{"id":19710,"date":"2025-04-24T21:26:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T21:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/?p=19710"},"modified":"2025-04-24T21:26:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T21:26:17","slug":"john-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"John in the Bible: Life, Death &#038; Interesting Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-fontsize=\"42\" data-lineheight=\"58.8px\">John in the Bible: Life, Death &amp; Interesting Facts<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 450 \/ 600;\" title=\"Joshua Schachterle\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joshua-Schachterle-Bart-Ehrman-Author-1-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"218\" height=\"290\" data-id=\"9575\" data-init-width=\"450\" data-init-height=\"600\" data-width=\"218\" data-height=\"290\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Written by <a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/author\/joshua-schachterle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Author | \u00a0Professor | Scholar<\/p>\n<p>Author | \u00a0Professor | BE Contributor<\/p>\n<p>Verified! \u00a0See our <a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/editorial-guidelines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Verified! \u00a0See our <a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/editorial-guidelines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\nDate written: April 24th, 2025\n\nDate written: April 24th, 2025\n<p>Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. &#8211; Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>The Apostle John is traditionally known as one of Jesus\u2019 original twelve disciples and a member of his inner circle<\/strong>. Yet, despite his high status among the apostles and his close relationship with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/historically-accurate-jesus\/\"> Jesus<\/a>, much about John remains shrouded in mystery \u2014 including whether he actually authored the Gospel that bears his name.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Who was John in the Bible? In this article, I\u2019ll explore what the Bible says about John, how he came to be viewed as a foundational leader in the early church, and whether he could have written one of the theologically richest texts in the Christian canon.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 1920 \/ 800;\" title=\"John in the Bible\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png\" alt=\"John in the Bible\" width=\"697\" height=\"290\" data-id=\"19712\" data-init-width=\"1920\" data-init-height=\"800\" data-width=\"697\" data-height=\"290\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Who Was John in the Bible?<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In the New Testament, John is said to have been one of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/apostles-vs-disciples\/\"> Jesus\u2019 original disciples<\/a>. He was both a disciple, a follower of a wise person, and an apostle, one who is sent, in that Jesus sent him to preach the gospel to the world.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">His name, in his native Aramaic language, would have been Yochanan which means \u201cYahweh is gracious.\u201d The Greek form, since Greek is the language of the New Testament, was I\u014dann\u0113s. This was a common Jewish name in Jesus\u2019 time, so this was not the only instance of a John in the Bible. There are several other prominent Johns in the <a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/when-was-the-new-testament-written\/\">New Testament<\/a> besides the apostle, including John the Baptist, John Mark (Acts 12:12), and John of Patmos, who wrote the book of Revelation.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">John the Apostle is first referred to, chronologically speaking, in Mark 3:17 where Jesus calls his original 12 disciples, who are said to include <strong>\u201cJames son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder).\u201d<\/strong> Unfortunately, we are never told why Jesus calls the brothers this, only that he did.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">As we\u2019ll see, in Matthew, Jesus first encounters John in the Bible by the sea of Galilee. Since most ancient people lived and died in one area, he was probably born and raised in Galilee, the same region where Jesus was from. He was probably also born around the turn of the 1st century CE, like Jesus, although he is traditionally said to have been the youngest apostle.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Matthew 4:21 gives us a bit more information about John in the Bible: \u201cGoing on from there, He [Jesus] saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.\u201d So John was apparently a fisherman, as were his brother and their father. It was the family business, so to speak. Luke 5:10 says that Simon Peter was their partner in the endeavor.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleodyssey.org\/articles\/fishing-economy-in-the-sea-of-galilee\/\">Alicia Batten<\/a> writes that the life of a fisherman in Jesus\u2019 time, a time when Israel was controlled economically by the Roman Empire, was no picnic.