second half in chapters 13-17. These chapters focus on Jesus’ final night and last words to his disciples, followed by his arrest, trial, death, and resurrection (chs. 18-20). The book concludes with an epilogue in chapter 21.

8:46 • New Testament Overviews

Who Wrote the Book of John?

John’s Gospel account claims to be his eyewitness testimony. There are continuing debates about whether this refers to John the son of Zebedee or a different John who lived in Jerusalem and was later known as John the Elder.

The events described in John take place in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the surrounding occupied lands of the Greco-Roman empire during the early 1st century, between 30-40 C.E. John was likely composed between 70 and 130 C.E.

Literary Styles

The book of John is written in narrative.

Discerning light from darkness and life from death
God’s love for his people’s unity throughout the world
The true humanity and divinity of Jesus
The choice to believe into God’s power over death

John is divided into five parts. John 1 introduces Jesus. 2-12 detail seven miraculous signs. 13-17 focus on the night before Jesus’ trial. 18-20 cover his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. And 21 concludes with the disciples’ ongoing mission.

John 1: Jesus as the Word and the First Disciples

The first half of the book opens with a two-part introduction. First, there is a poem (John 1:1-18) that opens with the famous line, “In the beginning was the Word.” This is an obvious allusion to Genesis 1, when God created everything with his word. The image is powerful and profound. A person’s words are distinct from the person who speaks, yet they are also the embodiment of that person’s mind and will. John says that God’s Word was “with God,” that is, distinct, but also “the Word was God,” that is, divine. As we ponder this, we hear later in the poem that this divine Word became human as Jesus. John draws on the stories from Exodus 33-34, saying that Jesus is God’s tabernacle in our midst. The glorious, divine presence that hovered over the ark of the covenant became a human, Jesus. This leads us to his last claim that the one true God of Israel consists of God the Father and the Son, who has become human to reveal the Father to us.

As we consider these mind-bending claims, we next read the stories about how John the Baptist meets Jesus and then leads others to meet him and become his disciples. One by one as people encounter Jesus, they say out loud who they think he is. In this one chapter, Jesus is given seven titles: the Lamb of God, Son of God, Rabbi, Messiah, King of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Son of Man. These prepare us for John’s love of sevens in designing the story, which altogether make a claim that this fully human Jesus from Nazareth is the messianic King and teacher of Israel and that he’s the Son of God who will die for the sins of the world.

John 2-12: Jesus Performs Miraculous Signs

Now, that’s a big claim to make about someone, but John will support it through the stories in chapters 2-12. They all follow the same basic pattern. Jesus performs a sign or makes a claim about his divine identity, resulting in misunderstanding or controversy, and in the end, people are forced to make a choice about who they think Jesus is.

Chapters 2-4 show Jesus encountering four classic Jewish institutions, and, in each case, Jesus shows how he is the reality to which that institution points. Jesus is first placed at a wedding party where the wine runs out. Jesus takes huge jars of water, totaling about 120 gallons, and he turns them into the best wine ever. The head waiter then says to the groom, “You saved the best wine for last!” While this is true on a literal level, John also calls this miracle a sign (John 2:11). It’s a symbol that reveals something about Jesus. Just as Isaiah had said, the Messiah’s Kingdom would be like a huge party with good wine (Isa. 25:6-8). This first miraculous sign reveals the generosity of Jesus’ Kingdom.

Next, Jesus goes to the Jerusalem temple, the place where Heaven and Earth were supposed to come together. This is where God meets with his people. Jesus marches in and asserts his authority over the temple, running out all the money changers and stopping the sacrificial offerings. When he is threatened for this behavior, Jesus responds by saying, “Destroy this temple and I’ll raise it again in three days.” In other words, Jesus is claiming that his coming sacrificial death is where Heaven and Earth will truly meet. He is the reality to which the temple building points.

In chapter 3, Jesus has an all-night conversation with a rabbi named Nicodemus, who thinks that Jesus is just like him, another rabbi or teacher of Israel. Jesus tells him that Israel needs more than just another teacher with new information. They need a new heart and life, or in Jesus’ words, “No one can experience God’s Kingdom without being born again” (John 3:3). He believes that humans are caught in a web of selfishness and sin leading to death, but he knows that God loves this world and is here to offer people a new birth and a chance for a new life.

From there, Jesus travels north and ends up at a sacred well in conversation with a Samaritan, or non-Jewish, woman (ch. 4). They start talking about water, which Jesus turns into a metaphor of himself; he’s here to bring living water that can become a source of eternal life. In the book of John, this important phrase refers to a new quality of life, one that is infused with God’s eternal love, beginning now and lasting into the future.

The book of John continues from here with another collection of stories in chapters 5-10. These chapters take place during four Jewish sacred days or feasts. Once again, Jesus uses images related to the feasts to make claims about himself.

In chapter 5, Jesus heals a paralyzed man on the Sabbath, starting a controversy with the Jewish leaders about working on the day of rest. Jesus says that his Father is working on the Sabbath, and so is he. They catch his meaning. He was “calling God his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:17-18), and they want to kill him for this claim.

Chapter 6 takes place during Passover, the feast that retells the Exodus story with a symbolic meal of lamb, bread, and wine. On this occasion, Jesus miraculously provides food for a crowd of thousands. This results in people asking him for more bread, and Jesus responds by saying that he is the “true bread,” and that if they “eat” him, they will discover eternal life. This offends many people, who all stop following him.

Chapters 7-10 make up a block of stories set in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. This festival retold the story of Israel’s wilderness wanderings as God guided them with the pillar of cloud and fire and provided them with water in the desert. Jesus stands in the temple courts and shouts, “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Later, he says, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). In both of these announcements, Jesus is claiming to be the illuminating presence of God as well as the lifesaving gift of God to his people. While some people believe and follow him, others are offended and try to kill him for his exalted claims (John 8:59).

The final feast story, also told in chapter 10, takes place during Hanukkah, which means “rededication.” This festival retells the story of Judah Maccabee clearing the temple of idols and setting it apart as holy once more. Jesus enters into the temple area and says that he is the one whom God has “set apart as the holy one” (John 10:36). His point is that he is the true temple where God’s presence dwells, which is why he finally says, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This makes the Jerusalem leaders even more angry, and they set in motion a plan to kill Jesus, who retreats from the city.

All these conflicts culminate in one last miraculous sign in chapter 11. Jesus hears that his dear friend Lazarus is sick, but his family lives near Jerusalem. That city is now a death trap for Jesus. He could stay away and save his own life, but he loves Lazarus. Once Jesus hears that Lazarus has died, he goes to raise him from the dead. Jesus calls him back to life and out of his tomb, knowing that it will cost him his life. The news of this amazing sign spreads quickly, and, just as Jesus knew would happen, the Jerusalem leaders hear about it and conspire to murder him. Jesus rides into Jerusalem as Israel’s King, who is rejected by their leaders.

The first half of John draws to a close with this story about Jesus laying down his life as an act of love for a friend. This is, of course, yet another sign pointing forward to the cross. In this way, the story of Lazarus concludes the stories about Jesus’ signs and transitions the reader into the second half of the book.

Water of Life

Jesus' Identity in John's Gospel

What Israel's Feasts Teach Us

John 13-17: Jesus’ Last Night With His Disciples

The second half of the book of John begins with chapters 13-17, and it focuses entirely on Jesus’ final night and last words to his disciples. He tries to prepare them for his coming death, and he starts by performing a shocking act at dinner (ch. 13). Jesus takes on the role of a common servant by kneeling down to wash the disciples’ dirty feet. In their culture, a superior rabbi would never do this kind of thing for his disciples. Jesus says this act is a symbol of his entire life’s purpose, which is to reveal God’s true nature as a being of self-giving love. It also symbolizes what it means for Jesus to be the messianic King. He will become a servant and give up his life to die for the sins of the world.

This leads to Jesus’ great command to his disciples. To follow Jesus is to love other people just as Jesus loved them. Acts of loving generosity are to be the hallmark of Jesus’ followers because this is what shows the world who Jesus is and, therefore, who God is.

Jesus continues with a long, flowing speech, concluded with a prayer (chs. 14-17). In these speeches, you’ll find a handful of repeated themes. Jesus keeps saying that he’ll be “going away.” This saddens the disciples, but Jesus also says that it’s for the best because it means that he will send the Spirit, also called “the advocate.” As a human, Jesus can only be in one place at a time, but the Spirit can be Jesus’ divine, personal presence in any place and any time.

Remember, for John, the unique deity of the one God consists of the loving, unified relationship shared between the Father and the Son. Jesus says the Spirit is that loving personal presence, which comes to live in his people and draw them into the love of the Father and the Son. Jesus says that his disciples are those who “abide” or “remain” in that divine love in the same way that branches are connected to a vine. He’s describing how the personal love of God can permeate a person’s life, healing, transforming, and making them new.

The Spirit will also empower Jesus’ followers to carry on his mission in the world and fulfill the great command to love others through radical acts of service. In this way, Jesus says, his disciples will “bear witness to the truth.” The Spirit will enable them to expose the selfish, corrupt ways we humans treat each other and declare that, in Jesus, God has saved the world through his love and opened up a new way to be human.

Finally, Jesus predicts that there will be opposition. Just as the Jewish leaders rejected him, his followers will also be persecuted. Jesus tells them not to be afraid because he has already conquered, or gained victory over, the world (John 16:33). Now, what Jesus means by the word “victory” he doesn’t really say, but it does lead us into the next section of the book, chapters 18-20. These chapters are where John shows us what victory looks like to Jesus.

The Last Will Be First

Holy Spirit

Why Is the Lord’s Supper Significant in the Bible?

John 18-20: Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection

The Jewish leaders send soldiers to arrest Jesus, and they find him and his disciples in a garden. When they ask which one is Jesus, he declares, “I am,” and they fall backward. This is brilliant writing on John’s part. These words of Jesus are the culmination of two sets of seven instances in which Jesus has used that very phrase, highlighting one of John’s core claims about Jesus.

The words, “I am” (ego eimi in Greek), are the Greek translation of the personal covenant name of God that was revealed to Moses in Exodus 3 and repeated many times in Isaiah. John has strategically placed seven moments in the story where Jesus says “I am,” followed by an astounding claim: I am the bread of life; the light of the world; the gate for the sheep; the good shepherd; the resurrection; the way, the truth, and the life; and the true vine. John has also designed seven other stories that have key moments where Jesus simply says, “I am,” echoing the divine name. This occurrence as Jesus is arrested is the ironic climax of them all. The moment when Jesus most fully reveals his divine power and victory is the moment he gives up his life.

Jesus is put on trial for his exalted claims of being the Son of God and the King of Israel. He’s first tried before Israel’s high priest and later before the Roman governor Pilate, who has to take seriously anyone charged with claiming to be the king of Israel. Jesus tells Pilate that “my Kingdom is not from this world,” meaning that while he is a King and that his Kingdom is for this world, its radically different value system and definition of power and greatness are not derived from this world. The values of Jesus’ Kingdom are defined by God’s character and revealed through Jesus’ death on the cross. The world’s true King conquers sin and evil by letting it conquer him. He gains victory over the world through an act of self-giving love.

After Jesus’ body is placed in a sealed tomb, chapter 20 begins on the first day of the new week. Mary and then other disciples discover that Jesus’ tomb is strangely open and empty. Mary suddenly meets Jesus, who is alive and raised from the dead!

Now, pause for a moment. The resurrection of Jesus connects into another pattern of sevens in John’s gospel. Back at the wedding party, when Jesus changed water into wine, John said that it was Jesus’ first sign. John also identified the healing of the sick boy from chapter 4 as the second sign, letting you keep count of the rest. If you do, you’ll realize that the sixth sign was raising Lazarus from the tomb, which Jesus performed at the cost of his own life. This means that the seventh and final sign is the greatest—Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead. It vindicates Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, the author of all life, whose love conquered death itself.

After the discovery of the empty tomb, Jesus meets up with the disciples and commissions them by sending the Spirit as he promised, so that his mission from the Father can now be carried on through them.

“God” Is Not a Name

Gospel of the Kingdom

Why did Jesus Rise on the Third Day?

John 21: Peter’s Commission and the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

The book of John then concludes with an epilogue exploring the ongoing mission of Jesus’ disciples (ch. 21). A number of disciples are fishing but catching nothing. Jesus appears to them on the shore, telling them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. When they obey him, they catch a huge amount of fish, and only in that moment do they recognize him. John is offering this story as a picture of discipleship to Jesus. His followers will be most effective in the world when their focus is not on their work but on listening for Jesus’ voice and obeying his words. That’s when they will truly see him at work in their lives.

Jesus next questions Peter and commissions him as a unique leader in the Jesus movement. Jesus indicates that Peter will also give up his life one day in service to Jesus. Then, all of a sudden, the story shifts focus to another figure standing there with Peter, the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is none other than the book’s author, John, and Jesus says his role in leading the Church will not be like Peter’s. John is called to spend his long life bearing witness to Jesus, so that others may believe in him.

And that is exactly what he did as he authored this amazing story about Jesus the Messiah and Son of God.

The Messiah

Eternal Life

Agape / Love

John believes that Jesus is alive and real, and that his message can change individual lives and the entire cosmos forever.

Downloads and Resources

John Overview Poster

Study Notes

John 1 Study Notes

Scripture Reference Guide

John 1 Script References

50 Jesus said to him, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” j

23 While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the signs He was doing and believed in His name. 24 But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew them all. 25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.

35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.” i

45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

70 Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.

53 Then each went to his own home.

59 At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area. i

41 “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there. 41 Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.” 42 And many in that place believed in Jesus.

55 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, g “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?” 57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.

49 I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know that His command leads to eternal life. So I speak exactly what the Father has told Me to say.”

38 “Will you lay down your life for Me?” Jesus replied. “Truly, truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.

Get up! Let us go on from here.

26 When the Advocate c comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me. 27 And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

31 “Do you finally believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

25 Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me. 26 And I have made Your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love You have for Me may be in them, and I in them.”

41 Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.

25 There are many more things that Jesus did. If all of them were written down, I suppose that not even the world itself would have space for the books that would be written.

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Hey Friend!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

Right from the start the book of John sounds different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the other three narratives about Jesus’ life and ministry). John doesn’t begin with Jesus as a baby in a manger or as a young man being baptized and starting his ministry. God’s Spirit led John to launch his story by showing us who Jesus is on an eternal and cosmic scale.

John introduces Jesus as “the Word.” Pastors and teachers have long discussed the meaning of “the Word” or logos in Greek. It is sometimes translated “reason” and is the root of the English word, “logic.” We could say that Jesus helps us make sense of God or helps us understand who God is. In Jesus, we see God’s character, his purposes, and his thoughts, because Jesus is God.

“The Word” can also refer to God’s promise to save his people. When we make a promise, we say that we have given our word. Jesus is God’s Word—God’s promise—which has taken on flesh and become a person (John 1:14). In Jesus, all of God’s promises are fulfilled.

What a profoundly mysterious truth that Jesus is the Word of God—God himself—and a human being! Thankfully, John doesn’t leave us with puzzles. The rest of his book helps us understand this beautiful and mysterious beginning.

John records seven “signs” Jesus performed which prove his identity as the promised Savior sent by God. These signs included changing water into wine (John 2:1-11), healing the sick (John 4:46-54, 5:1-15, and 9:1-41), and feeding huge crowds from one boy’s lunch (John 6:1-15). The signs culminate in Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44). We know that only God has this kind of power over life and death, and so these signs are hints leading us to the conclusion that Jesus must be God.

In addition to the signs, John also records seven times when Jesus described himself using “I am…” statements. These statements are like word pictures, which help explain Jesus’ identity and purpose. They also identify him as the God of the Old Testament (Exodus 3:13-14) come to us in person.

Jesus tells us, “I am the bread of life (John 6:35); the light of the world (John 8:12); the door for the sheep (John 10:7); the good shepherd (John 10:11); the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); and the true vine (John 15:1).” The stories and conversations in John’s gospel work together with these word pictures to help us know Jesus .

At the end of his book, John explains why he wrote it: “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (John 20:31 ESV). John writes so that each one of us can “meet” Jesus, believe that he is really God, and find new life through knowing him.

John writes so that each one of us can “meet” Jesus, believe that he is really God, and find new life through knowing him.

Throughout his book, John introduces us to people who encounter Jesus and react in very different ways. Some believe and trust Jesus, others misunderstand his teaching, and still others reject him and even seek to destroy him.

When Jesus’ disciple Philip asks Jesus to show him God the Father, Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father… I am in the Father and the Father is in me… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, 8-10 ESV).

Jesus doesn’t leave third or fourth options—we either believe he is God or we reject him as God. How we respond to Jesus—God’s Word—is the most important choice we will ever make. Whether we believe in Jesus is literally a life-or-death decision. John urges us to choose life in Jesus.

Have you met Jesus? If not, open John today!

In him was life,

And the life was the light of men., john 1:4 esv.

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The Gospels

Listen to Chuck Swindoll’s overview of John in his audio message from the Classic series God’s Masterwork .

Who wrote the book?

Not surprisingly, the gospel of John never provides the name of its author. Such identifications were not made in any of the other three biblical gospels either. However, two significant factors point to the identification of John as the author. First, the book itself identifies the author as the disciple whom Jesus loved. This description likely pointed to John for three reasons: the author had to be one of the twelve disciples because he was an eyewitness to the events in the gospel (John 21:24); he was probably one of the inner circle of three disciples (James, John, and Peter) because he was among the first Mary told of the resurrection (20:1–10); and this disciple is distinguished from Peter in the book, while James died too soon after the resurrection to be the author.

The second significant evidence for John’s authorship is the unanimous testimony of early Christians, among them the second-century Christian Irenaeus, who declared that John was the disciple who laid his head on Jesus—the disciple “whom Jesus loved” (13:23)—and the author of the gospel.

Where are we?

In Christian tradition, John’s gospel has always been referred to as the fourth gospel, meaning it was composed after the other three. Polycarp, a second-century Christian martyr who knew John personally, told Irenaeus that John had written the book during the apostle’s time serving the church in Ephesus. These factors suggest that John wrote the book between AD 85 and AD 95.

Why is John so important?

John did not include the nativity story in his gospel; instead, he introduced his book by going back even further into history. Invoking the “in the beginning” language of Genesis 1:1, John made a direct link between the nature of God and the nature of the Word, Jesus Christ. The emphasis on the deity of Christ is a striking quality of John’s gospel. It also comes through clearly elsewhere in the book, particularly in John 8:58 when Jesus claimed the divine name—“I am”—for Himself, which led an angry mob of Jews to try and kill Him for blasphemy.

What's the big idea?

While the other three gospels portray Jesus as the King, the Servant, and the Son of Man, John portrays Jesus as the Son of God. John stated his theme more clearly than any of the other gospel writers. He wrote so that his readers might “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that they may have life in His name (John 20:31). To accomplish that goal, John presented a riveting and distinctive picture of Jesus Christ, one in complete unity with the portraits in the other three gospels, but one that also adds significantly to the Bible’s revelation of Jesus Christ, the God-man.

John used a variety of techniques to communicate to his readers the nature of Jesus. These include his citation of Jesus’s seven “I am” statements, in which Jesus spoke of Himself in terms such as “the Light of the world” (8:12), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), and “the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6). Much of John’s gospel (chapters 2–12) might be called the Book of Signs, as it recounts Jesus’s performing of seven different miracles—such as the turning water to wine at Cana and raising Lazarus from the dead at Bethany. These miracles illustrate His identity as the Son of God.