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In general, the economy of the Roman Empire was extractive insofar as production and distribution served the interests of the powerful, not those who actually performed the labor. Peasant fishers and processors had little to no control over fees for fishing licenses or tax and toll rates. It is reasonable to conclude that such an economic situation was largely one of exploitation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12425\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12424\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Don\u2019t get the wrong idea, though, from my use of the word \u201cbusiness\u201d above. Fishermen were very poor, usually living hand to mouth, and therefore almost certainly uneducated. More on that later.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Oddly enough, the Gospel of John makes no explicit mention of John the Apostle<\/strong>, although it does mention unnamed \u201csons of Zebedee.\u201d The Beloved Disciple, found only in the Gospel of John and traditionally assumed to be John, is never actually named.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">We are also shown in the Synoptic Gospels that John in the Bible was one of the most prominent disciples, along with his brother James and Peter. How do we know this? Jesus sets these three apart for special experiences with him. In Mark 9:2-10, for example, Jesus specifically takes James, John, and Peter with him to the top of a mountain where his glory is revealed only to them, an episode known as the Transfiguration.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Similarly, in the Garden of Gethsemane before Jesus is arrested, Mark 14:33-34 says that he tells most of the disciples to sit and pray while he goes to another place to pray himself. However, he doesn\u2019t go alone:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, \u201cMy soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12425\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12424\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Even in his greatest anguish, Jesus wanted these three with him. Whether or not these incidents are historical, they indicate that John in the Bible was considered one of the most important apostles in the early Church.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Even Paul mentions the importance of these three in the Jerusalem church, saying this in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/galatians\/\"> Galatians<\/a> 2:9:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">when James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12425\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" data-id=\"12424\" data-init-width=\"128\" data-init-height=\"128\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Not only did Paul meet John the Apostle, but he recognized that John was one of the \u201cacknowledged leaders\u201d of the church (Galatians 2:2).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">How did John die? Church tradition has long said that John was the only one of the 12 disciples who was not martyred. However, since we don\u2019t have any historical information on him after Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians (written between the late 40s and early 50s CE), we really can\u2019t know how or when he died. Nevertheless, if John in the Bible was around the same age as Jesus, he died sometime after the early 50s, making him at least 50 years old at his death.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Let\u2019s summarize what we know so far: John the Apostle was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee, he was a fisherman living in Galilee when he met Jesus, who called him and his brother \u201cSons of Thunder,\u201d although the Gospels never say why. Finally, he was one of the three most important leaders of the early church after Jesus\u2019 death, acknowledged by Paul as such and by the Gospels as having been present at some of the most important moments of Jesus\u2019 life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">FREE COURSE!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Raw, honest, and enlightening. Bart&#8217;s story of why he deconverted from the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>__CONFIG_colors_palette__{&#8220;active_palette&#8221;:0,&#8221;config&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;name&#8221;:&#8221;Main Accent&#8221;,&#8221;parent&#8221;:-1}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]},&#8221;palettes&#8221;:[{&#8220;name&#8221;:&#8221;Default&#8221;,&#8221;value&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;val&#8221;:&#8221;rgb(255, 133, 34)&#8221;}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]},&#8221;original&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;val&#8221;:&#8221;rgb(19, 114, 211)&#8221;,&#8221;hsl&#8221;:{&#8220;h&#8221;:210,&#8221;s&#8221;:0.83,&#8221;l&#8221;:0.45,&#8221;a&#8221;:1}}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/why-i-am-not-a-christian-how-leaving-the-faith-led-to-life-of-more-meaning-and-purpose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <strong>GET FREE ACCESS!<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Over 6,000 enrolled!<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Did John the Apostle Write the Gospel of John?<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Church tradition has long held that John the Apostle was the author of the Gospel of John<\/strong>. Additionally, as I mentioned above, he has often been assumed to be the unnamed Beloved Disciple who is so favorably mentioned in the Gospel. But is this accurate? What evidence do we have to prove or disprove this theory?<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are several reasons for thinking that the Apostle John could not have written the Gospel of John. First, the Gospel of John, like the other three Gospels, was originally written anonymously, with the title added much later. How do we know this? In<a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/42Jp9Em\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> The Women&#8217;s Bible Commentary<\/a>, Carol Newsom notes that the oldest manuscripts we have of John contain no title or authorial information. Again, like the other Gospels, the author did not apparently care about claiming authorship. We\u2019ll talk below about how later people ascribed the book to John.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">(<em>Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Second, it is highly unlikely that a Galilean fisherman in Jesus\u2019 time would have been literate. In her book<a style=\"outline: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jg0uOW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Jewish Literacy in Roman Palestine<\/a>, Catherine Hezser, who wrote the definitive study on the topic, concludes that Jewish literacy in Jesus\u2019 time hovered around 3%. That is, only 3% of all Jews in Palestine could read and\/or write in their own language of Aramaic. Who would those 3% have been? They would certainly have been the elite, the wealthiest citizens who could afford an education and who had the leisure time to learn. The vast majority of other Palestinian Jews lived as poor laborers, John the Apostle included. It is therefore highly unlikely that he would have had the necessary knowledge to write a book.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Given that, is it likely that St. John could have not only written a book but written it in Greek? While we have some Aramaic writings from Palestine in the time of Jesus, we have no Greek writings written by Palestinian Jews during Jesus\u2019 lifetime. In fact,<a href=\"https:\/\/ehrmanblog.org\/did-jesus-disciple-john-write-the-gospel-of-john\/\"> Bart Ehrman<\/a> points out that we only have one set of writings in Greek by a Palestinian Jew, the historian Josephus, from the entire 1st century CE. Josephus was from that top 3% class and even he admits it was difficult for him to learn Greek.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Ehrman also points out that even if John had learned some functional Greek on later missionary journeys, this would surely not have been sufficient to write an entire book in Greek. Writing a book requires years of schooling and, as I pointed out, John probably had none. How then, did Christians come to believe that John the Apostle had written the fourth Gospel?<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"ltr\">How an Anonymous Gospel Became The Gospel of St. John<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In the Gospel of John, there are several references to \u201cthe disciple whom Jesus loved\u201d (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20). In John 21:24, the author writes this about this Beloved Disciple: \u201cThis is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.\u201d Note that he doesn\u2019t say that the disciple himself is the author of the book. Rather, the author says he used this disciple\u2019s stories as source material, and that \u201cwe\u201d \u2014 presumably the Christian community for whom the book was written \u2014 trust the word of this disciple.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>But since the Beloved Disciple is never named, later Christians were forced to speculate about who he was<\/strong>. While the Gospel of John never even mentioned John the Apostle by name, the other Gospels and Paul did. As I pointed out earlier, John in the Bible was part of Jesus\u2019 inner circle in the Gospels. Christians, knowing that Peter was not the Beloved Disciple since they were distinguished from each other in John\u2019s Gospel, were left with either James or John as possibilities. However, they thought it probably wasn\u2019t James because according to Acts 12:1-2, James was martyred quite early in the history of the church. Therefore, the Beloved Disciple must have been John.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The first Christian author to claim this was Irenaeus in his work Against Heresies, written around 185 CE (a little over a century after the Gospel of John was written). Scholars disagree about whether this Beloved Disciple was a real person or a real disciple of Jesus. According to<a href=\"https:\/\/ehrmanblog.org\/the-gospel-of-john-who-wrote-it-when-and-why\/\"> Bart Ehrman<\/a>, they also differ on whether the Beloved Disciple was the author of the Gospel of John, although Ehrman believes that he was not.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Whatever the case, John the Apostle was certainly a real person, and we can be reasonably sure that he did not write the Gospel of John.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 1920 \/ 800;\" title=\"how did John die\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/how-did-John-die.png\" alt=\"How did John die\" width=\"697\" height=\"290\" data-id=\"19711\" data-init-width=\"1920\" data-init-height=\"800\" data-width=\"697\" data-height=\"290\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There is very little we can say with absolute certainty about the Apostle John. He was probably a fisherman from rural Galilee and thus spoke Aramaic. As a poor fisherman, he would have received no formal education and would thus have been illiterate like 97% of the Jewish population of 1st-century Palestine. The Synoptic Gospels say that he, along with his brother James, became a disciple of Jesus and formed part of Jesus\u2019 inner circle, along with his brother James and Peter. We can confirm this by Paul\u2019s testimony about John in the Bible, which mentioned that these three parties were considered the \u201cpillars\u201d of the early church.