How do I apply this?

Jesus’s identity as the divine Son of God sets Him apart from any other man who ever lived. He carries with Him the transcendence that comes only with God Himself. Therefore, His work on our behalf makes our salvation sure. Because He is God, His sacrifice on the cross has eternal implications, unlike the limited effect of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. Jesus, the God-man, has atoned for our sins. We can place our confidence in Him because of His divine nature.

For readers of John’s gospel, the question is a simple, though significant, one: Do you believe that Jesus is Lord? If you believe, you will receive eternal life, claiming the truth that you will one day live in the presence of God in a place with no more pain, no more tears, and no more death.

Bible Study Chart

John overview chart.

View Chuck Swindoll's chart of John , which divides the book into major sections and highlights themes and key verses.

View a list of Bible maps , excerpted from The Swindoll Study Bible.

The Gospel of John: reasons to believe in Jesus

by Jeffrey Kranz | Oct 27, 2018 | Bible Books

John is the story of Jesus: God who came down to save the world. This book was written by a disciple whom Jesus loved—the Church traditionally attributes it to John .

John is the fourth and last Gospel (an account of Jesus’ life and ministry) in the new Testament. John focuses on the deity of Christ more so than the other four: we see Jesus as the Word of God, the Son of God, and God Himself. Jesus is a great miracle worker, an omniscient teacher, a compassionate provider, and a faithful friend.

John may be the final Gospel, but this narrative begins far, far earlier than the other three. While Mark begins with Jesus’ adult ministry, and Matthew and Luke begin with His physical birth, John opens with the beginning of all creation: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Jesus presents Himself as God incarnate throughout the Gospel of John, often using the phrase “I am” (the memorial name of God revealed in Exodus ). John records several “I am” statements from Jesus throughout this book:

“I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35, 41, 48, 51)
“I am from [God], and He sent Me” (Jn 7:29)
“I am the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12; 9:5)
“I am [God]” (Jn 8:58)
“I am the door” (Jn 10:7, 9)
“I am the good shepherd” (Jn 10:11, 14)
“I am the Son of God” (Jn 10:36)
“I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25)
“I am the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6)
“I am the vine” (Jn 15:1, 5)

The Gospel of John makes a strong argument for Jesus as the exclusive savior, and the only way to know God (Jn 1:18; 14:6). Jesus is greater than the Jewish heroes Moses and Abraham (Jn 1:17; 8:58); Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and John challenges us to believe in Him.

Theme verse of John

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (Jn 20:30–31)

John’s role in the Bible

The miracles recorded in John’s gospel are written that the reader would believe in Jesus and find life in His name (Jn 20:30–31). Therefore, much of John’s material directly states who Jesus is, not just what He does or says.

Unlike Luke , John does not aim to chronicle the whole life of Christ—in fact, John doesn’t think the world could contain such a document (Jn 21:25). Instead, John presents a few signs and teachings that should compel us to believe in Jesus.

Quick outline of John

Prologue (Jn 1)
Healing the nobleman’s son (Jn 4)
Healing the sick man at the pool of Bethesda (Jn 5)
Feeding 5,000 (Jn 6:1–14)
Walking on water (Jn 6:15–21)
Healing the blind man (Jn 9)
Raising Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11)
The Jews reject Jesus, and Jesus withdraws to his disciples (Jn 12)
Jesus’ final teachings (Jn 13–16)
Jesus’ high priestly prayer (Jn 17)
Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and death (Jn 18–19)
Jesus’ resurrection (Jn 20)
Epilogue: Jesus feeds seven disciples, reinstates Peter (Jn 21)

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Introduction

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

The Gospel according to John is quite different in character from the three synoptic gospels. It is highly literary and symbolic. It does not follow the same order or reproduce the same stories as the synoptic gospels. To a much greater degree, it is the product of a developed theological reflection and grows out of a different circle and tradition. It was probably written in the 90s of the first century.

The Gospel of John begins with a magnificent prologue, which states many of the major themes and motifs of the gospel, much as an overture does for a musical work. The prologue proclaims Jesus as the preexistent and incarnate Word of God who has revealed the Father to us. The rest of the first chapter forms the introduction to the gospel proper and consists of the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus (there is no baptism of Jesus in this gospel—John simply points him out as the Lamb of God), followed by stories of the call of the first disciples, in which various titles predicated of Jesus in the early church are presented.

The gospel narrative contains a series of “signs”—the gospel’s word for the wondrous deeds of Jesus. The author is primarily interested in the significance of these deeds, and so interprets them for the reader by various reflections, narratives, and discourses. The first sign is the transformation of water into wine at Cana ( Jn 2:1 – 11 ); this represents the replacement of the Jewish ceremonial washings and symbolizes the entire creative and transforming work of Jesus. The second sign, the cure of the royal official’s son ( Jn 4:46 – 54 ) simply by the word of Jesus at a distance, signifies the power of Jesus’ life-giving word. The same theme is further developed by other signs, probably for a total of seven. The third sign, the cure of the paralytic at the pool with five porticoes in chap. 5 , continues the theme of water offering newness of life. In the preceding chapter, to the woman at the well in Samaria Jesus had offered living water springing up to eternal life, a symbol of the revelation that Jesus brings; here Jesus’ life-giving word replaces the water of the pool that failed to bring life. Jn 6 contains two signs, the multiplication of loaves and the walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. These signs are connected much as the manna and the crossing of the Red Sea are in the Passover narrative and symbolize a new exodus. The multiplication of the loaves is interpreted for the reader by the discourse that follows, where the bread of life is used first as a figure for the revelation of God in Jesus and then for the Eucharist. After a series of dialogues reflecting Jesus’ debates with the Jewish authorities at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jn 7 ; 8 , the sixth sign is presented in Jn 9 , the sign of the young man born blind. This is a narrative illustration of the theme of conflict in the preceding two chapters; it proclaims the triumph of light over darkness, as Jesus is presented as the Light of the world. This is interpreted by a narrative of controversy between the Pharisees and the young man who had been given his sight by Jesus, ending with a discussion of spiritual blindness and spelling out the symbolic meaning of the cure. And finally, the seventh sign, the raising of Lazarus in chap. 11 , is the climax of signs. Lazarus is presented as a token of the real life that Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, who will now ironically be put to death because of his gift of life to Lazarus, will give to all who believe in him once he has been raised from the dead.

After the account of the seven signs, the “hour” of Jesus arrives, and the author passes from sign to reality, as he moves into the discourses in the upper room that interpret the meaning of the passion, death, and resurrection narratives that follow. The whole gospel of John is a progressive revelation of the glory of God’s only Son, who comes to reveal the Father and then returns in glory to the Father. The author’s purpose is clearly expressed in what must have been the original ending of the gospel at the end of Jn 20 : “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”

Critical analysis makes it difficult to accept the idea that the gospel as it now stands was written by one person. Jn 21 seems to have been added after the gospel was completed; it exhibits a Greek style somewhat different from that of the rest of the work. The prologue ( Jn 1:1 – 18 ) apparently contains an independent hymn, subsequently adapted to serve as a preface to the gospel. Within the gospel itself there are also some inconsistencies, e.g., there are two endings of Jesus’ discourse in the upper room ( Jn 14:31 ; 18:1 ). To solve these problems, scholars have proposed various rearrangements that would produce a smoother order. However, most have come to the conclusion that the inconsistencies were probably produced by subsequent editing in which homogeneous materials were added to a shorter original.

Other difficulties for any theory of eyewitness authorship of the gospel in its present form are presented by its highly developed theology and by certain elements of its literary style. For instance, some of the wondrous deeds of Jesus have been worked into highly effective dramatic scenes ( Jn 9 ); there has been a careful attempt to have these followed by discourses that explain them ( Jn 5 ; 6 ); and the sayings of Jesus have been woven into long discourses of a quasi-poetic form resembling the speeches of personified Wisdom in the Old Testament.

The gospel contains many details about Jesus not found in the synoptic gospels, e.g., that Jesus engaged in a baptizing ministry ( Jn 3:22 ) before he changed to one of preaching and signs; that Jesus’ public ministry lasted for several years (see note on Jn 2:13 ); that he traveled to Jerusalem for various festivals and met serious opposition long before his death ( Jn 2:14 – 25 ; 5 ; 7 – 8 ); and that he was put to death on the day before Passover ( Jn 18:28 ). These events are not always in chronological order because of the development and editing that took place. However, the accuracy of much of the detail of the fourth gospel constitutes a strong argument that the Johannine tradition rests upon the testimony of an eyewitness. Although tradition identified this person as John, the son of Zebedee, most modern scholars find that the evidence does not support this.

The fourth gospel is not simply history; the narrative has been organized and adapted to serve the evangelist’s theological purposes as well. Among them are the opposition to the synagogue of the day and to John the Baptist’s followers, who tried to exalt their master at Jesus’ expense, the desire to show that Jesus was the Messiah, and the desire to convince Christians that their religious belief and practice must be rooted in Jesus. Such theological purposes have impelled the evangelist to emphasize motifs that were not so clear in the synoptic account of Jesus’ ministry, e.g., the explicit emphasis on his divinity.

The polemic between synagogue and church produced bitter and harsh invective, especially regarding the hostility toward Jesus of the authorities—Pharisees and Sadducees—who are combined and referred to frequently as “the Jews” (see note on Jn 1:19 ). These opponents are even described in Jn 8:44 as springing from their father the devil, whose conduct they imitate in opposing God by rejecting Jesus, whom God has sent. On the other hand, the author of this gospel seems to take pains to show that women are not inferior to men in the Christian community: the woman at the well in Samaria ( Jn 4 ) is presented as a prototype of a missionary ( Jn 4:4 – 42 ), and the first witness of the resurrection is a woman ( Jn 20:11 – 18 ).

The final editing of the gospel and arrangement in its present form probably dates from between A.D. 90 and 100. Traditionally, Ephesus has been favored as the place of composition, though many support a location in Syria, perhaps the city of Antioch, while some have suggested other places, including Alexandria.

The principal divisions of the Gospel according to John are the following:

Prologue ( 1:1 – 18 )
The Book of Signs ( 1:19 – 12:50 )
The Book of Glory ( 13:1 – 20:31 )
Epilogue: The Resurrection Appearance in Galilee ( 21:1 – 25 )

I. Prologue *

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Survey of John

John 1 New International Version

The word became flesh.

1 In the beginning was the Word, ( A ) and the Word was with God, ( B ) and the Word was God. ( C ) 2 He was with God in the beginning. ( D ) 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ( E ) 4 In him was life, ( F ) and that life was the light ( G ) of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, ( H ) and the darkness has not overcome [ a ] it. ( I )

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ( J ) 7 He came as a witness to testify ( K ) concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ( L ) 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light ( M ) that gives light to everyone ( N ) was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, ( O ) the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ( P ) 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed ( Q ) in his name, ( R ) he gave the right to become children of God ( S ) — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. ( T )

14 The Word became flesh ( U ) and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, ( V ) the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace ( W ) and truth. ( X )

15 (John testified ( Y ) concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ( Z ) 16 Out of his fullness ( AA ) we have all received grace ( AB ) in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; ( AC ) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ( AD ) 18 No one has ever seen God, ( AE ) but the one and only Son, who is himself God and [ b ] ( AF ) is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

19 Now this was John’s ( AG ) testimony when the Jewish leaders [ c ] ( AH ) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” ( AI )

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” ( AJ )

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?” ( AK )

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ( AL ) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” [ d ] ( AM )

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptize with [ e ] water,” ( AN ) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, ( AO ) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” ( AP )

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, ( AQ ) where John was baptizing.

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, ( AR ) who takes away the sin of the world! ( AS ) 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ( AT ) 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ( AU ) 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water ( AV ) told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ( AW ) 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” [ f ] ( AX )

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus ( AY )

35 The next day John ( AZ ) was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ( BA )

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” ( BB ) (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ( BC ) 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called ( BD ) Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter [ g ] ). ( BE )

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, ( BF ) he said to him, “Follow me.” ( BG )

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ( BH ) 45 Philip found Nathanael ( BI ) and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, ( BJ ) and about whom the prophets also wrote ( BK ) —Jesus of Nazareth, ( BL ) the son of Joseph.” ( BM )

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” ( BN ) Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite ( BO ) in whom there is no deceit.” ( BP )

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, ( BQ ) you are the Son of God; ( BR ) you are the king of Israel.” ( BS )

50 Jesus said, “You believe [ h ] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, [ i ] you [ j ] will see ‘heaven open, ( BT ) and the angels of God ascending and descending ( BU ) on’ [ k ] the Son of Man.” ( BV )

John 1:5 Or understood
John 1:18 Some manuscripts but the only Son, who
John 1:19 The Greek term traditionally translated the Jews ( hoi Ioudaioi ) refers here and elsewhere in John’s Gospel to those Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus; also in 5:10, 15, 16; 7:1, 11, 13; 9:22; 18:14, 28, 36; 19:7, 12, 31, 38; 20:19.
John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
John 1:26 Or in ; also in verses 31 and 33 (twice)
John 1:34 See Isaiah 42:1; many manuscripts is the Son of God .
John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock .
John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
John 1:51 Gen. 28:12

Cross references

John 1:1 : Isa 55:11; Rev 19:13
John 1:1 : Jn 17:5; 1Jn 1:2
John 1:1 : Php 2:6
John 1:2 : Ge 1:1; Jn 8:58; 17:5, 24; 1Jn 1:1; Rev 1:8
John 1:3 : ver 10; 1Co 8:6; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2
John 1:4 : S Jn 5:26; 6:57; 11:25; 14:6; Ac 3:15; Heb 7:16; 1Jn 1:1, 2; 5:20; Rev 1:18
John 1:4 : Ps 36:9; Jn 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46
John 1:5 : Ps 18:28
John 1:5 : Jn 3:19
John 1:6 : S Mt 3:1
John 1:7 : ver 15, 19, 32; Jn 3:26; 5:33
John 1:7 : ver 12; S Jn 3:15
John 1:9 : 1Jn 2:8
John 1:9 : Isa 49:6
John 1:10 : S ver 3
John 1:11 : Isa 53:3
John 1:12 : ver 7; S Jn 3:15
John 1:12 : S 1Jn 3:23
John 1:12 : Dt 14:1; S Ro 8:14; 8:16, 21; Eph 5:1; 1Jn 3:1, 2
John 1:13 : Jn 3:6; Tit 3:5; Jas 1:18; 1Pe 1:23; 1Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4
John 1:14 : Gal 4:4; Php 2:7, 8; 1Ti 3:16; Heb 2:14; 1Jn 1:1, 2; 4:2
John 1:14 : Ex 33:18; 40:34
John 1:14 : S Ro 3:24
John 1:14 : Jn 14:6
John 1:15 : ver 7
John 1:15 : ver 30; Mt 3:11
John 1:16 : Eph 1:23; Col 1:19; 2:9
John 1:16 : S Ro 3:24
John 1:17 : Dt 32:46; Jn 7:19
John 1:17 : ver 14
John 1:18 : Ex 33:20; Jn 6:46; Col 1:15; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jn 4:12
John 1:18 : Jn 3:16, 18; 1Jn 4:9
John 1:19 : S Mt 3:1
John 1:19 : Jn 2:18; 5:10, 16; 6:41, 52; 7:1; 10:24
John 1:20 : Jn 3:28; Lk 3:15, 16
John 1:21 : S Mt 11:14
John 1:21 : Dt 18:15
John 1:23 : Mt 3:1
John 1:23 : Isa 40:3
John 1:26 : S Mk 1:4
John 1:27 : ver 15, 30
John 1:27 : Mk 1:7
John 1:28 : Jn 3:26; 10:40
John 1:29 : ver 36; Ge 22:8; Isa 53:7; 1Pe 1:19; Rev 5:6; 13:8
John 1:29 : S Jn 3:17
John 1:30 : ver 15, 27
John 1:32 : Mt 3:16
John 1:33 : S Mk 1:4
John 1:33 : S Mk 1:8
John 1:34 : ver 49; S Mt 4:3
John 1:35 : 1:40-42pp — Mt 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20; Lk 5:2-11
John 1:35 : S Mt 3:1
John 1:36 : S ver 29
John 1:38 : ver 49; S Mt 23:7
John 1:41 : Jn 4:25
John 1:42 : Ge 17:5, 15; 32:28; 35:10
John 1:42 : Mt 16:18
John 1:43 : Mt 10:3; Jn 6:5-7; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9
John 1:43 : S Mt 4:19
John 1:44 : S Mt 11:21
John 1:45 : Jn 21:2
John 1:45 : S Lk 24:27
John 1:45 : S Mk 1:24
John 1:45 : Lk 3:23
John 1:46 : Jn 7:41, 42, 52
John 1:47 : Ro 9:4, 6
John 1:47 : Ps 32:2
John 1:49 : ver 38; S Mt 23:7
John 1:49 : ver 34; S Mt 4:3
John 1:49 : S Mt 2:2; 27:42; Jn 12:13
John 1:51 : S Mt 3:16
John 1:51 : Ge 28:12
John 1:51 : S Mt 8:20

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These are all of the chapters of the book of John . Clicking on a chapter will show you the text of that chapter of John in the Bible (King James Version).

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BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Gospel of john commentary: who wrote the gospel of john and how historical is it.

A look at some of the questions surrounding the Bible’s most enigmatic gospel

The evangelist John rests one hand on his gospel book, in this 83-inch-tall marble sculpture carved by Donatello in about 1415 for a niche in the facade of the Cathedral of Florence. Scholars writing Gospel of John commentary often grapple with the question: Who wrote the Gospel of John? Photo: Erich Lessing

The Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament , tell the story of the life of Jesus. Yet only one—the Gospel of John—claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved.” (“This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true” [John 21:24]). “Who wrote the Gospel of John?” is a question that remains unanswered, though noted theologians throughout the ages maintain that it was indeed the disciple John who penned the famous Biblical book.

Gospel of John commentary is easy to find—some of the most famous theologians in history have closely examined the text and underscored its importance from as early as the beginning of the third century. It is believed that Origen, an Alexandrian Christian scholar and theologian, wrote his Gospel of John commentary while in Alexandria at some point after 218 A.D. St. Augustine—a famous fourth century church father—contributed no fewer than 124 tractates in his Gospel of John commentary, while St. Thomas’s Gospel of John commentary of the 13th century is still highly regarded today by modern scholars.

We may never know for certain who wrote the Gospel of John, any more than we can know who wrote the books of Matthew , Mark and Luke . We do know that John is a gospel apart, however. Early Matthew, Mark and Luke are so alike in their telling that they are called the Synoptic Gospels, meaning “seen together”—the parallels are clear when they are looked at side by side. Matthew and Luke follow the version of events in Mark, which is thought by scholars to be the earliest and most historically accurate Gospel. John, however, does not include the same incidents or chronology found in the other three Gospels, and the fact that it is so different has spurred a debate over whether John’s Gospel is historical or not, something that has been noted in Gospel of John commentary for hundreds—even thousands—of years.

Several hypotheses have attempted to explain why so much of Jesus’ life not portrayed in the Synoptics is present in John and vice versa. One hypothesis claims that John recorded many of the events that occurred before the arrest of John the Baptist , while the Synoptics all have Jesus’ ministry beginning only after the arrest. Another holds that John was written last, by someone who knew about the other three Gospels, but who wished to write a spiritual gospel instead of an historical one. This would mean that the person who wrote the Gospel of John would not have been a contemporary of Jesus, and therefore would not have been an eyewitness as the author claims. There is also the possibility that the author of John did not know of Mark and hence did not have the same information.