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He has been assumed for many years to be the author of the document we know as the Gospel of John. However, there are good reasons for thinking that this is improbable. First, the book was actually written anonymously. Second, an Aramaic-speaking fisherman would have been illiterate even in his own language. Furthermore, even if he had been literate, he would not have been able to write a book in Greek, a language he probably didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Despite this, more than a century after the book was written, Christians were ascribing the book to John the Apostle. They also identified him with the Beloved Disciple written about only in John. In these stories and speculations about him, John in the Bible lives on.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">FREE COURSE!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Raw, honest, and enlightening. Bart&#8217;s story of why he deconverted from the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>__CONFIG_colors_palette__{&#8220;active_palette&#8221;:0,&#8221;config&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;name&#8221;:&#8221;Main Accent&#8221;,&#8221;parent&#8221;:-1}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]},&#8221;palettes&#8221;:[{&#8220;name&#8221;:&#8221;Default&#8221;,&#8221;value&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;val&#8221;:&#8221;rgb(255, 133, 34)&#8221;}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]},&#8221;original&#8221;:{&#8220;colors&#8221;:{&#8220;10c55&#8221;:{&#8220;val&#8221;:&#8221;rgb(19, 114, 211)&#8221;,&#8221;hsl&#8221;:{&#8220;h&#8221;:210,&#8221;s&#8221;:0.83,&#8221;l&#8221;:0.45,&#8221;a&#8221;:1}}},&#8221;gradients&#8221;:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/why-i-am-not-a-christian-how-leaving-the-faith-led-to-life-of-more-meaning-and-purpose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <strong>GET FREE ACCESS!<\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Over 6,000 enrolled!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John in the Bible: Life, Death &amp; Interesting Facts Written by Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D Author | \u00a0Professor | Scholar Author | \u00a0Professor | BE Contributor Verified! \u00a0See our editorial guidelines Verified! \u00a0See our guidelines Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"<div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476947\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv-button thrv-button-v2 tcb-local-vars-root\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"thrive-colors-palette-config\" style=\"display: none !important\">__CONFIG_colors_palette__{\"active_palette\":0,\"config\":{\"colors\":{\"62516\":{\"name\":\"Main Accent\",\"parent\":-1}},\"gradients\":[]},\"palettes\":[{\"name\":\"Default Palette\",\"value\":{\"colors\":{\"62516\":{\"val\":\"var(--tcb-skin-color-0)\"}},\"gradients\":[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/category\/gospels\/\" class=\"tcb-button-link tcb-plain-text\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t<span class=\"tcb-button-texts\"><span class=\"tcb-button-text thrv-inline-text\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476998\">Gospels<\/span><\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\" id=\"article-title\"><h2 class=\"fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" data-fontsize=\"42\" data-lineheight=\"58.8px\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769a7\" style=\"\">John in the Bible: Life, Death &amp; Interesting Facts<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_symbol thrive-shortcode thrv_symbol_17826\" data-shortcode=\"thrive_symbol\" data-id=\"17826\" data-selector=\".thrv_symbol_17826\"><div class=\"thrive-shortcode-config\" style=\"display: none !important\">__CONFIG_post_symbol__{\"id\":\"17826\"}__CONFIG_post_symbol__<\/div><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769b4\" style=\"\"><p style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769c1\">Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. - Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>The Apostle John is traditionally known as one of Jesus\u2019 original twelve disciples and a member of his inner circle<\/strong>. Yet, despite his high status among the apostles and his close relationship with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/historically-accurate-jesus\/\"> Jesus<\/a>, much about John remains shrouded in mystery \u2014 including whether he actually authored the Gospel that bears his name.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Who was John in the Bible? In this article, I\u2019ll explore what the Bible says about John, how he came to be viewed as a foundational leader in the early church, and whether he could have written one of the theologically richest texts in the Christian canon.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769d8\" data-type=\"\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tve_image tcb-moved-image wp-image-19712\" alt=\"John in the Bible\" data-id=\"19712\" width=\"697\" data-init-width=\"1920\" height=\"290\" data-init-height=\"800\" title=\"John in the Bible\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png\" data-width=\"697\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 1920 \/ 800;\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769e1\" data-height=\"290\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><h2 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">Who Was John in the Bible?