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One of the facts in dispute among the four Gospels is the length of Jesus’ ministry. According to the Synoptics, it lasted only about a year, while John has Jesus ministering between two and three years. The Jesus of John’s telling also knew Jerusalem well and had traveled there three or four times. The Synoptics, however, have Jesus visit Jerusalem only once. In John, Jesus had friends near Jerusalem, including Mary , Martha and Lazarus of the town of Bethany, which is just outside of the city on the east slope of the Mount of Olives.

The author of John also knew Jerusalem well, as is evident from the geographic and place name information throughout the book. He mentions, among others, the Sheep Gate Pool (Bethesda) , the Siloam Pool and Jacob’s Well. The geographic specificity lends credence to the John’s account.

Another aspect of John that may be more historically accurate than the Synoptics is the account of the crucifixion and the events that led up to it. The Synoptics say that Jesus’ Last Supper was the Passover meal —held that year on a Thursday evening (Jewish holidays begin at sunset)—and they would have us believe that the Sanhedrin, the high court, gathered at the beginning of a major holiday to interrogate Jesus and hand him over to the Romans. John, in contrast, has Jesus handed over for crucifixion on “the day of Preparation of Passover week, about the sixth hour.” According to John, the Last Supper is not a Passover meal (because the holiday that year did not start until Friday evening), and Jesus is crucified and buried before Passover begins. In John’s account Jesus becomes the Passover sacrificial lamb, which was offered the afternoon before the Passover holiday. Some scholars suggest that John may be more historical regarding the crucifixion than the other three Gospels.

Given John’s familiarity with Jerusalem and its environs, it is very possible that he had visited the Pool of Siloam , which he mentions in connection with the story of the curing of the blind man (a story that appears only in John’s Gospel). It is that pool that has only recently been uncovered, as described in the accompanying article.

For more on the question of John’s historical reliability, see D. Moody Smith, “ John: Historian or Theologian? ” Bible Review , October 2004 .

Based on “ How Historical is the Gospel of John? ” Biblical Archaeology Review , September/October 2005 .

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library :

The Un-Gospel of John
John the Baptist’s Cave: The Case in Favor

This Bible History Daily article was originally published in March 2012.

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By: James Tabor

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The Gospel of John was likely scribed by Andrew in the presence of John and others, just as Hebrews was Paul’s Gospel, sent by Luke by way of Mark to Ephesus after the June 29, 57 A.D. deaths of Peter and Paul, John (and the Church of Ephesus) being the recognized “son of thunder” leadership of the Churches (with Peter’s departure) until John’s death about 41 years later. Using the literary history in context, it can be proven…I do mean proven in a literary history in examination and context, to a FAR ABOVE the required 51% preponderance of evidence, that the Book of Revelation, penned by John the son of Zebedee, happened prior to his UNINTERRUPTED 44 years in Ephesus, which RESIDENCY started in either very late 53 A.D. to no later than pre-Spring 54 A.D. John is credited with writing BOTH Revelation (ca. Sep to Oct 53 A.D.) and the later Gospel of John, but this is not quite. John wrote Revelation after he came following the Ephesian riots, was taken up and boiled in oil, and though by a miracle spared, banished from Asia, ending up in Patmos. The Greek of Revelation is less fluid than that of the Gospel of John. The difference between Revelation, and the Gospel of John — (written in ca. August 57 A.D., following the June 29 deaths of Peter and Paul in Rome) — was that the Gospel of John was scribed by the hand of Andrew as dictated by John in the presence of other Apostles. If you examine John’s Gospel, no less than 5 of the followers of Jesus contributed eyewitness testimony to this, and of them Andrew was a trained and educated scribe who attached himself to John the Baptist before Andrew broke off and followed Jesus. The Gospel of John therefore expresses a more educated Greek usage than the rough use of Koine Greek in Revelation as written by the hand of John. Similar comparison can be made of Tertius, who penned Paul’s letter to the Romans with that of Paul’s own letter to the Galatians by his own hand. While John dictated the majority of the Gospel of John. Andrew scribed the Gospel at his dictation, while at minimum – Andrew, Phillip, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Jesus (those who were “his friends”, as Clement of Alexandria put it) were also present.

We do know who wrote the Gospel of John and the other gospels. John the Apostle wrote the Gospel of John. Raising doubt about authorship is nothing new. This question arose with the higher critics in the 1800s and today the Jesus Seminar. Those who question its authorship question the veracity of the Bible. They also cast aspersion on virtually all other NT and OT books and letters and try to sweep them away as divinely inspired. If this author extended research into more than liberal scholars, he or she would discover greater evidence for authorship. The early church Fathers attested John as the author, but they are brushed aside as having little credibility just as the text itself is brushed aside and brought into question. I do not see mention of Daniel Wallace, Greg Allison, or D. A. Carson, preeminent biblical scholars. This article failed to give credence to reputable sources.

It is a misreading of the text to claim that the gospel of John shows Jesus being crucified on the day before the Passover. It’s a very understandable one, but if you know much about Jewish culture and Law and pay attention to what the passage says, you can see that it’s impossible for that to be the case. Two key things to keep in mind: 1) in Jewish culture, a new day begins at sundown- so the evening meal is considered to be the next day, and 2) according to the Law of Moses, basic ritual uncleanness only lasted until the end of the day. In John 18:28, it states that the Jews who were accusing Jesus “didn’t go inside [Pilate’s headquarters] because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover.” Now, if this is happening the day before the Passover (the day of Preparation), and such general defilement doesn’t carry over to the next day, why would any defilement today keep them from celebrating the Passover tomorrow?

But there is a second meal that was also considered part of the Passover- the Chaggigah, which occurred at midday after the evening meal (what we would call the next day, but it was the continuation of the same day to them). If Jesus was arrested overnight, after the evening Passover meal and his trial happened early in the morning (which all the gospels record), it would be perfectly logical for the Jews to wish to avoid ceremonial uncleanness so that they could partake in the midday meal.

Further proof can be found in John 19. Verse 19:14 says that it was the day of Preparation of the Passover, which is the source of the confusion. But if you look only a few verses later, in 19:31, they again say that it was the day of Preparation, but clarify that it’s preparation for the Sabbath, which is why they want the bodies taken down. It’s the Day of Preparation (for the Sabbath) that occurs during the Passover, not the Day of Preparation that occurs before the Passover starts.

[…] Lack of consensus on the beloved disciple. […]

This is the problem with debating Christians who believe they can sense the presence of the resurrected Jesus within them: Regardless of the quantity and quality of the historical evidence that we skeptics present, evangelical Christian apologists will ignore it if it challenges their personal experience of Jesus living within them. In addition, they will ignore any majority scholarly opinion which they perceive contradicts their personal experience of a resurrected Jesus living within them.

Therefore, the majority scholarly opinion that the Gospels were not written by eyewitnesses nor by the close associates of eyewitnesses is rejected. Since their personal experiences tell them that Jesus did rise from the dead, the Gospel stories must be historically accurate. Their historicity is unquestionable. Bottom line: No amount of historical evidence is going to convince a Christian apologist that Jesus is dead if he perceives the resurrected Jesus living within him.

https://lutherwasnotbornagaincom.wordpress.com/2022/12/19/dear-christian-apologist-if-jesus-lives-in-your-heart-why-bother-us-with-historical-evidence/

Back at you. If you choose to ignore gospel author’s claims to be eyewitnesses included in their writing, then nothing else could convince you. Your closed mind affects your scholarship and the accuracy of your historocity.

Hi Perry. Thanks for the response. I am not an expert (textual critic) of ancient Near East texts so my evaluation of the eyewitness authorship of the Gospels is of no value. As a university educated person, I accept consensus expert opinion on all issues. As to the eyewitness/traditional authorship of the Gospels, the experts are divided. Why should someone like me accept the eyewitness/associate of eyewitness authorship of the Gospels if so many experts dispute this claim? Thanks.

The “consensus” to which you appeal is composed largely of people who have an anti-biblical set of presuppositions that leads them to reject the authoritative testimony of the early church fathers and the claims of the books themselves.

No disrespect intended, but university education is only as good as the educators and if your group oif educators comes at spiritual matters with materialistic presuppositions, that is what you will get.

Hi Gary, no offense mate but is your world view a materialist one? The reason I ask is because I had two events I eye-witnessed, in 1996 and then 2005, that made me relinquish my own materialist view. So I’m not necessarily saying that the gospels are “reasonable” (as Jim Warner Wallace says), but one thing lead to another for me and now I admit I do have a Christian faith these days, when it comes to the Bible, and am very glad I do. But that aside, I am certain that there is more to our existence than just what materialists believe.

I do not believe that there is any good evidence that the supernatural operates in our universe. I am open to the possibility that it does, but I need good, objective evidence to change my mind. I self-identify as a “non-supernaturalist”. In my view, just because millions of people claim to have experienced violations of the laws of physics (“miracles”) is not sufficient evidence for me to change my mind. Do you mind sharing one of your “events”? Maybe we could both evaluate it using good critical thinking skills.

“I am certain that there is more to our existence than just what materialists believe.”

How certain are you? 100%? No doubt whatsoever?

Gary, I find it hard to believe that you see no miracles in the universe. Robert Jastrow struggled with the idea of a “Creator God” ultimately in control of His creation. The “Physics” you refer to is also His creation. He is a natural God, having created all of the natural laws that you hold dearly to as your materialist out, wanting proof, but the proof is there before you everyday, everyhour, everyminute, everysecond. Time is also a creation of His. Any doubt? Not at all! Certain? Most definitely!!

The fact: we do not have a completely accurate Bible, (an original or a translation) in the Hebrew or in the Greek. For the Hebrew Old Testament (OT) Bible some will use various Greek translations like the Septuagint, others use only the Massoretic vowel pointed text. The Synoptic Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke (are all by unknown author(s) and date over 30 years after Yahshua walked the sands of Palestine.

The Gospel called John was written (early in the Second Century) also by an unknown author(s), and in many areas counters the words of Yahshua recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels all present their information by using the (recalled) words of the prophet Yahshua, and others some 30 years after the facts. Like the OT Bible, the Synoptic Gospels also teach that YHWH the Creator Father, revealed in the OT Bible, is the only One Almighty Sovereign who is good, and who only is savior.

Even in the Greek writings, we are taught to worship YHWH only by Yahshua (Jesus), and for anyone to have eternal life one must hold the commandments in high esteem. Matt. 7: 21; Matt. 19: 16-17. The Gospel called John spiritualizes Yahshua into a pre-existing sacrificial god-man. (Romanism??) All such spiritualized ideology was developed from unknown authors; is full of private opinions and conjecture and therefore not reliable for any doctrine or belief.

Further more, Yahshua (Jesus) never saw the need for the New Testament, and only used the Hebrew Bible. What was good enough for Yahshua is good enough for me. All the NT has done is to fabricate some 30,000 plus so-called Christian denominations, all of the differ from each other due to their own NT understanding. Sad.

“but I need good, objective evidence to change my mind.”

Studies on Shroud of Turin confirm it to be supernatural, as something that cant be replicated on all its microscopic or even atomic details.

“However, Enea scientists warn, “it should be noted that the total power of VUV radiations required to instantly color the surface of linen that corresponds to a human of average height, body surface area equal to = 2000 MW/cm2 17000 cm2 = 34 thousand billion watts makes it impractical today to reproduce the entire Shroud image using a single laser excimer, since this power cannot be produced by any VUV light source built to date (the most powerful available on the market come to several billion watts )”. https://calendarforlife.org/blog/it-took-34-trillion-watts-of-ultraviolet-radiation-to-color-the-shroud-of-turin/

Most Recent Research Appears to Confirm the Shroud of Turin is the Burial Cloth of Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9lMQlI32wE

Sources 1 – Replica Cannot be Recreated 2019 study https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331684979_2D_reproduction_of_the_face_on_the_Turin_Shroud_by_infrared_femtosecond_pulse_laser_processing 2012 study https://www.academia.edu/3478909/Superficial_and_Shroud-like_coloration_of_linen_by_short_laser_pulses_in_the_vacuum_ultraviolet

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/150417-shroud-turin-relics-jesus-catholic-church-religion-science#close

2 – Image is Three-Dimensional 33 person STURP team – https://shroudofturin.com/Resources/CRTSUMSTURPTEAM1.pdf (2 pages of team members list/table)

STURP 3D images – https://shroud.com/pdfs/Correlation%20of%20Image%20Intensity%20Jackson%20Jumper%20Ercoline%201984%20OCRsm.pdf

History Channel model of Jesus – https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5luydh

3 – Matches Sudarium of Oviedo Blood Stains Study – https://www.shs-conferences.org/articles/shsconf/abs/2015/02/shsconf_atsi2014_00008/shsconf_atsi2014_00008.html

4 – New Studies on the Age – Rogers study – https://www.shroud.it/ROGERS-3.PDF

2019 study – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331956466_Radiocarbon_Dating_of_the_Turin_Shroud_New_Evidence_from_Raw_Data

Prophetic(archeology+history) evidence: Than there is prophecy which depicted global events before they happened. ישעיהו/Isaiah 42:9, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” ישעיהו/Isaiah 44:7 “Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come.”

” In Bible prophecy, a day stands for a year. So the 70 weeks is really talking about a 490 year period. The command to restore and rebuild the temple was given in 457B.C. The above verse says that from this year up to the year of Jesus’ baptism would be 69(62+7) weeks. This is 483 years. And when you add 483 years to 457B.C., you come to the exact year that יהושע/Jesus was baptized” https://www.endtimes-bibleprophecy.com/page7.htm

From Babylon to America the Prophecy movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pQvM9ZY41k 538 ad eastren Roman emperor Jusatine gave decree forming the papacy. 1798 ad February 15, 1798, when French troops entered Rome and their commander, General Berthier, deposed Pope Pius VI. 538 ad 1798 ad

Megiddo – The March to Armageddon Full Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUDz96jhAPc Gives example on prophecy by man compared to YHWH[Ya(י)-hu(הו)-ah(ה)] prophecy passed to prophets.

True Location of real Jerusalem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJJr8ZM1jj0

True Location of Israel and Jerusalem found it not where you think https://odysee.com/@TruthUnveiled777_Mirror:4/True-Locations-Of-Israel-And-Jerusalem-Found !!-It%E2%80%99S-Not-Where-You-Think!!-1:3

https://odysee.com/@TruthUnveiled777_Mirror:4/The-Real-Exodus-Location-Found!-Proof-The-Scriptures-Are-True !!!-1:3

Factor the possibility that there are these who will conceal such evidence(aka cen-sor-ship) from the public.

Biological evidence: Circumcision and Blood Clotting (Gen 17:12, 21:14, Lev 12:3, Luke 2:21). Medical researchers recently discovered that the two main blood clotting factors, Vitamin K and Prothrombim, reach their highest level in life, about 110% of normal, on the 8th day after birth. https://bibleevidences.com/medical-evidence/ *Circumcision to be done on the 8th day after birth.

https://theconversation.com/red-meats-a-tasty-treat-but-too-much-can-give-you-cancer-27158 If you don’t remove the red/blood of the meat such as with boiling(the broth with blood should be spilled into the earth) and eat it, you build yourself cancer or damage. Not eating with blood mentioned in multiply times in bible such as in Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy and even the “new testament”.

Example of animals that cant read the bible yet keep the 4th commandment as per YHWH instructions from 6th day evening to 7th day evening a day of rest, no burden even to the servants and animals. Sabbath-Keeping Bees & Sabbath Instinct – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyYHG6jsTNY BLT the Seventh day beavers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrI2dyHp_cI

Does these facts not contradict these such Paul/Saul that say the laws done away with? Paul taught that is ok to eat food offered to idols or divorce since you have faith, yet in Revelation 2:20-24 Jezebel has been condemned exactly for doing that.

New Study Finds Meditation Is Mentally & Emotionally Dangerous | Reasons for Jesus https://reasonsforjesus.com/new-study-finds-meditation-is-mentally-emotionally-dangerous/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0176239 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1428622/

Good morning Gary. I see you are a very intelligent man and to question what you see as evidence is fine. God likes that. But what he likes better, is. ” he who seeks, he shall find” he who knocks the door will be open to him. ” I discovered one day reading Genesis ch 1 one that the “mist rose up from the waters and watered the whole face of the ground” ( evidence of evapotranspiration written thousands of years before science even gave it a name. Now how could the author have known about it thousands of years ago with what they knew in those days? in which to describe it so simply in the book of genesis about how it all became. Also the person “Mathew Fontaine Maury” who discovered the channels in the sea got his inspiration from the bible Psalm 8 . He then set out to discover them and he did. I love finding hidden gems that most over look. Have a great day.

This is a straw man argument. Not all Christians hold to such experiences. Besides, biblical Christians hold the Bible and not experience as final authority.

[…] their own accounts on it. The gospel of John was written later still, and of the four, has the strongest claim to actually having been written by one of Jesus’ apostles. (It’s been speculated, though we […]

[…] Source: 🔗 […]

[…] + View more here […]

I disagree with your assumption that passover was on Friday. There are 7 high sabbath’s in Jewish culture following the 7 Jewish feasts. Jesus needed to stay in the ground like jonah in the belly of the fish. He was probably killed on a Wednesday with the high sabbath of passover that night until Thursday night since Jewish days run evening to evening. Which means the women buy the spices to prepare the body on Friday and regular passover happening Friday night to Saturday night. Jesus probably rose from the dead late Saturday night and Mary discovered the empty tomb Sunday morning

agreed. More over, the disciples were told to look for a man carrying water – women’s work in that day. Except for the Essene who celebrated on a different schedule. As to the author who claims to be at the crucifixion – it can only be Thomas who was absent when Y’husha appeared to the disciples. Why was he absent? He was ritually unclean from the crucifixion…

One’s last day living is generally the first day dead. For Jesus to be in the tomb 3 days means he had to be buried before dinner on Friday (Joseph of Arimethea rushed to make it happen) and raise some time after the official start of the third day. Using our method of timing, that translates to 26 hours. The Passover was on Friday as is commonly accepted and all of the Scriptures coincide with that.

There is only ONE piece of evidence that supports the concept of a Friday crucifixion, and that is John’s mention (Jn. 19:31) that the day on which Jesus was crucified was a “preparation day”…which means, and refers to, the time during which those who keep the Sabbath are expected to prepare for the coming Sabbath by using the previous day to make preparation (cf. Exo. 16). Since most of the so-called “church fathers” were Gentiles and not particularly knowledgeable of Israelite practice, it has historically been assumed in the church that this “preparation day” referred to the weekly Sabbath. But in Lev. 23, there are 7 days that are identified as “high days” or “yearly Sabbaths” on which labor is not to be performed. Turns out that the day after Passover (Passover being the 14th day of the first month) is the first of those “high days”. This high day is the First Day of Unleavened Bread, which always occurs on the 15th day of the first month. Look back at that verse from John and you will see that not only was the day of His crucifixion a “preparation day”, but it says that the Sabbath in question was NOT a weekly Sabbath, but rather it’s explicitly described as a “high day”–in other words, the First Day of Unleavened Bread. While it is possible that Passover can fall on a Friday, the fact that Scripture goes to pains to make clear that the day of the crucifixion was a preparation for a high day is explicit reason to conclude that it WASN’T a regular preparation for the weekly Sabbath. That literally EXCLUDES Friday as the day of crucifixion. There are plenty of other verses that point to a Wednesday crucifixion, which is precisely what Bible prophecy predicts, and this is backed up with close attention to the details of the burial process in the Gospels. I won’t bother going into all that…just wanted to disabuse you of the supposed notion that Friday is concretely established as the crucifixion day. It certainly is not.

The Ministry is no 2 or three years in John, that is an error people make because they assume it’s all Chronological. I believe ever Passover mentioned in John is the Passover of 30 AD. And the second part of John 2 is explicitly about events that happened the same Passover season as the Crucifixion in the Synoptic accounts.

The Gospel was authored by John.

– Written within his lifetime (i.e. in 1st century). – All titled manuscripts ascribe authorship to John. – The author was most likely a Palestinian Jew (based on his understanding & familiarity with Jewish customs, scripture, and the topography). – The author was an eye-witness and disciple (John 1:14, 19:35, 21:24, 1 John 1:1-3) The following attribute or connect the Gospel with an apostle/disciple/John: – Epistula Apostolorum (140-150) – Ptolemy (140-160) – Justin Martyr (150) – Theodotus (160-170) – Heracloen (170) – Muratorian Fragment (170) – Anti-Marcionite prologues to Luke (160-180) – and John (160-180?) – Celsus (177) – Irenaeus (180) – Theophilus of Antioch (181) – Clement of Alexandria (195) – Tertullian (207) – Hippolytus (200-210) – Origen (220-230) – Dionysius of Alexandria (247) – Cyprian (250) – Novation (250-257) etc.

Yes. John was sopposedly tied in to the temple and that’s how he was able to follow Jesus into the trial while Pete had to stay out in the courtyard. From what I understand, John Mark was the son of the wealthy widow who was hosting and supporting Christ. He was educated. He turned away from traveling with Paul and returned to Peter. The reason for he and Polycarp (John’s helper) to want to get the eye witness testimony in writing is twofold. One is that everybody was being hunted down and executed and the eyewitness testimony needed to be passed on before the original disciples did. Two is that there were people trying to pervert the facts of Christ’s mission and were misleading the church with lies for their own personal gain much like cult leaders of today. The disciples programmed with the Holy Spirit given them after Christ ascended were on a mission to GO and spread the word. They were DOING and going all over. Only when stopped by prison do you see letters and writings. If God could release the ability to suddenly speak in all languages to the disciples, he most certainly could have given them the ability to write. Scholars and professors have to publish. It is a requirement of tenure. They have to find an angle and it mostly involves their overly developed egos and their flawed reasoning, not the facts. Much less faith in the well preserved word of the One True God introduced to us through the Original Jewish race.

I think that verse is John 21:22 Sonja. It relates to Peters jealousy of John I think.

From what I understand, John Mark was the son of the wealthy widow who was hosting and supporting Christ. He was educated. He turned away from traveling with Paul and returned to Peter. The reason for he and Polycarp (John’s helper) to want to get the eye witness testimony in writing is twofold. One is that everybody was being hunted down and executed and the eyewitness testimony needed to be passed on before the original disciples did. Two is that there were people trying to pervert the facts of Christ’s mission and were misleading the church with lies for their own personal gain much like cult leaders of today. The disciples programmed with the Holy Spirit given them after Christ ascended were on a mission to GO and spread the word. They were DOING and going all over. Only when stopped by prison do you see letters and writings. If God could release the ability to suddenly speak in all languages to the disciples, he most certainly could have given them the ability to write. Scholars and professors have to publish. It is a requirement of tenure. They have to find an angle and it mostly involves their overly developed egos and their flawed reasoning, not the facts. Much less faith in the well preserved word of the One True God introduced to us through the Original Jewish race.

Does someone know where or to whom were the words addressed: “what is that to thee, follow thou me”? Some ascribe it to John, Chapter 20, verse 20, but I haven’t been able to verify this. Thank you.

Peter has just been told by Jesus that he will suffer a difficult death. He turns and sees the very young son of Zebedee, who is the witness (the writer being John the Elder who had studied Philosophy extensively), and asks Jesus what is going to happen to him. Jesus explains that he should be spreading the message and not bothering about anyone else.

You leap to so many unsupported conclusions in so few paragraphs, although clearly none of these are a leap of faith! It is unclear who the author of Mark was, true. But the majority of scholars consider him to have been either an eyewitness or an associate of eyewitnesses, as evidenced by the details in Mark that do not exist in the other Gospels. was he John Mark, Peter’s interpreter? Was he the young man who ran away naked at the arrest? It is also untrue that scholars consider that the author of Luke was unaware of Matthew’s Gospel, as the author of the Gospel himself states that he has made a thorough investigation of events, it is highly unlikely that he would have been unaware of a gospel that was widely in circulation amongst Jewish christians in Jerusalem.

Even if the accounts were not eyewitness stories, they were written in living memory of events, and many eyewitnesses were available. The belief that these details were a “work of fiction” is not supported by the evidence, and not a belief held by any serious first century historian.

Both Faith and scepticism should be based on evidence.

To the person who finds the evidence for Christ’s apperance weak.

Could it be that the Gospel authors whom reported who saw the risen Lord. and the location of the appearances of Christ after His rise from the dead, that they either had witnessed or had confindence in the reports of those who had? And left out any that they were not certain of?

When asked to tell a lawyer activities a girl claiming to be unable to work again after a car accident, I gave examples of the activities that she had posted afterward that myself and husband both remembered seeing. If he did not recall seeing her horse back riding or bridge diving, I did not include it.

Just because there seem to be differences in the details between the books does not discredit the message of Jesus Christ. Consider that these books were written years after the crusifiction, some of them decades apart. Now consider your own memory of events in your own life, and how the details of those memories compare to those of your friends who shared in the same experiences. Generally, the stories are the same, but often, the details don’t match.

I am still looking for someone who will provide me with an alternative scenario to the resurrection which would explain the actions of first century Christians who were willing martyrs or would be martyrs.

The ‘Christian’ martyrs are literary spoofs of the Messianic Jews who were slaughtered en masse by the Romans in and after the War that began in 66 CE. Jesus ‘Christ’ [‘Messiah’] is depicted in the Gospels as a Pro-Roman descendant of David — which is patently absurd, as the Messiah whom the Jews expected — or, whom they themselves selected and anointed — was to be towards the pagan enemy (Rome) what Goliath represented to the Israelites, with David being the warrior hero who defeats him. A “Son of David” was expected to be an equally effective war-chief who would lead the Israelites to victory over any enemy of YHWH — even the Romans. THAT is why the Jews rebelled against Rome in 66 CE: they thought their strict devotion to Mosaic Law would compel their God to do His part regarding the Covenant which He had made with their ancestors. They expected to WIN their war against Rome, and they got their asses handed to them — because Roman military might was just too overwhelming. In the aftermath, Rome decided to punish the Jews by creating a ‘scripture’ which would be the basis for a new religion — a Pro-Roman satire/parody of Messianic Judaism, where the pseudohistorical ‘Messiah’ condemns the generation of Jews living 40 years before the War they would wage and lose, prophesying the coming of a “Son of Man” who would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple — with Titus ‘fulfilling’ that ‘prophecy’. The ‘martyrs’ of the early Church were based on the Jewish leaders of the Messianic Movement agitating against the Romans. Virtually every female member of the ‘Jesus’ group was named MARY (with ‘Martha’ being a variant form of the same name, all derived from the Hebrew name ‘Miriam’, the sister of Moses), a name which means ‘Rebel’. Josephus (in his JEWISH WAR) tells the horrific story of a woman named — you guessed it — ‘Mary’, who, during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, resorts to CANNIBALISM of her own unnamed male child, with certain details in the story purposely echoing the story of the first Passover, from EXODUS (the use of the word ‘hyssop’, for one). The ‘Christian’ religion was intended by its Roman creators to be a ‘calamity’ for the Jews. The Romans, who had been forced by the situation to expend a great deal of their own blood and treasure to stamp out the Jewish rebellion, gave vent to their most cruel whims, crucifying Jews by the thousands — laughing at their suffering. By inventing the ‘Gospel’ stories, in which “the Jews” are depicted as “children of their father, the Devil” and who demand the release of a guy like Barabbas, so that the innocent Jesus could suffer crucifixion — calling upon themselves AND THEIR CHILDREN the guilt of that injustice — the Romans were guaranteeing that hatred of the Jewish people would be passed down throughout the generations, as has indeed proven to be the case. That’s the punishment the vindictive Roman emperors of the Flavian dynasty thought the Jews merited. Think of Keanu Reeves as ‘JOHN WICK’, becoming a ruthless murdering maniac all because some jerk killed his dog . . . getting his revenge on him and upon everybody else even remotely affiliated with him. The Romans wanted not only to put down the rebellion that (momentarily) came to an end in 73 CE with the Fall of Masada, but to lay upon the Jewish people not yet born the ‘guilt’ for being ‘Christ-killers’ — for insisting on the crucifixion of a ‘Messiah’ who was nothing more than a LITERARY INVENTION. The Nazi death camps can be directly traced back to the Flavian vendetta against the Jews.

You must have a lot of faith to believe all the insanity you just wrote. Have you invented your own sources too?

. . . not saying your wrong Patrick but as I asked gary, is your world view based on a materialist view of existence? There were two events I eye-witnessed, in 1996 and then 2005, that caused me to let go of my own materialism and look more deeply into the possibility of the gospels being the most reasonable explanation for the historical evidence. I agree there are arguments against the Christian version of events back then, but that aside, I am certain that there is more to our existence than just what I used to believe in my materialist-atheism era.

Matthew’s gospel says that the last meal Yeshua shared with His disciples was the day after Passover. Passover is a single day. The next seven days are called “The Feast of Unleavened Bread.”

Matthew 26:17 (NASB95) ” 17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” Passover was on Wednesday the year the Yeshua was crucified. He was arrested either late on Thursday night (the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread or early on Friday morning.Such an obvious error would seem to call the accuracy of your entire commentary into question.

“One can no longer speak of a consensus against Johannine dependence on the Synoptics or, at least, on Mark. The reasons for the revival of interest in favor of John’s dependence are varied.”

—New Testament scholar, Raymond Brown, in his book, The Death of the Messiah (1994), p. 76

Gary: How many times have you heard conservative Christian apologists say that even if the authors of Luke and Matthew were dependent on Mark, the author of John was not. “Scholarship demonstrates that the Gospel of John is not dependent on the Synoptics, therefore we have at least two independent sources (Mark and John) for the Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, and Resurrection stories found in the Gospels.”

Not so fast, Christians!

Scholars are currently divided on this issue. No one can claim either side of this argument as fact. We might have two independent sources for these stories, but it is also possible that the core story came from just one source: the author of the Gospel of Mark. If the core details of the Jesus’ Passion Story came solely from the anonymous author of the Gospel of Mark, whom the majority of scholars do not believe was an eyewitness or the associate of an eyewitness (ie., not John Mark), it is then possible that much or all of the Arrest scene, Trial scene, Crucifixion scene, and Resurrection scene are literary inventions, perfectly acceptable in Greco-Roman biographies!

As long as the core story remained intact…that Jesus of Nazareth had been arrested by the Romans; tried and convicted of treason against Caesar; executed by crucifixion; buried in some manner; and shortly thereafter, his disciples believed that he appeared to them, in some fashion…the other details found in the Passion Narrative may be literary invention (fiction)! Think of that! It would certainly answer a lot of questions. Why does (the original) Resurrection Story in Mark have zero appearance stories? Why does the Gospel of Matthew, written a decade or so later, have appearances to the male disciples in Galilee, while the Gospel of Luke, also written a decade or so after Mark (whose author most scholars believe was not aware of Matthew’s gospel), has appearances only in Jerusalem and Judea? And why does the last Gospel written, John, have appearances in Jerusalem and Galilee as if the author had combined Matthew and Luke’s stories??? My, my, my. The evidence for a fantastical, never-heard-of-before-or-since Resurrection is much, much weaker than the average Christian layperson sitting in the pew on Sunday realizes!

https://lutherwasnotbornagaincom.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/many-scholars-now-believe-that-all-the-gospels-were-dependent-on-the-first-gospel-mark-the-evidence-for-the-resurrection-is-much-weaker-than-most-lay-christians-realize/

As I recall, the “scholars” of the day; i.e. Pharisees and Sadducees; did not believe in Jesus either. Even when witnessing a miracle of healing, they accused Him of breaking the Sabbath by working instead of being amazed by someone who could heal with a touch. Scholarly knowledge can become an idol and blind us to the truth. Who wrote it is not a salvational issue, that we believe that it happened is. The devil wants us bogged down in these arguments until it is too late. Just because the synoptics did not record things exactly the same in each book does not mean they are wrong. As a police officer I have interviewed eyewitnesses at an accident scene many times. If you talk to 10 people, you will get 10 different accounts. That does not mean they are wrong, it just means people remember details differently. It is from the whole account that we get the full picture.

Even though it is not certain who wrote the book of John I am thankful for the scriptures written.

I read the Wikileaks site on John that claims the Gospels and Revelation were written by the same person or closely suggests such is true. Having read the Gospels numerous times I believe it is more likely that marginal Christians have collected fragments that may have been issued in a single volume and mistake that one book equals one author. Marginal Christians are always too quick to look for sameness in a fashion that is almost pantheistic to avoid any hint of confrontation as if our only purpose in believing in Jesus is to achieve “Peace” if they had read John and if you have you know to that which I refer. The Peace of Jesus is not the peace of the world. Luke is clearly written in a style (Yes I am able to read New Testament Greek but defer to scholars with a more profound ability and concur.) profoundly different than Luke as Matthew and Mark. Each has a distinct character that survives transalton. More often than not translation errors are a gift for those who have more imagination than faith. The diversity of the Gospels apparent conflicts in retelling their memories is more likely when eye witness testimony is given. The essentials are the same and the basic rule for establishing a dogma remains intact, the truth is given, Jesus was the Son of God understood in His time to mean he was the Messiah. That he was not accepted and did not establish an earthly kingdom has people as much confused today as it did then. John is testimony to faith based belief in the Divinity of Jesus the Christ. It is this truth Christians throughout the ages have been persecuted.

Fr. Raymond Brown’s “The Community of the Beloved Disciple” offers a scholarly evaluation of the source, if not the specific authorship, of the Gospel and Epistles of John.

According to Richard Baukham in his book, ‘The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple. Narrative, History and Theology in the Gospel of John’, the reason why the accounts of John and the Synoptics diverge is that he is not depicted as a Galilean disciple who followed Jesus about. He is rather most likely a resident of Jerusalem and reports events which occurred in the city and environs, events which were not known to the other disciples.

Bauckham argues that John is the anonymous Beloved Disciple by drawing on a variety of sources including, importantly, literary analysis, of course, the Beloved Disciple appears in the Gospel narrative only as a character. This however allows the narrative to proceed without interruption and qualifies him as a witness and ideal author.

I would just like to say that posting a quote from a person with a Master’s or PHD is not evidence. What is your evidence? There are so many quotes above that a person searching for the truth(a true skeptic) would see right through. Instead several posters seem to just be trying to reinforce what they already believe. Might I remind you that people a lot closer in time to Jesus and the apostles explain much of who/what/why/when. Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Ignatius, Eusebius. I would trust what they have to say over someone 2000 years using mainly linguistic evidence, any day of the week. Especially since, with the exception of Eusebius, the people above had nothing to gain but persecution for doing what they did. Sure, less than 1% of what is in editions such as the KJV and the NIV, don’t exist in Codex Sinaiticus, but if you remove the small amount of editions that have happened over the last 2000 years no fundamental teachings or beliefs are changed. Another poster said that most scholars agree that John Mark did not right Mark. ???? Are you serious? what is the evidence for that? Do they have someone from within that lifetime who says this? Do they have something listing characteristics of John Mark that disqualify him from righting Mark? Groundless speculation. Please look at all of the evidence as a whole. And do not just believe what PHD says. There are multitudes on the planet and they do not all agree, so look at the evidence, listen to what scholars have to say. But do not take their word as “Gospel”. Think for yourself. Don’t be a sheeple(sheep people) for someone who has ulterior motives either way. lol 😉

Interesting and articulate article proposing Lazarus as the author of the Gospel of John: http://bibletruth.cc/DWYL.htm#The Disciple Whom Yeshua Loved

It’s generally understood by biblical scholars today that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are not eyewitness accounts.

Mark is the earliest of the gospels and there is pretty much consensus that it was written around 70 AD (earlier that the 300 AD Ryan seems so certain about). John was written around 93 AD, though the earliest found documents from John are from 125 AD. John himself died in 44 AD.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all anonymous. Most scholars no longer believe that Mark was John Mark the scribe of Peter. And it was very normal at the time for other scribes to write ‘in the style’ of someone famous who’s teachings they were interested in. It would not have been unusual for someone to write ‘as John would have written’ and then said that it was actually written by John. Today we would call that a forgery, but in those times it was pretty normal.

There’s a good summary on the following page with more detailed references there: http://www.humanreligions.info/gospels.html

I don’t understand why it is so hard for people to understand that Jesus was not married. When if you believe and understand the bible from start to finish you should know as a child also understand as a child staying pure in your thoughts. Then you would understand that God would only accept a pure unblemished sacrifice. Now that being said if Jesus was married then he would not and could be a sacrifice pleasing to God. If people would tell the truth ? The first attribute of a woman wasn’t her wisdom, are even her spiritual desires and love for God. No it was her flesh. Her physical appearance. Paul even says it’s better to marry than to burn. Also Jesus said if you have lusted after a woman then you have already committed adultery. So tell the truth what was it that drew you to your wife? I already know ( sin. ) There for Jesus could not have been married.

Watch the above five minute youtube video. In it, NT Wright, renowned NT scholar, admits that NO ONE knows who wrote the Gospels, where they were written, nor when they were written!

Therefore, no one should believe the very improbable, 2,000 year old, tall tale that a three-day-dead guy walked out of his sealed tomb to eat a broiled fish lunch with his former fishing buddies and a few days later, flew off into outer space where he sits today on a golden throne, at the edge of the universe, as King of the Cosmos!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FszDfiERnhk

The fourth gospel was written by Lazarus. Lazarus was the disciple whom Jesus loved, as per John 11:3 “…Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

“The author of John also knew Jerusalem well, as is evident from the geographic and place name information throughout the book. He mentions, among others, the Sheep Gate Pool (Bethesda), the Siloam Pool and Jacob’s Well. ” I hope the authors don’t think that Jacob’s Well is in Jerusalem, since that seems to be the point they’re trying to make.

Newsflash: The majority of New Testament scholars no longer believe that eyewitnesses wrote the Gospels. It’s not just my opinion, my Christian friends, it is the consensus of scholars.

https://lutherwasnotbornagaincom.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/majority-of-scholars-agree-the-gospels-were-not-written-by-eyewitnesses/

It is not a consensus, it is simply a current majority. Moreover, a lot of this is based on an edifice of prior assumptions (e.g. that the gospels must have been written after 70 AD, because it refers to the destruction of the temple and Jesus could not have foretold this – in spite of the fact that Jesus was quoting Daniel, which was written even earlier and did refer to this destruction). They do not actually refute the excellent scholarship by Bauckman and others pointing to eyewitness sources. A scholarly majority (not consensus!) is only worth the evidence on which it rests. In this case, the evidence is weak and the evidence for the opposite much stronger (i.e. that Acts and thus Luke and thus the sources used by Luke was written before the fall of Jerusalem).