<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\">\t<p dir=\"ltr\">In the New Testament, John is said to have been one of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/apostles-vs-disciples\/\"> Jesus\u2019 original disciples<\/a>. He was both a disciple, a follower of a wise person, and an apostle, one who is sent, in that Jesus sent him to preach the gospel to the world.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">His name, in his native Aramaic language, would have been Yochanan which means \u201cYahweh is gracious.\u201d The Greek form, since Greek is the language of the New Testament, was I\u014dann\u0113s. This was a common Jewish name in Jesus\u2019 time, so this was not the only instance of a John in the Bible. There are several other prominent Johns in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/when-was-the-new-testament-written\/\" class=\"\" style=\"outline: none;\">New Testament<\/a> besides the apostle, including John the Baptist, John Mark (Acts 12:12), and John of Patmos, who wrote the book of Revelation.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">John the Apostle is first referred to, chronologically speaking, in Mark 3:17 where Jesus calls his original 12 disciples, who are said to include <strong>\u201cJames son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder).\u201d<\/strong> Unfortunately, we are never told why Jesus calls the brothers this, only that he did.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">As we\u2019ll see, in Matthew, Jesus first encounters John in the Bible by the sea of Galilee. Since most ancient people lived and died in one area, he was probably born and raised in Galilee, the same region where Jesus was from. He was probably also born around the turn of the 1st century CE, like Jesus, although he is traditionally said to have been the youngest apostle.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Matthew 4:21 gives us a bit more information about John in the Bible: \u201cGoing on from there, He [Jesus] saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.\u201d So John was apparently a fisherman, as were his brother and their father. It was the family business, so to speak. Luke 5:10 says that Simon Peter was their partner in the endeavor.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bibleodyssey.org\/articles\/fishing-economy-in-the-sea-of-galilee\/\">Alicia Batten<\/a> writes that the life of a fisherman in Jesus\u2019 time, a time when Israel was controlled economically by the Roman Empire, was no picnic.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\" style=\"\" data-ct-name=\"Styled Box 08\" data-ct=\"stylebox-76181\" data-element-name=\"Styled Box\" data-form-settings=\"__TCB_FORM__{&quot;form_identifier&quot;:&quot;josephus-form-pbavwm&quot;}__TCB_FORM__\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cde\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce6\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element tcb-highlight-added\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d01\" style=\"\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d07\">In general, the economy of the Roman Empire was extractive insofar as production and distribution served the interests of the powerful, not those who actually performed the labor. Peasant fishers and processors had little to no control over fees for fishing licenses or tax and toll rates. It is reasonable to conclude that such an economic situation was largely one of exploitation.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf5\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfa\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf8\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image wp-image-12425\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12425\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf9\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d00\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfd\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfe\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image tcb-moved-image wp-image-12424\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12424\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cff\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\">\t<p dir=\"ltr\">Don\u2019t get the wrong idea, though, from my use of the word \u201cbusiness\u201d above. Fishermen were very poor, usually living hand to mouth, and therefore almost certainly uneducated. More on that later.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Oddly enough, the Gospel of John makes no explicit mention of John the Apostle<\/strong>, although it does mention unnamed \u201csons of Zebedee.\u201d The Beloved Disciple, found only in the Gospel of John and traditionally assumed to be John, is never actually named.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">We are also shown in the Synoptic Gospels that John in the Bible was one of the most prominent disciples, along with his brother James and Peter. How do we know this? Jesus sets these three apart for special experiences with him. In Mark 9:2-10, for example, Jesus specifically takes James, John, and Peter with him to the top of a mountain where his glory is revealed only to them, an episode known as the Transfiguration.