I am reading the BYNV Natsarim Version. This bible shows the true names. It says that many Hebrew scholars believe the one who Yahushua ( Jesus) loved is Lazarus (Alazar) who actually wrote John. Since the rulers were seeking to kill him because of (Jesus) it is possible that he used an alternative name to hide his true identity. The name John in Hebrew is Yahukanon.

Are our pastors telling us the truth?

Are Christian pastors honest with their congregations regarding the evidence for the Resurrection? Is there really a “mountain of evidence” for the Resurrection as our pastors claim or is the belief in the Resurrection based on nothing more than assumptions, second century hearsay, superstitions, and giant leaps of faith?

You MUST read this Christian pastor’s defense of the Resurrection and a review by one of his former parishioners, a man who lost his faith and is now a nonbeliever primarily due to the lack of good evidence for the Resurrection:

—A Review of LCMS Pastor John Bombaro’s Defense of the Resurrection—

(copy and paste this article title into your browser to find and read this fascinating review of the evidence for the Resurrection)

It amazes me but it should not because heresy was alive in the 1st century. The apostle Paul was struggling with this then when he wrote his letters re to the Galatians for example. The Enemy who is Satan seeks to confuse and deceive in order to keep us from the truth. Study the scriptures for yourselves and rely only those proven commentators and expositors that have survived the test of time. One of the greatest that was recorded is Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones. There are over 1600 sermons that were recorded at the Westminster Chapel in London in the 1950s and 60s. These have been digitally restored and our are available to listen and download @ MLJTRUST.org

Sorry Gary (of #1 Post above), the male gender of the author (who was an eyewitness) is revealed, in John 19:35; 21:24 “…his witness/testimony is true…”

There is another thesis as to who wrote the gospel of John.

All four gospels were written by the Romans themselves!

The Dead Sea Scrolls would give you a clue. The 31 banned gospels form the Bible was not written by the Romans (with the collaboration of Josephus Flavius) which were all pro-Roman and anti-Jewish. Those four gospels were used as propaganda scriptures against the Jews in favor of the Romans.

Some mind boggling information right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0WSEuousE

Well, the gospels are not really pro-Roman either. It was, after all the Romans who killed Jesus. And in his own words, he would be delivered to evil men (the Romans) by the Jewish leaders.

The book of John is about a man called Jesus who at the baptism of the Lord An of the book of Matthew came the next day while Ani was a way in the wilderness fasting and praying to his father before being tested of Satan to see if he be the real son of God. The next day came the deceiver Jesus who was but a gentile Jew as pretender, Now to prove this from the book of John is impossible but if we take the account of Matthew and John at the same time we find we have two who are the son of God one real and the other is false, They co-exist for 2 years according to the book of John, On the last Jews’ Passover the false Jesus will be crucified on the day of Preparation and be buried according to the Jews custom by two men one a Jew and the other was Hebrew, At that hour when Jesus is buried the Lord is going into eat the Passover dinner on the 14th of the month. He too will b crucified and buried but Jesus of John is now in the grave for 24 hours. The moment that the Lord dies at three in the after noon there is a great earthquake and the living ones being righteous are aroused and made to stand up among the dead ones. They assemble and go into the city of Jerusalem are seen by many but the gentile Jesus is not seen among then for he is unrighteous and he will remain in the grave for 84 more hours until he is aroused on Sunday morning at sunrise, In the mean time the Lord is in the grave three days and three nights and he will rise with the second earthquake and angel from heaven but the gentile Jesus of John has 12 more hours in the grave until Sunday morning The Jesus of John is no more than a gentile Jew writing a story of a gentile Jew who was called the son of God but never approved by God the Father of the Hebrews. Everything in the book of John is about the gentile Jews for he never mentions the children of Israel those being Hebrews and he never warns of the coming wrath on the rejected seed of Satan who are assigned to hell from the foundation of the earth, Now if all this sounds strange take the book of Matthew begin with Baptism of “Ani the Lord by John the cousin of Ani, he is immediately led away to the wilderness, the next day came the deceiver Jesus and for the next forty days he lays out his evil and wicked plan of believing to the gentile Jews, He gives his evil and wicked manifesto to one lone gentile Jew in the middle of the night in John 3:15-16. The false messiah Jesus offered eternal life to those perishing but the sons of God of the book of Matthew were never perishing for there was prepared for them a place before the foundation of the earth. Only the evil and wicked gentiles all go to hell as they were assigned before the earth was formed. The gentile deceiver Jesus made a way for all gentile to be saved by believing in the false messiah Jesus, Ani the Lord came for his divorced wife and her children, He had to die to annul the first marriage vows that he could remarry his wife. Ani then became the price to buy back the wife and the children from the one who possessed them, It was purely a financial transaction for those redeemed take no part in the act of redeeming and nothing is required of them, Only the evil and wicked gentiles have to believe in the false Jesus to be saved from nothing the wrath of God still awaits them when they die,

i,m looking for the book of john with the commentary can u help me thanks george

the gospel of john was written by john because it is he who was everywhere jesus went

REASONS SCHOLARS FIND JOHN THE MOST QUESTIONABLE GOSPEL http://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/06/biblical-scholars-including-those-who.html

There are some REALLY ignorant people in the world. Yes, Matthew, Mark and Luke are “spurious writings,” and do not date back before 300ad, which is the same time period that the Gnostics (Christians) were inventing their false writings. John is an eyewitness account of the Apostle John (Mary was never an apostle, and women were forbidden to teach). The Gospel of John dates back to the first century, and gives exact geological/geographical locations, that the other three do not, because the other three are written by someone that has no knowledge of Israel, Yahshua, or the sacrifices, or the actual events.

Sorry, we have actual fragments from these gospels (the earliest, from John date from around 125 AD!) from long before 300 AD. Moreover, John mentions at least two events that are also found in the other 3 gospels and gives details that explain what is found in the other gospels (albeit unintentionally).

Several hypotheses have attempted to explain why so much of Jesus’ life not portrayed in the Synoptics is present in John and vice versa.

Why is so much of southern U.S. culture portrayed in Faulkner not present in Harper Lee?

Because the writers wrote about what they felt like writing about, and didn’t write about what they didn’t feel like writing about. Duh.

Pick any handful of biographies of, say, Abraham Lincoln. Or any figure. The tone, style, perspective, focus, choice of anecdotes, etc., will vary from biographer to biographer.

And the ultimate author of the Gospels, God, might tell us one day to walk over the hill to town. He might spend the next day telling us about town. He might spend the third day giving practical logistical advice for the journey. On the fourth he might describe the people of town and their physical needs, while on the fifth brief us on the spiritual connection of traveling by foot and evangelizing door-to-door.

Personally, I’ve never noticed much difference between John and the so-called synoptics, or between any gospel and any other gospel.

[…] understood “beyond” the river to mean west of the river—though for the original writer of the Gospel of John, “beyond” the Jordan clearly meant east of the Jordan […]

It is very clear if you read in John 21:20-25 . It’s Apostle John . The author identified himself who he was in John 21:24

a like the idea that charles says. Bcoz we should b concern about the matter of life& truth not who rowte.

God is not the author of confusion, it is a manipulative tool used by “Satan” (Lucifer) to distract from the truth that is God. When you really think about it, does it really matter who wrote what… it’s all about the truth, loving and caring about, and for, each other. Why should we concern ourselves about chronological/geographical disagreement as long as the essence ( there is a consensus) of the word remains in tact.

The gospel of John was written by a ressurected Judas Iscariot. Jesus supernaturally caused Judas to betray Him, to fulfill the prophesy in Scripture. The story of Lazarus foreshadows this.

@Paul- I agree, what you wrote is directed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was showing His appreciation because John loved what He loved which resulted in their close relationship. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned 1 Cor 2: 13,14

The Gospel of John was written by John. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all 4 thrived during Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection and beyond. He descipled all four regularly, although neither Mark nor Luke were one of the first 12 apostles named by Jesus. Mark was probably John Mark (Acts 12) Luke was both a physician and a historian, to whom the book of Acts is attributed. All four were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ minisrty, but only John mentioned being so. I believe That the Gospel according to John was written by John, the brother of James (son of Zebedee.) He was the apostle John which penned the Revelation and also wrote 1st 2nd and 3rd John. The stories of the four Gospel writers vary, but only in chronology and perhaps in their inclusions. They do not vary in essence. All four men commenced their written account a number of years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Matthew, John Mark, and Luke collaborated frequently, resulting in their stories being synchronized. John (Zebedee) also collaborated with them, but gave less regard to exact chronology and higher regard to details of certain events as they relate to God’s unlimited love. Jesus exuded the love of God profusely, without measure. (John 13:1) He loved all12 apostles, but John paid more attention to his love, while the others paid more attention to the events. Some had said that Jesus loved John because John was his natural brother. He was not. He was a son of Zebedee. The account in John 19:26 does not indicate that John is Jesus’ brother, but rather, that Jesus was ‘asigning’ to John the task of brother, to comfort and care for his mother. There is also spiritual significance; he was telling his own mother to now look to his ministry for guidence. ‘Leaning-on-Jesus-bosom’ is figure of speech. It means John was ‘in tune’ with everything Jesus said. John inclined his own heart towards what Jesus loved. John 13:23; John 19:26; and John 21:7, 20 are translated incorrectly. The correct translation is the disciple who “loved what Jesus loved”. Many people, probably hundreds or even thousands were writing on parchment quickly and simultaneously as orations were presented by prophets, by Jesus and by the apostles. Hundreds or thousands of people also hand copied letters and eye-witness accounts that were written by the apostles. In many cases, the oldest surviving copies that could be found had been hand written 10 to 50 years after the first writings. Many of those were not discovered until two to three hundred years after they were written. scientific dating alone for the generating of the documents is not sufficient to determine when the original writing was first orated or penned. The accounts, (both verbal and written) of reliable historians must also be considered. therefore the oldest discernible writings of any of the Apostles won’t date back to the time of that apostle because those copies ceased to exist. However, other historical accounts will help verify who the original author was. Many ‘God-haters’ have cited the scientific dating of certain apostolic copies as a tactic in an attempt to discount and devalue the validity of the Holy Bible. they have also attempted to add certain ancient accounts by claiming they were written by various apostles even though their claim is not supported by either scientific dating or other historical records. The Book of Enoch, and the Gospel of Thomas are two such examples. It behooves every true believer in the Word of God to be mindful of these attacks against God’s Word.

@Steve, yes spurious for the fact that a lot of the scriptural context of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are quite contrary to Johns testimony. Many theologians have claimed that the three did not write from first-hand accounts, but copied from another text, which is why the geographic details are confused, the parables are not in agreement, and the “resurrection account” of Johns, states that the disciples were in a boat, when Yahshua met them prior to His ascension. Not found in the other three.

But there is a verse in john:21:24 , like John himself wrote the Gospel of John.. I wanna get clarify with this..

I agree this author is sounding like some CNN host who knows nothing more than superficial media hear-say.

Of all the places, is this where you try to mention the untrue “controversies” between the gospels. One quick search on the topic online would help you clarify all those doubts and yet such lethargic unscholarly attitude.

At least not expected from someone authorized to write on this website with that name for Christ’s sakes.

@Ryan ..the other three were spurious?

Internal evidence on probable author identity outweighs external/tradional and ‘John’s’ gospel itself discloses clearly who the beloved disciple was and hence the author of the Fourth Gospel. And it is definitely not ‘John’.

What I would like to know is, what book the author of this essay is reading? 1. Yahshua was taken to prison Passover night (as He broke bread). 2. He was hung on a tree a High Shabbat (Wednesday). 3. He resurrected on a Sabbaton (Sabbath) before dawn. 4. John’s account was written by John, the other three are spurious writings of the third century ad.

Anyone with any brain can figure this one out.

My biggest question is ,How come there are no writings by Jesus himself ???

There are writings by Jesus. The entire Old Testament.

I remain a firm believer that it was Mary Madgalene who wrote the gospel of John. Christ loved her the most, and in this gospel it is referred to as written by the one whom Jesus loved. This is an amazing first hand account.

[…] mention this matter of style because John’s Gospel, part of which we read for the New Testament lesson this morning, seems to indicate that something […]

[…] Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How Historical is It? – Biblical Archa…. […]

I find reading these statements that there are some very studied people. But There are some who are just plain stupid.I’d rather have faith in the Bible than believe that everything in this universe came from a big bang .Let’s say I’m wrong and we just die and that’s it.What have I lost by believing in Gods word Nothing.But for you that don’t believe if your wrong all you have to look foreword to is a lake of fire and eternal torment.

[…] Más sobre los autores de los Evangelios? Echa un vistazo a la historia bíblica de post diario “Evangelio de Juan Comentario: ¿Quién escribió el evangelio de Juan y Cómo histórico is I… […]

It makes a lot of sense that Lazarus wrote the gospel of John. Listen to the message in the following link. http://columbusbiblechurch.org/index.php/audio-sp-727/sermon/10319-authorship-of-john

[…] He Died – And Does It Matter“Sabbaths, New Moons, and Appointed Feasts….”Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How Historical is It .a3a5_box {font-size: 14px !important;font-style: normal !important;font-weight: normal […]

Writership. Though the book does not name its writer, it has been almost universally acknowledged that it was written by the hand of the apostle John. From the beginning, his writership was not challenged, except by a small group in the second century who objected on the ground that they considered the book’s teachings unorthodox, but not because of any evidence concerning writership. Only since the advent of modern “critical” scholarship has John’s writership been challenged anew. The internal evidence that the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, was indeed the writer consists of such an abundance of proofs from various viewpoints that it overwhelms any arguments to the contrary. Only a very limited number of points are mentioned here, but the alert reader, with these in mind, will find a great many more. A few are: (1) The writer of the book was evidently a Jew, as is indicated by his familiarity with Jewish opinions.—Joh 1:21; 6:14; 7:40; 12:34. (2) He was a native dweller in the land of Palestine, as is indicated by his thorough acquaintance with the country. The details mentioned concerning places named indicate personal knowledge of them. He referred to “Bethany across the Jordan” (Joh 1:28) and ‘Bethany near Jerusalem.’ (11:18) He wrote that there was a garden at the place where Christ was impaled and a new memorial tomb in it (19:41), that Jesus “spoke in the treasury as he was teaching in the temple” (8:20), and that “it was wintertime, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon” (10:22, 23). (3) The writer’s own testimony and the factual evidence show that he was an eyewitness. He names individuals who said or did certain things (Joh 1:40; 6:5, 7; 12:21; 14:5, 8, 22; 18:10); he is detailed about the times of events (4:6, 52; 6:16; 13:30; 18:28; 19:14; 20:1; 21:4); he factually designates numbers in his descriptions, doing so unostentatiously.—1:35; 2:6; 4:18; 5:5; 6:9, 19; 19:23; 21:8, 11. (4) The writer was an apostle. No one but an apostle could have been eyewitness to so many events associated with Jesus’ ministry; also his intimate knowledge of Jesus’ mind, feelings, and reasons for certain actions reveals that he was one of the party of 12 who accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry. For example, he tells us that Jesus asked Philip a question to test him, “for he himself knew what he was about to do.” (Joh 6:5, 6) Jesus knew “in himself that his disciples were murmuring.” (6:61) He knew “all the things coming upon him.” (18:4) He “groaned in the spirit and became troubled.” (11:33; compare 13:21; 2:24; 4:1, 2; 6:15; 7:1.) The writer was also familiar with the apostles’ thoughts and impressions, some of which were wrong and were corrected later.—2:21, 22; 11:13; 12:16; 13:28; 20:9; 21:4. (5) Additionally, the writer is spoken of as “the disciple whom Jesus used to love.” (Joh 21:20, 24) He was evidently one of the three most intimate apostles that Jesus kept nearest to him on several occasions, such as the transfiguration (Mr 9:2) and the time of his anguish in the garden of Gethsemane. (Mt 26:36, 37) Of these three apostles, James is eliminated as the writer because of his being put to death about 44 C.E. by Herod Agrippa I. There is no evidence whatsoever for such an early date for the writing of this Gospel. Peter is ruled out by having his name mentioned alongside “the disciple whom Jesus used to love.”—Joh 21:20, 21. http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200273143

Great article and comments. I am about to begin a study of The Book of John, and this is the first site that appeared when I googled “who wrote the book of john.” What I read herein is naturally biased on account of it’s focus on history and archeology, and the factual truth. So, I am not surprised that there is no mention of “faith.” Just sayin’, brings to mind a quote attributed to the dramatist, wit, and professor, Oscar Wilde: “Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

Wow! I am about to participate in a study of The Book of John, and this is the first site that appeared when I googled “who wrote the book of john”. Great stuff,, and understandably biased on account of this site is about history and archeology and factual truth. So, I’m not surprised to have read nothing in the article or in the comments about “faith.” Just sayin’, the content herein brings to mind a quote attributed to the dramatist, wit, and professor, Oscar Wilde: “Education is an admirable thing, But it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

The Gospel of John was written by Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus loved.

Just a humble comment. We know that John the disciple was the only one among 12 who died because of old age (102~) around the beginning of the 2nd C AD. It is said that he was exhiled to Patmos where he had the revelations came back to Ephesus and died there right after he had written the gospel. Today there are the ruins of a massive church over his grave and recognized by Vatican. So it is possible that the gospel might have been written by him. By the way I am a tour guide in the region, professional on biblical tours and this page is a great source for biblical history. Thanks a lot.

It is very simple… & John was named. He was the “Disciple That Jesus Loved”. Jesus Love was his identity. Jesus Love was more important than himself. Why is that so difficult for most to see… It is as Jesus said, “There is no love of God in your hearts”.

[…] her as an apostle, noting her as the “apostle to the apostles,” based on the account of the Gospel of John which has Jesus calling her by name and telling her to give the news of his resurrection to the […]

Sorry my english:

If this isn’t the Passover in John how do you explain the fact that Judas went out like he did in the other gospels? And after the meal they went out in a garden, possibly the Mount of Olives.

I have read the hypothesis about Lazarus being the author/beloved disciple and though it seems plausible, at the same time I have some doubts, like the fact he was nominated when they’re having a meal in his house. If he was the beloved why don’t say something like “Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while a disciple, whom Jesus loved, was among those reclining at the table with him.” instead of “Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.” John 12:2

Or the fact that the Beloved Disciple was among those in Peter’s boat when they saw Jesus on the shore, cooking breakfast. Unless Lazarus was just accompanying them, it seems the beloved disciple is a fisherman like them.

With John there’s the problem he was hidden with the other disciples so he couldn’t be at the cross with the other women.

Other thing that I thought, how can we know that the “other disciple” and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” are the same? Because sometimes the “other disciple” is a sentence alone, without “whom Jesus loved”.

Whether the beloved was Lazarus, John,etc, does it matters this much to the Catholic Church? If one day a strong evidence proves the tradiction wrong, what issues could it bring?

Surely the Apostle John is important enough, even if he’s not the beloved he belongs to the inner circle of Jesus with Peter and James. He witnessed important miracles like the Transfiguration and the raising of Jairu’s daughter with them.

Since it was common practice for even educated, literate people to employ a scribe to pen letters and testimony – there were no ball point pens, typewriters or laptops and a first century author could no more pen a legible manuscript longhand than most literate people could today – it is absurd to say a Jew from galilee could not have written John’s gospel. Furthermore it is inaccurate to portray the disciples as illiterate working class men. They were not. Matthew you should remember was a tax collector, and a wealthy man. Peter, James and John were not merely fishermen, but shipowners and partners in a fishing business. Jesus himself, by trade a building contractor (or tekhnos, not a cabinet maker as he is often popularly portrayed), was expected to be able to read from the Torah at a local synagogue, as would most Jewish men. 1st century galilee was multilingual, having been occupied for hundreds of years by first Greek-speaking Macedonian forces and at the time roman troops. Some disciples even from the beginning had Greek names (such as Andrew), others such as Peter were widely known by Greek sobriquets. If anything 1st century Jews were more likely to speak fluent Greek and only have a rote familiarity with Hebrew (only recognising certain ritual phrases and recitations).