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Similarly, in the Garden of Gethsemane before Jesus is arrested, Mark 14:33-34 says that he tells most of the disciples to sit and pray while he goes to another place to pray himself. However, he doesn\u2019t go alone:<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\" style=\"\" data-ct-name=\"Styled Box 08\" data-ct=\"stylebox-76181\" data-element-name=\"Styled Box\" data-form-settings=\"__TCB_FORM__{&quot;form_identifier&quot;:&quot;josephus-form-pbavwm&quot;}__TCB_FORM__\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cde\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce6\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element tcb-highlight-added\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d01\" style=\"\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d07\">He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, \u201cMy soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf5\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfa\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf8\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image wp-image-12425\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12425\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf9\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d00\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfd\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfe\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image tcb-moved-image wp-image-12424\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12424\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cff\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><p dir=\"ltr\">Even in his greatest anguish, Jesus wanted these three with him. Whether or not these incidents are historical, they indicate that John in the Bible was considered one of the most important apostles in the early Church.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Even Paul mentions the importance of these three in the Jerusalem church, saying this in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/galatians\/\"> Galatians<\/a> 2:9:<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\" style=\"\" data-ct-name=\"Styled Box 08\" data-ct=\"stylebox-76181\" data-element-name=\"Styled Box\" data-form-settings=\"__TCB_FORM__{&quot;form_identifier&quot;:&quot;josephus-form-pbavwm&quot;}__TCB_FORM__\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cde\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce6\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element tcb-highlight-added\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d01\" style=\"\"><p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d07\">when James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf5\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfa\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf8\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image wp-image-12425\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12425\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote down\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-down.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf9\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tcb-clear\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_contentbox_shortcode thrv-content-box tve-elem-default-pad\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"tve-content-box-background\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d00\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"tve-cb\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfd\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfe\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img class=\"tve_image tcb-moved-image wp-image-12424\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"12424\" width=\"32\" data-init-width=\"128\" height=\"32\" data-init-height=\"128\" title=\"quote up\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/quote-up.png\" data-width=\"32\" data-height=\"32\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 128 \/ 128;\" data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cff\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\">\t<p dir=\"ltr\">Not only did Paul meet John the Apostle, but he recognized that John was one of the \u201cacknowledged leaders\u201d of the church (Galatians 2:2).<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">How did John die? Church tradition has long said that John was the only one of the 12 disciples who was not martyred. However, since we don\u2019t have any historical information on him after Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians (written between the late 40s and early 50s CE), we really can\u2019t know how or when he died. Nevertheless, if John in the Bible was around the same age as Jesus, he died sometime after the early 50s, making him at least 50 years old at his death.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Let\u2019s summarize what we know so far: John the Apostle was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee, he was a fisherman living in Galilee when he met Jesus, who called him and his brother \u201cSons of Thunder,\u201d although the Gospels never say why. Finally, he was one of the three most important leaders of the early church after Jesus\u2019 death, acknowledged by Paul as such and by the Gospels as having been present at some of the most important moments of Jesus\u2019 life.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_symbol thrive-shortcode thrv_symbol_4835\" data-shortcode=\"thrive_symbol\" data-id=\"4835\" data-selector=\".thrv_symbol_4835\"><div class=\"thrive-shortcode-config\" style=\"display: none !important\">__CONFIG_post_symbol__{\"id\":\"4835\"}__CONFIG_post_symbol__<\/div><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><h2 class=\"\">Did John the Apostle Write the Gospel of John?