From E. W. Bullinger behold your God (Isaiah 40:9). The Devine purpose in the Gospel of John is to present The Lord Jesus as God. This is the one great feature which constitutes the difference between the other three. It has been noted in the first three The Lord Jesus is presented as Israel’s King (Matthew the Hebrew mind) Jehovah’s Servant (Mark for the Roman mind), and the ideal Man (Luke for the Greek mind). And that those incidents, words, and works are selected, in each Gospel, which specially accord with such presentation. Thus, they present The Lord on the side of His perfect humanity. It is this that links them together and is the real reason for their being called “Synoptic” and for the marked difference between them, taken together, and the fourth Gospel.

The famous Mgr Alfred Gilbey, a former Catholic chaplain at Cambridge, told me during his 90th birthday year his take on John.

He said that, when studying for ordination, the fashion at the time, say the 1920s, was to downplay John as being the reflective meditations of an old man and not very historical as he would be too old and forgetful.

On the contrary, said Mgr Gilbey, as a 90 yeast old I can tell you quite clearly who came to my 9th birthday party and what we ate and drank. I have no idea who I sat next to at dinner last night, let alone what we ate.

The Gospel of John is undoubtedly of late second century CE origin. It is just as pagan in its nature as the rest of the Greek-speaking New Testament !

First off, it opens its account with an ancient Greco-Roman philosophical idea of LOGOS, unknown and foreign to the very spirit of the Hebrew thought and Jewish Scriptures! The Greek thinker Heraclitus (ca 535 – 475 BCE) was among the first pagans to have used the term in his philosophical discourses: “ . . . This Logos holds always but humans always prove unable to understand it . . .”

The ancient Greek cult of Hermes, with its origins dating back to the 7th century BCE, made use of the Logos concept to express ideas strikingly similar to those found in John’s Gospel. Here is a short excerpt from the cult of Hermes: “The [Poimandres] writer fell into a deep and heavy trance, in which there appeared to him a being who introduced himself as Poimandres (Shepherd of Men), “the Mind of Authority.” Poimandres then shows the mystic a vision, in which he sees a great light and a great darkness, respectively reality and matter. From the light comes “a Holy Logos,” …the “shining Son of God,” who proceeds from Mind itself…”

See a more detailed discussion of these issues at: http://www.therockofisrael.org/index.cfm?i=15533&mid=4&ministryid=28705

Also, passages such as John 7:38, for example, show that the writer of the Gospel was unversed in the Hebrew Bible and did not care that the “textual evidence” that he was adducing for his readers did not really exist in the Holy Hebrew Text!

There are many other clues within the text itself that show it to be yet another example of the Church’s frantic attempt at creating an entirely new religion suitable to the needs of the Roman Empire!

Theologian Carsten Theide indictation is that it was written before 70 AD, because (John 5:2) the pool of Bethesda still existed when it was written. After the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD it no longer remained. Archaeologist excavation has unearthed this site. http://www.thedisciplewhomjesusloved.com/ has put forth a compelling hypotheses that Lazarus was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and is thus the author of the Gospel.

stick to archeology, and this will be a much better sight, and from the comments, most of you would be better served to harken to the gospel before commenting. You have eyes but see not, and you have ears but hear not. I’m sure your nose hit the air about now, but the truth is you can second guess all you want, but once your eyes are opened the internal evidence to answer all the things you are arguing is more than sufficient.

John’s Gospel is the historic Gospel. The Last Supper was not a Passover Meal (Seder). and Jesus was crucified on Friday Afternoon, the first Day.

John’s Gospel has a secret, the disciple “who Jesus loved” is Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s son. This is the son found in The Talpiot Jesus Family Tomb. John 13:23; 19:26; 20:;2; 21:7,20

It’s a bit disconcerting that the anonymous author seems to equate level of detail with level of accuracy. In some cases, like the Pool of Bethesda, the accuracy of John’s details can be checked, but in others we don’t have anything to check John’s claims against. The author also seems to suggest that Jacob’s Well (which John 4.5-6 places in Sychar in Samaria) is in Jerusalem.

does anyone notice that this author uses our gentile system talking about 4 p.m. in the afternoon, etc when a hebrew would use the 10th hour in a day etc? this really makes him a person more adapt to the roman, hellenistic world than anyone raised in the jewish manner

i am amazed that nobody ever notices there is no such thing as 72 hours or 3 days in between the burial and the resurrection, friday eve and sunday morning… ANY MATH MAJORS HERE???? the christian version of christ’s passion. and yet jesus himself mentions it in scripture as did jonah in prophecy! if you follow scripture though you might toss out your gregorian calendar and follow the hebrew kind TO INCLUDE THE FACT THE HEBREW DAY STARTS AT TWILIGHT IN THE EVENING.. scriputre talks about 2 sabbaths, the High Sabbath or ANNUAL passover, and the regular saturday sabbath WHICH STARTS FRIDAY EVENING. now following the timeline of the passion then you will realize passover fell on a thursday (wedensday eve to thursday eve) that year and so christ was crucified and buried before sundown on wednesday shortly before twilight when the seder took place. the holy day was strictly enforced, ergo no work or business whatsoever! then friday, as per scripture, the women went out to buy ointments for jesus to take to the grave after the regular sabbath, early morning sunday. meanwhile though, counting 72 hours from the approximate burial after the 3 o”clock death on the cross, say around 5 p.m. wednesday brings you to 5 pm saturday, ergo christ rose as the sabbath went out before twilight. AND NOT YOUR PAGAN EASTER SUNDAY! check the kahluach for the year when passover fell on a thursday! and all falls in place!

The handed down authorship of the Fourth Gospel rests entirely on tradition/external ‘evidence’. The strongest proof of who an author of a biblical document is stands on the internal evidence – what the document itself divulges. As regards the author of the Fourth Gospel itself – and it is not the son of Zebedee – the internal evidence points irrefutably to the most unlikely person, the only male disciple that was present at the cross, to whom the care of Jesus’ mother was entrusted and who witnessed what took place there, who knew precisely what the nature and the extent of Jesus’ marks of crucifixion were. When he refused to believe unless he saw those marks, the church has branded him a doubter and for two millenia his name has become synomynous with unbelief. Read the Scripture in context and discover for yourself.

The book of John showed how the Messiah fulfilled all the Feasts of the Lord in which we are commanded to observe. John 6:4 was not in the earliest known manuscripts. When putting together the NT they took what there was the most of. John 6:4 says it was Passover yet all the men including Pharisees were up in Gallilee instead of being in Jerusalem. That would not happen. 2nd. When Messiah ate the Passover meal as it was called, He said I wish I could have eaten this with you. So it was not Passover (the bread was artos………leavened bread). Messiah was explaining that when they took the Unleavened Bread all those centuries of celebrating it that it was about Him. The bread that is pierced and has stripes on it. The wine represented the blood He would spill. He only taught one year, or the book of Daniel is a lie, and so is the rest of the Word. It was written several times that the Passover Lamb had to be a lamb of the FIRST year, without spot or blemish. Everyone was multilingual at that time. Especially the Jews. They spoke Aramaic and of course Hebrew. The scrolls were written in Hebrew. They were taught out of the scrolls. And historians saying there was illiteracy among them? How do they know this?? The teaching that they only spoke Aramaic is a fallacy. If you want someone to know what our Father wants then have them start in Genesis and then when you get to the letters in the NT one can understand what they are talking about. Eusebius said that Matthew wrote the logos in the Hebrew language and each interpreted it the best he could. The Greeks did apparently have a problem interpreting Hebrew into Greek because they did not know the Hebraisms. Nor did they know what was written before. And this Friday Passover cannot work either. Messiah was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. So He had to be in the grave by sundown Wednesday to arise on the Sabbath Day, which by the way GOD never changed. He was already arisen before daylight on sunday morning, and no one knows how many hours He had been up.

It is unfamiliarity with the Mosaic Law and 2nd Temple practice that causes so many to mistakenly assume that John’s Gospel contradicts the Synoptics. Several points: 1. There was no preparation day for feasts – According to the Law (Exodus 12:16) that servile work which was necessary to prepare the feast (carrying wood, lighting a fire, cooking, carrying food, carrying water, washing dishes, etc.), even on the 1st and 7th days which were festival sabbaths, was allowed to be done that day so that everyone could eat the feast. There was no need for a “preparation day” for festivals, not even festival sabbaths which were not as strict in the no-work laws as the weekly sabbath. 2. The only day on which absolutely no work could be done and preparations had to be made the day before was the weekly Sabbath, even if it fell on a feast day. Thus, the regular weekly Sabbath, when it fell on a feast day, was doubly holy (a “High Sabbath”) and the laws and injunctions for the weekly sabbath overrode those for the festivals sabbaths. Therefore, the preparations for any feast that fell on Saturday had to be made on Friday. And from historical records, the only day which was ever called “the preparation” was Friday, testified to by Josephus (Antiquities, Book 16, Chapter 6, line 163). So when John speaks of the preparation “of” the Passover, not the preparation “for” the Passover, he is referring to the Preparation (Friday) that fell during Passover week, and every year one day of the week-long feast would fall on the weekly Sabbath. 3. The lambs slain on the afternoon of Nisan 14 were not the only Passover sacrifices. All the sacrifices and offerings, both those required by Law as well as those offered voluntarily, were referred to as Passover sacrifices, even in the Scripture itself (See Deut 16:1-3 and 2 Chron 35:7-9 for example). Thus when John spoke of the Pharisees contracting Levitical defilement which would exclude them from eating the Passover, he wasn’t referring to the Passover lambs sacrificed on Nisan 14, but John was referring to the 2nd Passover Chagigah (peace-offering) sacrificed on Nisan 15 and which was eaten at the 2nd feast of Passover. This peace-offering was required by Law and had the Pharisees contracted defilement they would be excluded form eating it. Commenting on 2nd Temple Jewish practice mentioned in the Gospels without consulting 2nd Temple Jewish law and historical practice leads to unnecessary difficulties.

Appendix #156 of Dr. E. W. Bullinger’s THE COMPANION BIBLE is titled “Six Days Before The Passover.” It is helpful in (1) understanding the last week of our Lord’s life on earth; (2) fix the day of His crucifixion; and (3) to ascertain the duration of the time He remained in the tomb. #156 appendix http://www.levendwater.org/companion/append156.html

This is a replay to “Bob says”:Trying to find biblical truth is down right impossible…

The reason for there being a tree of “knowledge of good an evil” is this; as we are beings of “Free Will”, we could not have been in the garden and had free will if there had not been a “choice factor” the tree.

[…] To continue reading click here… Related Posts 4 Feb […]

John’s Gospel probably had two sources but only one major contributor, the eyewitness, unnamed to protect his identity from the Jews. Criminal forensics (taking the entire context of Jesus’s Greco-Roman world in Judea and Israel plus the Synoptics) strongly indicates that NONE of the Apostles witnessed the Crucifixion. I posit Lazarus/’Eleazar’/the son of a rich man/brother of Martha & Mary, to be the author & eyewitness. He is possibly a relative/close family of Jesus with access to the Sanhedrin and Pilate because he is related to Nicodemus/Simon the Leper (the POTTER – in the Peshitta) or Joseph of Arimathea. Why? Because kosher laws prevent a Jew from coming close to the dead (Jesus from the cross) on Passover, no less, UNLESS they are immediate FAMILY. If you apply this analysis, many contradictions disappear from the Gospels.

Pray for discernment, seek the truth beyond science and history, allow the LORD to speak to you, meditate on the Word of God and accept that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior Forever

John’s essay (it becomes a gospel three centuries later) is clearly the Gentile stamp on Jesus’ mission to earth, as defined by Paul. By the time John is written, the Pauline interpretation of Jesus as the Christ, through whom one’s soul can be saved only if one believes that Jesus was the Son of God, is set. Compare John with James, who voices more closely Jesus’ teachings and not Paul’s. Paul claims to have been infused with his knowledge about Jesus before Paul’s own birth. And now a billion people believe his version of events? Pretty remarkable.

Who wrote the Gospel of John is a question like who is buried in a Grants tomb. Now do you know who wrote the Gospel of John? And you know who was buried in a Grants tomb without questioning. So whose at the head of Christ’s church? Bet you get stumped on that one.

Can you remove my comment because john th apostle was speaking about john the bapthis LG Cook

Can you remove my commnt because john the apostle was speaking about john the bapthis

In chapter one verse six it says “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John” and goe from there like Someone else is telling the story. If I was telling my own story I wouldn’t tell it in that nature if it was about me Could someone else have wrote the book? LG Cook Oct. 28, 2013

[…] a friend that would lay down their life for me or have my best interest at heart at All times. Who wrote the book of John? Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleLike this:Like Loading… This entry was posted in scripture […]

“John was written last, by someone who knew about the other three Gospels, but who wished to write a spiritual gospel instead of an historical one. This would mean that the person who wrote the Gospel of John would not have been a contemporary of Jesus, and therefore would not have been an eyewitness as the author claims.”

This seems a non sequitur. Why does writing a “spiritual” gospel preclude historic events? Why would it mean the author never knew Jesus?

[…]a great and a incredibly newsworthy history i’m so delighted when i[…]…

Years ago I took a college course that went into facts regarding the New Testament. The professor pointed out that there had been countless changes (300,000 ) to the New Testament and each change took it further from the truth. The professor also checked events that were reliably recorded at the time of the event by Roman,Greek and Hebrew writers. He came to the conclusion none of the authors was witness to the actual events. In fact he was sure that John was written much later by a person who was influenced by Roman anti semitism and was not Jewish. John has numerous derogitory statements regarding Jews that don’t fit the customs of the times. He said Roman rulers at the time would kill their mothers and certainly wouldn’t ask a crowd what to do, because it would make them look weak to their men. The professor checked the recorded birth and death of well known Roman Emperors and events such as paying taxes or taking a census and said that when they mention a specific person like Caesar Augustus, things don’t ring true regarding dates and other facts mentioned. He said the famous painting of the Last Supper was an example of misinformation. The artist is allegedy painting the Passover meal and places loves of bread on the table instead of flat unleavened bread. What is the difference and does all this matter? I don’t think so. There are over 5000 Protestant denominations in the United States and numerous other beliefs. Since no one has ever come back from the dead during the past million years that man has been on the earth, we don’t really know what happens when you die. However, we do know that religion has caused more deaths than almost any other belief.

Any assessment of the relationship between John and the synoptics that doesn’t grapple with JAT Robinson’s Bampton Lectures published in the early 1980s as The Priority of John is really not worth wasting time with. Robinson developed much of CH Dodd’s work on the Fourth Gospel. The most raw specific early material about Jerusalem is found in John. Robinson identifies five redactions in the book, all by the same hand. Taken with his Redating the New Testament (1978) we have in John the earliest written material of any gospel (as early as 42AD) and like the remainder of the New Testament, completed before 70AD, given there is no evidence any NT writer has any knowledge of the fall of Jerusalem in that year which was a cataclysmic event for Jews and from which Jewish Christians fled ahead of time. Despite being a liberal theologian (Honest to God, 1964) Robinson’s work is very much in the classical scholarship tradition of Westcott, Lightfoot and Hort (and his uncle Armitage Robinson) which is as rigorous as anything available on historical veracity.

I believe John was written about 30 years after the destruction of the Temple and shows the effect of Pauline Christianity. This is particularly evident in the emphasis of Christ being a part of the Godhead, and His existence as part of God at the time of the creation. John shows the evolution of Christian belief.

Some interesting remarks here. I learned some things from various comments, and that’s a good thing.

I also learned that someone who says one thing in one book and another thing elsewhere is a “top class Biblical scholar”–per comment #11. Would not say so.

Did none of you read the well-thought -out analysis of the identity of the “beloved disciple” published in this publication or its forerunner, Bible Review, a few years back, researched and written by Ben Witherington? I found his observations, reasoning, and tentative conclusion fully convincing that the identity of the beloved was most likely Lazarus. I have since taken this theory further and found more and more evidence that satisfies both the “facts” and the “truth” of the gospel of “John.”

[…] read nice little article on the Gospel of John this morning on the website of Biblical Archaeology Review (my favorite magazine, but I missed a month because of the move–drats!) that roots around at […]

The Book of John is wonderful and powerful for all new converts. At my conversion in 1978, the preacher’s sermon was on the resurrection from John’s Gospel. Since then, when I share the Gospel, and someone is very interested in knowing Jesus, I’ll have them study John’s Gospel first and foremost, then I will break open Paul’s Epistles of Romans and Hebrews. Yes, my opinion on Hebrews is that when Paul was waiting for execution in the 20’ft hole in front of the Senate in Rome, that Apollos must have visited him there. Being bound, Paul could not write, but may have instructed Apollos to write as he orally communicated. Apollos then would insert his Alexandrian Greek in and out of the passage. Hope this helps someone.

Regarding the authorship, notice carefully in John 21:24-25 that there are three very distinct people or groups of people mentioned: (1) the unidentified Beloved Disciple: “this is the disciple who testifies concerning these things” (3rd person reference) (2) the community of the Beloved Disciple… his church/followers/community (whatever you want to call them): “and *we* know his testimony is true” (1st person, plural = the community; also mentioned as “the brothers” in 21:23) (3) the actual author who put ink to papyrus: “*I* suppose the world itself” (1st person singular).

The Beloved Disciple is the source for the Fourth Gospel, but *not* the author who put ink to papyrus. The author is a follower of the Beloved Disciple and is a separate person when you separate out the people mentioned in the last 2 verses of the book.

So why does 21:24 indicate that the Beloved Disciple “wrote” these things? Well, in the same sense that Pilate “wrote” the inscription for Jesus’ cross (19:22). Did Pilate actually get a board and paint the inscription himself? Most assuredly not. One of the Romans did it, even though Pilate was the source of the inscription.

Hope this is helpful.

What everyone seams to neglect is that John is described as being a part of the lower classes, just as all of Jesus’s disciples were. Given that during that time and age at the best of times the literacy rate in the Roman empire was about 10%. The literacy rate of a rural Palestinian town is significantly lower, more like 3%, and these were people who could most likely only read. About 1-2% could effectively write legible Aramaic (the language Jesus and his disciples would have spoken). Far fewer could compose such a well written account such as John. Plus only the rich, or their slaves who needed to know how to write for chores, could afford the education to read or write. This effectively makes it implausible to have John being the author. But this goes without saying that John, in theory, could have gotten enough money to learn advanced Greek (what the gospels were originally written in) and later in life decided to write a book… but it seams like a lot to believe on no positive evidence and an overwhelming amount against it.

What is more probable is that an unnamed author living after Jesus died composed a gospel and it got circulating. A group found they enjoyed and accepted the teachings that it held and ascribed apostolic authority to the book in order to promote their own ends. Read Forged by top class Biblical Scholar Bart Ehrman for a more precise and deep argument plus the citations for the info.

This in no way degrades the meaning of John if you believe in it’s moral teachings, but know that there are good reasons to suggest it is not a product of John.

Looking at the accurate geographical references, the knowledge of Jerusalem, the knowledge of the temple festivals, the knowledge of what happened during Jesus´ trial, the knowledge of the content of late night discussions with Nicodemus (a member of the Jewish leadership who Jesus called a teacher, but who at first failed to understand, who as a Jewish leader, who would have been known to the Temple guards and who was present at Jesus´ trial, as was the beloved disciple in John), I would say that considering all of these coincidences, Nicodemus should be considered a good candidate for the identity of the beloved disciple and the origin of the original material used for the Gospel of John. The text itself states the material was redacted by a follower of the beloved disciple after his death. Any comments or objections on this possible identity for the ¨beloved disciple?”

John even describes a rich young man coming to Jesus who goes away sadly, stating that Jesus saw him and loved him – like the beloved disciple. -Nicodemus appears to be rich, like the young man loved by Jesus. We don´t know if he was young or old. But He was a scholar, who probably had the background to write a theological Gospel, was present at Jesus´ trial, and at his crucifixion as was the beloved disciple.

[…] Interested in the Gospels’ authors? Check out the Bible History Daily post Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How Historical is It? […]

I agree that the author of John’s Gospel wrote a more ‘spiritual’ than historical work, though the accuracy of many of his references has been demonstrated. But why do you say that he can’t have been a contemporary of Jesus? If he was a young man aged 17-20 during Jesus’ ministry, he could have written his gospel when he was c. 80 years old, as it is usually dated to the late 1st century. Some have even argued for an earlier date! John M

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Who Wrote the Gospel of John?

March 23, 2018
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The Gospel of John provides no explicit internal evidence concerning its author. John, the disciple, is nowhere identified by name.

But the Fourth Gospel might provide us with clues concealed in the enigmatic figure of the “Beloved Disciple.”

This title occurs in five passages:

John 13:23: “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.”
John 19:26: “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son.’”
John 20:2: “So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’”
John 21:7: “Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’”
John 20:20: “Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.”

In addition to this, John 21:24 describes the Beloved Disciple as the “disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.”

Therefore the origin of the Gospel must in some way be connected to this person—the Gospel of John may be a record of his eyewitness account of Jesus’ life.

Who was the Beloved Disciple?

Some possibilities:

1. An ideal Christian disciple

Initially, some have suggested that he is an idealized literary figure: the ideal Christian disciple . To a degree this is true, because of his faithful and intimate knowledge of Jesus.

But this hardly excludes the possibility of a genuine historical person.

Lazarus has sometimes been nominated. Lazarus is the only figure of whom it is said that Jesus loved him (John 11:3, 36). Further, the Beloved Disciple texts occur only after Lazarus is introduced in chapter 11.

But this solution is unlikely. Why would Lazarus’s name be mentioned in chapters 11–12 but then left shrouded in subsequent accounts?

3. John Mark

A man named John Mark was a part of the early church (Acts 12:12), and he was associated with Peter. This may explain the rivalry between Peter and our disciple in John (cf. 20:2–8; 21:7–14). Furthermore, if Mark was related to the Levite Barnabas (Col. 4:10), this may also explain how the Beloved Disciple knows the high priest in 18:15.

Nevertheless, there is a strong patristic tradition that Mark authored the Second Gospel, not the Fourth Gospel.

Besides, the Beloved Disciple was certainly one of the twelve apostles (13:23), and John Mark was not.

The most recent suggestion points to Thomas as the Beloved Disciple.

Throughout the Gospel Thomas is presented as a person of leadership (11:16). His story with Jesus even concludes the Gospel (assuming that chapter 20 originally ended the book) and parallels the resurrection story of the apostles. Above all, Thomas asks to see the wound in Jesus’ side, and the Beloved Disciple was the only one who would have known about this (19:35).

Added to this is evidence for a “school or community of Thomas” with its own literature (Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Thomas, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, etc.) and its interest in the Fourth Gospel.

5. John son of Zebedee

The best solution is the traditional one: John son of Zebedee (Mark 3:17; Acts 1:13).

This man was one of the Twelve and along with James and Peter formed an inner circle around Jesus. This is the origin of his eyewitness testimony and penetrating insight.

In the synoptic Gospels John appears with Peter more than with any other, and in Acts they are companions in Jerusalem (Acts 3–4) as well as in Samaria (8:14). This dovetails with the Peter/John connection in the Fourth Gospel.

Raymond Brown has offered a novel theory to buttress this. He suggests evidence that John and Jesus may have been cousins (through their mothers). This would explain why Jesus entrusts Mary to John (19:25)—a natural family relation (she may have been John’s aunt)—and John was known by the high priest through Mary’s priestly relatives (18:15–16; cf. Luke 1:5, 36).

Evidence for John’s authorship from the Early Church

Patristic evidence seems to confirm that John wrote the Gospel. Here are a few examples:

Irenaeus , writing at about AD 200, says that the Beloved Disciple was John, the disciple of Jesus, and that John originated the Gospel at Ephesus.
Irenaeus even writes that when he himself was young, he knew another teacher, Polycarp , Bishop of Smyrna (c. AD 69–155), who claimed to have been tutored by John.
The church historian Eusebius (c. AD 300) records this John/Polycarp/Irenaeus connection in the same way.
Further, Polycrates , Bishop of Ephesus (AD 189–198), refers to John’s association with the Gospel in his letter to Victor the Bishop of Rome.
It is also confirmed by Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 200) and the Latin Muratorian Canon (AD 180–200).

Objections to John’s authorship

Criticisms of this conclusion are commonplace, and we would do well to consider the most important ones.

Earlier in the 1900s critics regularly pointed to John’s inaccuracies on geographical details. This, it was affirmed, could hardly come from an eyewitness writer. But subsequent historical and archaeological study have, if anything, shown John’s reliability.

Could a fisherman-turned-apostle have penned a work of such subtlety and insight? Could a Galilean such as this be acquainted with Greek thought? Of course.

Recent study of Palestinian Judaism has shown a remarkable degree of Greek cultural penetration at all levels of society. While the New Testament does affirm that John the apostle was a “commoner” (Acts 4:13), we still are unwise to predict what John could or could not accomplish. Furthermore, this criticism fails to consider that the final edition of the Gospel may have been edited by John’s disciples, an amanuensis (professional scribe), or John’s community.

Finally, some lodge the complaint that this Gospel was not readily accepted in the early church. This is true.

But we have to reckon with two facts:

Our evidence for John’s neglect is not as weighty as it seems. Important early writers may not quote John or allude to him, but to note what a patristic writer fails to say is an argument from silence.
John found wide acceptance in heretical, gnostic circles. This has been confirmed recently by the gnostic documents found at Nag Hammadi, where in The Gospel of Truth Johannine themes abound. The unorthodox on the fringes of the Greek church embraced John and provided the earliest widely known commentaries (Valentinus, Heracleon). Therefore the church was cautious in its use of the gospel because of its dangerous abuse elsewhere.

In the end, the most likely scenario is that the Gospel of John was written by John son of Zebedee.

Learn more about the Gospel of John by signing up for Gary Burge’s online course. Take a look at the free preview:

This post is adapted from material found in Gary Burge’s online course on the Gospel of John.

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Which books in the Bible did John write?

Author: BibleAsk Team

May 18, 2019

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The Books of John

John the brother of James and the son of Zebedee was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus . John wrote the following books in the New Testament:

1st, 2nd, and 3rd Epistle of John

In none of the New Testament epistles credited to John does the author identify himself. But, there is so great a similarity between the first epistle and the Gospel of John that most Bible scholars admit the common authorship of the two works. And a similar relationship ties the first epistle with the second and the second with the third.

The Book of Revelation

Also, it is recognized that John wrote the book of Revelation. But how did the scholars reach this deduction? The New Testament mentions several men by this name, the Baptist, the son of Zebedee, who was one of the Twelve, John, who was surnamed Mark, and a certain relative of the high priest Annas (Acts 4:6).

Clearly, the author of the Revelation could not be John the Baptist , for that John was killed before the crucifixion of Jesus ; nor is it possible that it was the relative of Annas , of whom there is no indication that he ever became a Christian. Also, there is little evidence that John Mark was the author of the Revelation. The style, wording, and approach of the second Gospel are simply different from those of the Revelation. By a process of exclusion, John the son of Zebedee and the brother of James is identified. He was not only one of the Twelve disciples but also one of Jesus ’ close circle.

Almost universally early Christian tradition identifies the apostle John as the author of the Revelation. In fact, every Christian author until the middle of the 3d century believed that. These authors are Justin Martyr at Rome (c. A.D. 100–c. 165; Dialogue With Trypho 81), Irenaeus at Lyons (c. A.D. 130–c. 202; Against Heresies iv. 20. 11), Tertullian at Carthage (c. A.D. 160–c. 240; On Prescription Against Heretics 36), and Hippolytus at Rome (died c. A.D. 220; Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved ? xlii).

In His service, BibleAsk Team

Cash-strapped Trump is now selling $60 Bibles, U.S. Constitution included

Rachel Treisman

Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a controversial 2020 photo-op. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a controversial 2020 photo-op.

Former President Donald Trump is bringing together church and state in a gilded package for his latest venture, a $60 "God Bless The USA" Bible complete with copies of the nation's founding documents.

Trump announced the launch of the leather-bound, large-print, King James Bible in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday — a day after the social media company surged in its trading debut and two days after a New York appeals court extended his bond deadline to comply with a ruling in a civil fraud case and slashed the bond amount by 61%.

"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again," Trump wrote. "As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible."

Consider This from NPR

Why trump's persecution narrative resonates with christian supporters.

The Bible is inspired by "God Bless the USA," the patriotic Lee Greenwood anthem that has been a fixture at many a Trump rally (and has a long political history dating back to Ronald Reagan). It is the only Bible endorsed by Trump as well as Greenwood, according to its promotional website .

The Bible is only available online and sells for $59.99 (considerably more expensive than the traditional Bibles sold at major retailers, or those available for free at many churches and hotels). It includes Greenwood's handwritten chorus of its titular song as well as copies of historical documents including the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Pledge of Allegiance.

"Many of you have never read them and don't know the liberties and rights you have as Americans, and how you are being threatened to lose those rights," Trump said in a three-minute video advertisement.

"Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast."

'You gotta be tough': White evangelicals remain enthusiastic about Donald Trump

Trump critics on both sides of the aisle quickly criticized the product, characterizing it as self-serving and hypocritical.

Conservative political commentator Charlie Sykes slammed him for "commodifying the Bible during Holy Week," while Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota critiqued him for "literally taking a holy book and selling it, and putting it out there in order to make money for his campaign."

Trump says the money isn't going to his campaign, but more on that below.

Klobuchar added that Trump's public attacks on others are "not consistent with the teachings of the Bible," calling this "one more moment of hypocrisy." Tara Setmayer, a senior adviser for anti-Trump Republican PAC the Lincoln Project, called it "blasphemous ."

And former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, trolled Trump with a social media post alluding to his alleged extramarital affairs.

"Happy Holy Week, Donald," she wrote. "Instead of selling Bibles, you should probably buy one. And read it, including Exodus 20:14 ."

Christianity is an increasingly prominent part of his campaign

Trump has made a point of cultivating Christian supporters since his 2016 presidential campaign and remains popular with white evangelicals despite his multiple divorces, insults toward marginalized groups and allegations of extramarital affairs and sexual assault.

And his narrative of being persecuted — including in the courts — appears to resonate with his many Christian supporters.

Trump has increasingly embraced Christian nationalist ideas in public. He promised a convention of religious broadcasters last month that he would use a second term to defend Christian values from the "radical left," swearing that "no one will be touching the cross of Christ under the Trump administration."

He made similar comments in the Bible promotional video, in which he warned that "Christians are under siege" and the country is "going haywire" because it lost religion.

What to know about the debut of Trump's $399 golden, high-top sneakers

"We must defend God in the public square and not allow the media or the left-wing groups to silence, censor or discriminate against us," he said. "We have to bring Christianity back into our lives and back into what will be again a great nation."

Trump himself is not known to be particularly religious or a regular churchgoer. He long identified as Presbyterian but announced in 2020 that he identified as nondenominational .

A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this month found that most people with positive views of Trump don't see him as especially religious, but think he stands up for people with religious beliefs like their own.

Trump said in the promotional video that he has many Bibles at home.

"It's my favorite book," he said, echoing a comment he's made in previous years. "It's a lot of people's favorite book."

The Impact Of Christian Nationalism On American Democracy

Trump's relationship to the Bible has been a point of discussion and sometimes controversy over the years.

In 2020, amid protests over George Floyd's murder, he posed with a Bible outside a Washington, D.C., church, for which he was widely criticized. U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops had tear-gassed peaceful protesters in the area beforehand, seemingly to make way for the photo-op, though a watchdog report the following year determined otherwise .

That same year, a clip of a 2015 Bloomberg interview, in which Trump declines to name his favorite — or any — Bible verse resurfaced on social media and went viral.

Bible sales are unlikely to solve Trump's financial problems

An FAQ section on the Bible website says no profits will go to Trump's reelection campaign.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign," it says.

However, the site adds that it uses Trump's name, likeness and image "under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC."

Trump is listed as the manager, president, secretary and treasurer of CIC Ventures LLC in a financial disclosure from last year.

Here's what happens if Trump can't pay his $454 million bond

Trump's sales pitch focuses on bringing religion back to America.

"I want to have a lot of people have it," he said at one point in the video. "You have to have it for your heart and for your soul."

But many are wondering whether Trump has something else to gain from Bible sales while facing under mounting financial pressure.

There's his presidential reelection campaign, which has raised only about half of what Biden's has so far this cycle. Trump acknowledged Monday that he "might" spend his own money on his campaign, something he hasn't done since 2016.

There's also his mounting legal expenses, as he faces four criminal indictments and numerous civil cases. Trump posted bond to support a $83.3 million jury award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation case earlier this month, and was due to put up another $454 million in a civil fraud case this past Monday.

Trump is on the verge of a windfall of billions of dollars. Here are 3 things to know

His lawyers had said last week that they had approached 30 companies for help making bond, but doing so was a "practical impossibility" — prompting New York's attorney general to confirm that if Trump did not pay, she would move to seize his assets . On Monday, the appeals court reduced the bond amount to $175 million and gave Trump another 10 days to post it.

Trump has evidently been trying to raise money in other ways.

The day after the civil fraud judgment was announced, he debuted a line of $399 golden, high-top sneakers , which sold out in hours . The company behind his social media app, Truth Social, started trading on the Nasdaq exchange on Tuesday, which could deliver him a windfall of more than $3 billion — though he can't sell his shares for another six months.

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Book of Donald: Trump hawks special ‘God Bless the USA’ Bibles for $60

Former president sells Trump-endorsed Bible in concert with Lee Greenwood, country singer whose music is played at his rallies

Patriotic, prayerful and rightwing Americans are being offered the chance to purchase – for a mere $59.99 – a Bible endorsed by Donald Trump , in the latest example of the former US president touting wares to the American public.

In a post to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, the current presumptive Republican nominee and 88-times charged criminal defendant said : “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible.”

In an accompanying video message, Trump said : “I’m proud to be partnering with my very good friend Lee Greenwood – who doesn’t love his song God Bless the USA? – in connection with promoting the God Bless the USA Bible.”

Greenwood, a country singer whose signature tune is played at Trump rallies, is offering the Bibles for sale through a website, GodBlessTheUSABible.com.

The site features a picture of Trump smiling broadly and holding a Bible in front of his red-and-white-striped club tie. The cover of the Bible is embossed with the words “Holy Bible” and “God Bless the USA” and a design based on the US flag.

Greenwood’s website says the Bible is the only one endorsed by Trump, counsels buyers on what to do if their Bible has “sticky pages”, and answers the important question on many peoples’ minds: “Is any of the money from this Bible going to the Donald J Trump campaign for president?”

“No,” the site says. “GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign. GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J Trump, the Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates.

“GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”

CIC Ventures was established in 2021 by a former Trump aide and a Trump-linked lawyer in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump has lived since leaving power. Its principal address is that of Trump International Golf Club. The company has also been involved in Trump-themed money making schemes including digital training cards and gold sneakers.

Given Trump’s status as a thrice-married legally adjudicated rapist and billionaire New York property magnate nonetheless dependent on evangelical Christian support , his true relationship with and knowledge of the Bible has long been a subject of speculation.

In June 2020, towards the end of his presidency, he memorably marched out of the White House, across a square violently cleared of protesters for racial justice, and posed outside the historic St John’s church while holding a Bible in the air.

A reporter asked: “Is that your Bible?”

Trump said: “It’s a Bible.”

after newsletter promotion

In his video on Tuesday, Trump said: “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast. I think it’s one of the biggest problems we have. That’s why our country is going haywire. We’ve lost religion in our country. All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many.”

In response, Gregory Minchak, of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, commented : “There’s not a cross nor a picture of Jesus on the page, but plenty of photos of Trump. Who do you think this $60 Bible is for? It sure isn’t for Jesus.”

Sarafina Chitika, a senior Biden campaign spokesperson, issued a stinging statement.

“The last time the American people saw Donald Trump hold up a Bible,” she said, “it was for a photo op after he teargassed American citizens demonstrating against white supremacy.

“He can’t be bothered to leave Mar-a-Lago to meet with actual voters, but found the time to hawk bootleg sneakers, sell cheap perfume and promote his ‘new’ product to line his own pockets.

“It’s classic Donald Trump – a fraud who has spent his life scamming people and his presidency screwing over the middle class and cutting taxes for his rich friends.”

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Trump’s Newest Venture? A $60 Bible.

His Bible sales pitch comes as he appears to be confronting a significant financial squeeze, with his legal fees growing while he fights a number of criminal cases and lawsuits.

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Former President Donald J. Trump holding a Bible in his right hand. A sign for St. John’s Church is behind him.

By Michael Gold and Maggie Haberman

March 26, 2024

Before he turned to politics, former President Donald J. Trump lent his star power and celebrity endorsement to a slew of consumer products — steaks, vodka and even for-profit education, to name just a few.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, added a new item to the list: a $60 Bible.

Days before Easter, Mr. Trump posted a video on his social media platform in which he encouraged his supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” named after the ballad by the country singer Lee Greenwood, which Mr. Trump plays as he takes the stage at his rallies.

“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” said Mr. Trump, who before entering politics was not overtly religious and who notably stumbled while referencing a book of the Bible during his 2016 campaign. “It’s a lot of people’s favorite book.”

Though Mr. Trump is not selling the Bible, he is getting royalties from purchases, according to a person familiar with the details of the business arrangement.

Priced at $59.99, plus shipping and tax, the “God Bless the USA Bible” includes a King James Bible and a handwritten version of the chorus of Mr. Greenwood’s song, and copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance.

In his video, Mr. Trump expressed his approval of the book’s blend of theology with foundational American political documents, framing that mix as central to the political call that has been his longtime campaign slogan, Make America Great Again.

“Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country,” Mr. Trump said. Later, he added, “We must make America pray again.”

As he runs for president this year, Mr. Trump has framed his campaign as a crusade to defend Christian values from the left. He often makes false or misleading claims that Democrats are persecuting Christians. Last month, he told a religious media convention that Democrats wanted to “tear down crosses.”

His Bible sales pitch comes as he appears to be confronting a significant financial squeeze. With his legal fees growing while he fights four criminal cases and a number of civil lawsuits, Mr. Trump is also being required to post a $175 million bond while he appeals his New York civil fraud case — a hefty amount, though one that is significantly smaller than the $454 million penalty imposed in the case.