<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>Church tradition has long held that John the Apostle was the author of the Gospel of John<\/strong>. Additionally, as I mentioned above, he has often been assumed to be the unnamed Beloved Disciple who is so favorably mentioned in the Gospel. But is this accurate? What evidence do we have to prove or disprove this theory?<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">There are several reasons for thinking that the Apostle John could not have written the Gospel of John. First, the Gospel of John, like the other three Gospels, was originally written anonymously, with the title added much later. How do we know this? In<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/42Jp9Em\" class=\"\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\"> The Women's Bible Commentary<\/a>, Carol Newsom notes that the oldest manuscripts we have of John contain no title or authorial information. Again, like the other Gospels, the author did not apparently care about claiming authorship. We\u2019ll talk below about how later people ascribed the book to John.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">(<em>Affiliate Disclaimer: We may earn commissions on products you purchase through this page at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our site!<\/em>)<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Second, it is highly unlikely that a Galilean fisherman in Jesus\u2019 time would have been literate. In her book<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4jg0uOW\" class=\"\" style=\"outline: none;\" target=\"_blank\"> Jewish Literacy in Roman Palestine<\/a>, Catherine Hezser, who wrote the definitive study on the topic, concludes that Jewish literacy in Jesus\u2019 time hovered around 3%. That is, only 3% of all Jews in Palestine could read and\/or write in their own language of Aramaic. Who would those 3% have been? They would certainly have been the elite, the wealthiest citizens who could afford an education and who had the leisure time to learn. The vast majority of other Palestinian Jews lived as poor laborers, John the Apostle included. It is therefore highly unlikely that he would have had the necessary knowledge to write a book.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Given that, is it likely that St. John could have not only written a book but written it in Greek? While we have some Aramaic writings from Palestine in the time of Jesus, we have no Greek writings written by Palestinian Jews during Jesus\u2019 lifetime. In fact,<a href=\"https:\/\/ehrmanblog.org\/did-jesus-disciple-john-write-the-gospel-of-john\/\"> Bart Ehrman<\/a> points out that we only have one set of writings in Greek by a Palestinian Jew, the historian Josephus, from the entire 1st century CE. Josephus was from that top 3% class and even he admits it was difficult for him to learn Greek.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Ehrman also points out that even if John had learned some functional Greek on later missionary journeys, this would surely not have been sufficient to write an entire book in Greek. Writing a book requires years of schooling and, as I pointed out, John probably had none. How then, did Christians come to believe that John the Apostle had written the fourth Gospel?<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><h3 class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">How an Anonymous Gospel Became The Gospel of St. John<\/h3><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><p dir=\"ltr\">In the Gospel of John, there are several references to \u201cthe disciple whom Jesus loved\u201d (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 20). In John 21:24, the author writes this about this Beloved Disciple: \u201cThis is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.\u201d Note that he doesn\u2019t say that the disciple himself is the author of the book. Rather, the author says he used this disciple\u2019s stories as source material, and that \u201cwe\u201d \u2014 presumably the Christian community for whom the book was written \u2014 trust the word of this disciple.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\"><strong>But since the Beloved Disciple is never named, later Christians were forced to speculate about who he was<\/strong>. While the Gospel of John never even mentioned John the Apostle by name, the other Gospels and Paul did. As I pointed out earlier, John in the Bible was part of Jesus\u2019 inner circle in the Gospels. Christians, knowing that Peter was not the Beloved Disciple since they were distinguished from each other in John\u2019s Gospel, were left with either James or John as possibilities. However, they thought it probably wasn\u2019t James because according to Acts 12:1-2, James was martyred quite early in the history of the church. Therefore, the Beloved Disciple must have been John.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">The first Christian author to claim this was Irenaeus in his work Against Heresies, written around 185 CE (a little over a century after the Gospel of John was written). Scholars disagree about whether this Beloved Disciple was a real person or a real disciple of Jesus. According to<a href=\"https:\/\/ehrmanblog.org\/the-gospel-of-john-who-wrote-it-when-and-why\/\"> Bart Ehrman<\/a>, they also differ on whether the Beloved Disciple was the author of the Gospel of John, although Ehrman believes that he was not.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Whatever the case, John the Apostle was certainly a real person, and we can be reasonably sure that he did not write the Gospel of John.