According to the Bible’s website, Mr. Trump’s “name, likeness and image” are being used “under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the business arrangement. But CIC Ventures is also connected to another product Mr. Trump has hawked while campaigning: $399 “Never Surrender” sneakers that he announced at a sneaker convention in Philadelphia last month.

Michael Gold is a political correspondent for The Times covering the campaigns of Donald J. Trump and other candidates in the 2024 presidential elections. More about Michael Gold

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

Our Coverage of the 2024 Elections

Presidential Race

Donald Trump, who ends many of his rallies with a churchlike ritual, has infused his movement with Christianity .

Trump posted a video to his social media website that features an image of President Biden with his hands and feet tied together .

A campaign event intending to galvanize support among organized labor and Latino voters behind Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s bid instead drew condemnation from the family of the labor organizer Cesar Chavez .

Other Key Races

Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, abruptly ended her bid for U.S. Senate, a campaign flop that reflected intense national frustration with politics as usual .

Kari Lake, a Trump acolyte running for Senate in Arizona, is struggling to walk away from the controversial positions that have turned off independents and alienated establishment Republicans.

Ohio will almost certainly go for Trump this November. Senator Sherrod Brown, the last Democrat holding statewide office, will need to defy the gravity of the presidential contest to win a fourth term.

Donald Trump Selling Bibles Sparks Fury From Christians—'Blasphemous Grift'

Former President Donald Trump 's latest venture selling Bibles has sparked the fury of Christians.

Trump, who became the presumptive Republican nominee earlier in March, posted a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging his supporters to buy the "God Bless the USA Bible," inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood's patriotic ballad.

"Happy Holy Week! Let's Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible," Trump wrote in the post, alongside a link to a website selling the book for $59.99. It came a day after Trump seemingly compared his legal plight to Jesus Christ's persecution.

And it comes as he faces mounting legal bills while fighting four criminal indictments and a series of civil charges while running to reclaim the White House. On Monday, a New York appeals court agreed to hold off on collecting the more than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.

But the move has sparked the ire of Christians.

Trump selling copies of the Bible "during Holy Week like it's just one more overpriced Trump shoe or steak has really touched a nerve among voters—we've heard from many upset Faithful America members since his video appeared," the Rev. Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America, told Newsweek via email.

"Seeing the indicted, would-be dictator, sell so-called 'patriotic' Bibles does provide a parallel to Holy Week, but it's not with Jesus," Empsall added.

"Trump is doing his best impression of the corrupt moneychangers who profited by ripping off worshippers. Today, much like Jesus overturning the moneychangers' tables, Christians are sick of seeing MAGA's false prophets twist our loving faith for an agenda of hatred and selfishness. The Bible is bigger than any politician, and if Trump really wants to talk about Scripture, I suggest he try actually reading it first. He might actually learn a few things about love, humility, money, and peace."

Others took to social media to express their anger.

"Trump Bibles. This guy and his followers who excuse this crap p*** me off. He has completely trashed our political party & now he's trying to ruin our faith community for his own ends," Heath Mayo, a conservative lawyer, wrote on X, formerly Twitter .

"If you're a Christian, please speak up & reject this. He's making a mockery of the flock."

Tara Setmayer, a senior advisor for The Lincoln Project , called it "more blasphemous grift."

"There's NOTHING 'holy' about selling Bibles 'endorsed by Trump,'" Setmayer wrote on X.

Another person wrote: "Total blasphemy. No true Christian would support a heathenistic huckster like Trump, who is mocking their religion."

Another wrote: "He is promoting the sale of trump bibles during our most holy week of worship. This is beyond blasphemous and disrespectful to Christians and I'm really p***** off."

Asked for comment about the backlash, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek: "These are Never Trump idiots suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."

The website selling the Bible bills the book as "the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!"

As well as a King James Version translation, it includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of "God Bless the USA" by Greenwood.

The website also states that proceeds are not going to the Trump campaign.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign," it says.

"GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates. GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump's name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms."

The Bible is the latest commercial venture that Trump has pursued while campaigning for the presidency. Last month, he promoted limited edition gold Trump-branded sneakers for $399.

He has also sold digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images as a number of characters, including as a superhero, astronaut and NASCAR driver.

Update 3/27/24, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Rev. Nathan Empsall.

Donald Trump's Trying to Sell Bibles
Donald Trump's Bible Knowledge Mocked in Viral Video
Mary Trump Mocks Donald Trump Over Bible Push: 'Never Prayed in His Life'
Jesus or Trump? Conservative Christians Face Growing Rift

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Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020. The former president has sparked the ire of Christians for selling Bibles for $59.99 ahead of Easter.

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Trump is selling ‘God Bless the USA’ Bibles for $59.99 as he faces mounting legal bills

Former President Donald Trump, now the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, released a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad.

FILE - President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John’s Church across Lafayette Park from the White House, June 1, 2020, in Washington. Trump is now selling Bibles as he runs to return to the White House. The presumptive Republican nominee released a video on his Truth Social platform Tuesday urging his supporters to purchase the “God Bless The USA Bible.” (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is now selling Bibles as he runs to return to the White House.

Trump, who became the presumptive Republican nominee earlier this month, released a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging his supporters to buy the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which is inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad. Trump takes the stage to the song at each of his rallies and has appeared with Greenwood at events.

“Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” Trump wrote, directing his supporters to a website selling the book for $59.99.

The effort comes as Trump has faced a serious money crunch amid mounting legal bills while he fights four criminal indictments along with a series of civil charges. Trump was given a reprieve Monday when a New York appeals court agreed to hold off on collecting the more than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days. Trump has already posted a $92 million bond in connection with defamation cases brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll , who accused Trump of sexual assault.

Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of a pre-trial hearing with his defense team at Manhattan criminal, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A judge will weigh on Monday when the former president will go on trial. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” Trump said in the video posted on Truth Social. “I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again.”

Billing itself as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!” the new venture’s website calls it “Easy-to-read” with “large print” and a “slim design” that “invites you to explore God’s Word anywhere, any time.”

Besides a King James Version translation, it includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as a handwritten chorus of the famous Greenwood song.

The Bible is just the latest commercial venture that Trump has pursued while campaigning.

Last month, he debuted a new line of Trump-branded sneakers , including $399 gold “Never Surrender High-Tops,” at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia. The venture behind the shoes, 45Footwear, also sells other Trump-branded footwear, cologne and perfume.

Trump has also dabbled in NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, and last year reported earning between $100,000 and $1 million from a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him in cartoon-like images, including as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero.

Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You can track all of the cases here .

He has also released books featuring photos of his time in office and letters written to him through the years.

The Bible’s website states the product “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.”

“GodBlessTheUSABible.com is not owned, managed or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC or any of their respective principals or affiliates,” it says.

Instead, it says, “GodBlessTheUSABible.com uses Donald J. Trump’s name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”

CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure, has a similar arrangement with 45Footwear, which also says it uses Trump’s “name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, which license may be terminated or revoked according to its terms.”

A Trump spokesperson and God Bless the USA Bible did not immediately respond to questions about how much Trump was paid for the licensing deal or stands to make from each book sale.

Trump remains deeply popular with white evangelical Christians , who are among his most ardent supporters, even though the thrice-married former reality TV star has a long history of behavior that often seemed at odds with teachings espoused by Christ in the Gospels.

When he was running in 2016, Trump raised eyebrows when he cited “Two Corinthians” at Liberty University, instead of the standard “Second Corinthians.”

When asked to share his favorite Bible verse in an interview with Bloomberg Politics in 2015, he demurred.

“I wouldn’t want to get into it. Because to me, that’s very personal,” he said. “The Bible means a lot to me, but I don’t want to get into specifics.”

When he was president, law enforcement officers aggressively removed racial justice protesters from a park near the White House, allowing Trump to walk to nearby St. John’s Church, where he stood alone and raised a Bible. The scene was condemned at the time by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

Before he ran for office, Trump famously hawked everything from frozen steaks to vodka to a venture named Trump University, which was later sued for fraud .

What to Know About Donald Trump’s New $60 Bible

“all americans need a bible in their home, and i have many. it’s my favorite book.”.

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A simple collage of Donald Trump holding a bible in front of white dollar signs.

Mother Jones illustration; Shealah Craighead/White House/ZUMA

One month after releasing a line of gilded high-tops for $399, Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday a new item: the Bible. “All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many,” the former president explained in a video promoting the country singer Lee Greenwood’s version of a King James translation, the “God Bless the USA Bible.”

“It’s my favorite book,” Trump added.

Throughout the rest of the clip, as if daring us into a collective disgust, Trump swerved through random opportunities to rail against bureaucrats and a country under threat—all while hawking a holy text.

But his latest sales pitch also prompted some legitimate questions. Such as: What the hell is going on? And: Excuse me? Here, we try to answer some of the queries.

So, that first question—what the hell—but more formally: What exactly is Trump promoting and how much will it cost me to shell out for this?

Trump is encouraging his supporters to buy a Bible endorsed by himself and Lee Greenwood. It costs $59.99, without taxes or shipping included. That seems to sit on the more expensive end of Bibles on sale at Barnes & Noble . But those books presumably don’t include copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the handwritten lyrics to the chorus of Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”

The “God Bless the USA Bible” does include these items .

Trump is in a serious cash crunch . So is he going to make money with this Bible?

According to the book’s official site , the God Bless the USA Bible has nothing to do with Trump’s campaign. It is “not owned, managed, or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization, CIC Ventures LLC, or any of their respective principals or affiliates.” Instead, Trump’s “name, likeness, and image” are being used “under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC.”

Wait, what is CIC Ventures LLC, though?

Okay, so CIC Ventures LLC is, according to the Washington Post , basically a pipeline to Trump:

In [Trump’s] financial disclosure released last year, he’s identified as the [CIC Ventures LLC’s] “manager, president, secretary and treasurer” and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is identified as a 100 percent owner of the business. The same entity also receives royalties from his book “A MAGA Journey” and speaking engagements.

In case it’s not already obvious: if you look at the company’s documents, you’ll find the principal address for CIC Ventures LLC is 3505 Summit Boulevard, West Palm Beach, Florida. That is a Trump golf course . Moreover, in a 2022 disclosure, Nick Luna is listed as a manager. Luna was Trump’s personal assistant and body man.

So, I’m sorry, but let me ask again: Is Trump making money off this?

The New York Times reports that “according to a person familiar” (classic) Trump will receive royalties from sales.

You could have just said that.

I wanted to tell you about the other stuff I found. Any other questions?

Yes. Who is Lee Greenwood?

The country singer who wrote “God Bless the USA.” Greenwood is a fierce MAGA guy who otherwise made news after pulling out of an NRA concert in response to the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting.

Does Greenwood have a Christmas album with an oddly sexual cover?

Yes. Look at this .

Perfect sweater. Anyway, I feel like I’m experiencing deja vu. Hasn’t Trump made headlines before with a Bible?

You’re probably recalling that despicable photo-op when Trump held up a Bible in front of St. John’s Church, which had been a location of racial justice protests in the days prior. There was a complicated saga, afterward, about whether or not Trump deployed the police to clear protesters to get to the church. An Inspector General’s report ultimately concluded that he did not.

Man, it’s pretty rough remembering all the awful shit we went through with him as president.

Yep. If you ever want to wallow in political depression, check out this quick compilation .

But wait. Wasn’t there another time Trump and the Bible made waves for something far more stupid?

Christian nationalists adore Trump, so there have probably been many times that Trump has referenced the Bible. But you might also be thinking of this incredible clip of Trump attempting to name his favorite verse .

Has a presidential candidate ever partnered on a holy text sale with a country musician?

Not to my knowledge. But this is from a dude who just last week seemed to compare his current legal jeopardy with the persecution of Jesus Christ. Happy Easter!

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IMAGES

Scripture Pictures from the Book of John
The Book of John Archives
Book of John Overview
Book of John Chapters 1-20
Chapters and verses of the Bible
The Book of John

VIDEO

Bible readings John chapter 1 Part 5
Bible Study
Bible readings John chapter 1 Part 7
3 John
A study of The Little Book of John The Revelator
Gospel Of John, Chapters 20 to 21 and ACTS 1 to 4 (English)

COMMENTS

Book of John
This summary of the Gospel of John provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Gospel of John. Author. The author is the apostle John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (13:23 [see note there]; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20,24). He was prominent in the ...
Guide to the Book of John
John 1: Jesus as the Word and the First Disciples. The first half of the book opens with a two-part introduction. First, there is a poem ( John 1:1-18 ) that opens with the famous line, "In the beginning was the Word.". This is an obvious allusion to Genesis 1 , when God created everything with his word.
John: The Gospel According to John
John 1. The Beginning. ( Genesis 1:1-2; Hebrews 11:1-3) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The Light shines in ...
Who Was John the Apostle? The Beginner's Guide
The Apostle John (also known as Saint John) was one of Jesus Christ's 12 disciples, and a prominent leader in the early Christian church. Along with James and Peter, John was one of Jesus' closest confidants, so he appears in more biblical accounts than the other disciples. John is traditionally regarded as the author of five books of the ...
John
Our Favorite Verses from John. John 8:31-32 - "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'". John 14:1-3 - ""Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
Gospel of John
The Gospel of John (Ancient Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, romanized: Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament.It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the resurrection of Jesus) and seven "I am" discourses (concerned ...
What Is the Book of John About?
John writes so that each one of us can "meet" Jesus, believe that he is really God, and find new life through knowing him. Throughout his book, John introduces us to people who encounter Jesus and react in very different ways. Some believe and trust Jesus, others misunderstand his teaching, and still others reject him and even seek to ...
Book of John Overview
Invoking the "in the beginning" language of Genesis 1:1, John made a direct link between the nature of God and the nature of the Word, Jesus Christ. The emphasis on the deity of Christ is a striking quality of John's gospel. It also comes through clearly elsewhere in the book, particularly in John 8:58 when Jesus claimed the divine name ...
The Gospel of John: reasons to believe in Jesus
John is the story of Jesus: God who came down to save the world. This book was written by a disciple whom Jesus loved—the Church traditionally attributes it to John.. John is the fourth and last Gospel (an account of Jesus' life and ministry) in the new Testament. John focuses on the deity of Christ more so than the other four: we see Jesus as the Word of God, the Son of God, and God Himself.
John, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN The Gospel according to John is quite different in character from the three synoptic gospels. It is highly literary and symbolic. It does not follow the same order or reproduce the same stories as the synoptic gospels. To a much greater degree, it is the product of a developed theological reflection and grows out of a different circle and tradition.
John
Survey of John Book Type: The fourth book of the four gospels; the fourth book of the New Testament; the forty-third book of the Bible. Author: As with the other Gospels, this book does not specifically name its author. However, internal evidence and early church tradition attribute it to the disciple John, also the author of the book of Revelation and the letters 1, 2, and 3 John.
John 1 NIV
John 1. New International Version. The Word Became Flesh. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in ...
John
John. These are all of the chapters of the book of John . Clicking on a chapter will show you the text of that chapter of John in the Bible (King James Version). John 1. John 2. John 3. John 4. John 5. John 6.
Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How
The Gospels, the first four books of the New Testament, tell the story of the life of Jesus.Yet only one—the Gospel of John—claims to be an eyewitness account, the testimony of the unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved." ("This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true" [John 21:24]).
Who was John the Apostle in the Bible?
Answer. The Apostle John is the author of five New Testament books: the gospel of John, the three short epistles that also bear his name (1, 2, and 3 John) and the book of Revelation. John was part of Jesus' "inner circle" and, along with Peter and James, John was given the privilege of witnessing Jesus' conversation with Moses and ...
John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Book of 1 John
The author is John son of Zebedee (see Mk 1:19-20) -- the apostle and the author of the Gospel of John and Revelation (see Introductions to both books: Author). He was a fisherman, one of Jesus' inner circle (together with James and Peter), and "the disciple whom Jesus loved" ( Jn 13:23; see note there). He may have been a first cousin of Jesus ...
Who wrote the book of John? Who was the author of John?
The Gospel of John, written by the apostle John, is cherished by many and is often the first book recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about Jesus.John proclaims Jesus as Son of God and Savior, emphasizing belief in Him for salvation. The book contains one of the most well-known verses in the whole Bible: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever ...
Books of the Bible
1 John. John's readers were confronted with an early form of Gnostic teaching of the Cerinthian variety. This heresy was also libertine, throwing off all moral restraints. Consequently, John wrote this letter with two basic purposes in mind: (1) to expose false teachers and (2) to give believers assurance of salvation.
Who Wrote the Gospel of John?
This would explain why Jesus entrusts Mary to John (19:25)—a natural family relation (she may have been John's aunt)—and John was known by the high priest through Mary's priestly relatives (18:15-16; cf. Luke 1:5, 36). Evidence for John's authorship from the Early Church. Patristic evidence seems to confirm that John wrote the Gospel.
Which books in the Bible did John write?
Almost universally early Christian tradition identifies the apostle John as the author of the Revelation. In fact, every Christian author until the middle of the 3d century believed that. These authors are Justin Martyr at Rome (c. A.D. 100-c. 165; Dialogue With Trypho 81), Irenaeus at Lyons (c. A.D. 130-c. 202; Against Heresies iv. 20.
List of books of the King James Version
Preliminary note. There are 80 books in the King James Bible; 39 in the Old Testament, 14 in the apocrypha, and 27 in the New Testament.. When citing the Latin Vulgate, chapter and verse are separated with a comma, for example "Ioannem 3,16"; in English Bibles chapter and verse are separated with a colon, for example "John 3:16".. The Psalms of the two versions are numbered differently.
The Book of John
The Gospel According to JOHN: Chapters 1 to 21 - Full Narration with Text, Complete Audio DramaEnglish Contemporary Version (ECV) Canal Em Espirito e em Verdade
Donald Trump is selling a 'God Bless the USA' Bible for $60 : NPR
Cash-strapped Trump is now selling $60 Bibles, U.S. Constitution included. Then-President Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., during a ...
Book of Donald: Trump hawks special 'God Bless the USA' Bibles for $60
Tue 26 Mar 2024 19.55 EDT. First published on Tue 26 Mar 2024 14.20 EDT. Patriotic, prayerful and rightwing Americans are being offered the chance to purchase - for a mere $59.99 - a Bible ...
Trump's Newest Venture? A $60 Bible.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, added a new item to the list: a $60 Bible. Days before Easter, Mr. Trump posted a video on his social media platform in ...
Donald Trump Selling Bibles Sparks Fury From Christians ...
The website selling the Bible bills the book as "the only Bible endorsed by President Trump!" ... Donald Trump holds up a Bible outside of St John's Episcopal church across Lafayette Park in ...
Donald Trump is selling Bibles for $59.99 as he faces mounting legal
Trump is selling 'God Bless the USA' Bibles for $59.99 as he faces mounting legal bills. Former President Donald Trump, now the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee, released a video on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday urging supporters to buy the "God Bless the USA Bible," inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood's patriotic ballad.
‎The 1662 Daily Office Podcast: Daily Morning Prayer and the Litany (3
‎Show The 1662 Daily Office Podcast, Ep Daily Morning Prayer and the Litany (3/27/24): Psalms 120-125; Judges 20; John 14 - Mar 27, 2024
What to Know About Donald Trump's New $60 Bible
According to the book's official site, the God Bless the USA Bible has nothing to do with Trump's campaign. It is "not owned, managed, or controlled by Donald J. Trump, The Trump ...