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_image_caption\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476b25\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tve_image_frame\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"tve_image tcb-moved-image wp-image-19711\" alt=\"How did John die\" data-id=\"19711\" width=\"697\" data-init-width=\"1920\" height=\"290\" data-init-height=\"800\" title=\"how did John die\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/how-did-John-die.png\" data-width=\"697\" data-height=\"290\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 1920 \/ 800;\" data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476b31\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/span><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><h2 class=\"\">Conclusion<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\"><p dir=\"ltr\">There is very little we can say with absolute certainty about the Apostle John. He was probably a fisherman from rural Galilee and thus spoke Aramaic. As a poor fisherman, he would have received no formal education and would thus have been illiterate like 97% of the Jewish population of 1st-century Palestine. The Synoptic Gospels say that he, along with his brother James, became a disciple of Jesus and formed part of Jesus\u2019 inner circle, along with his brother James and Peter. We can confirm this by Paul\u2019s testimony about John in the Bible, which mentioned that these three parties were considered the \u201cpillars\u201d of the early church.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">He has been assumed for many years to be the author of the document we know as the Gospel of John. However, there are good reasons for thinking that this is improbable. First, the book was actually written anonymously. Second, an Aramaic-speaking fisherman would have been illiterate even in his own language. Furthermore, even if he had been literate, he would not have been able to write a book in Greek, a language he probably didn\u2019t know.<\/p><p dir=\"ltr\">Despite this, more than a century after the book was written, Christians were ascribing the book to John the Apostle. They also identified him with the Beloved Disciple written about only in John. In these stories and speculations about him, John in the Bible lives on.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_symbol thrive-shortcode thrv_symbol_4835\" data-shortcode=\"thrive_symbol\" data-id=\"4835\" data-selector=\".thrv_symbol_4835\"><div class=\"thrive-shortcode-config\" style=\"display: none !important\">__CONFIG_post_symbol__{\"id\":\"4835\"}__CONFIG_post_symbol__<\/div><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_social_custom thrv_social tve_style_10\" data-counts=\"\" data-min_shares=\"0\" data-device-config=\"{&quot;desktop&quot;:{},&quot;tablet&quot;:{},&quot;mobile&quot;:{&quot;button_type&quot;:&quot;tve_social_ib&quot;,&quot;showCount&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}}\">\n<div class=\"tve_social_items tve_social_custom tve-prevent-content-edit tve_style_10 tve_social_itb\">\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_item tve_s_fb_share tve_share_item\" data-s=\"fb_share\" data-href=\"{tcb_post_url}\" data-label=\"Share\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"tve_s_link\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"tcb-icon\" viewBox=\"0 0 264 512\" data-id=\"icon-fb\" data-name=\"\">\n            <path d=\"M76.7 512V283H0v-91h76.7v-71.7C76.7 42.4 124.3 0 193.8 0c33.3 0 61.9 2.5 70.2 3.6V85h-48.2c-37.8 0-45.1 18-45.1 44.3V192H256l-11.7 91h-73.6v229\"><\/path>\n        <\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_text\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_count\">0<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_item tve_s_t_share tve_share_item\" data-s=\"t_share\" data-href=\"{tcb_post_url}\" data-label=\"Tweet\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"tve_s_link\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"tcb-icon\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" data-id=\"icon-t\" data-name=\"\">\n            <path d=\"M459.37 151.716c.325 4.548.325 9.097.325 13.645 0 138.72-105.583 298.558-298.558 298.558-59.452 0-114.68-17.219-161.137-47.106 8.447.974 16.568 1.299 25.34 1.299 49.055 0 94.213-16.568 130.274-44.832-46.132-.975-84.792-31.188-98.112-72.772 6.498.974 12.995 1.624 19.818 1.624 9.421 0 18.843-1.3 27.614-3.573-48.081-9.747-84.143-51.98-84.143-102.985v-1.299c13.969 7.797 30.214 12.67 47.431 13.319-28.264-18.843-46.781-51.005-46.781-87.391 0-19.492 5.197-37.36 14.294-52.954 51.655 63.675 129.3 105.258 216.365 109.807-1.624-7.797-2.599-15.918-2.599-24.04 0-57.828 46.782-104.934 104.934-104.934 30.213 0 57.502 12.67 76.67 33.137 23.715-4.548 46.456-13.32 66.599-25.34-7.798 24.366-24.366 44.833-46.132 57.827 21.117-2.273 41.584-8.122 60.426-16.243-14.292 20.791-32.161 39.308-52.628 54.253z\"><\/path>\n        <\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_text\">Tweet<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_count\">0<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_item tve_s_pin_share tve_share_item\" data-s=\"pin_share\" data-href=\"{tcb_post_url}\" data-label=\"Pin\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"tve_s_link\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"thrv_wrapper tve_s_icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"tcb-icon\" viewBox=\"0 0 384 512\" data-id=\"icon-pin\" data-name=\"\">\n            <path d=\"M204 6.5C101.4 6.5 0 74.9 0 185.6 0 256 39.6 296 63.6 296c9.9 0 15.6-27.6 15.6-35.4 0-9.3-23.7-29.1-23.7-67.8 0-80.4 61.2-137.4 140.4-137.4 68.1 0 118.5 38.7 118.5 109.8 0 53.1-21.3 152.7-90.3 152.7-24.9 0-46.2-18-46.2-43.8 0-37.8 26.4-74.4 26.4-113.4 0-66.2-93.9-54.2-93.9 25.8 0 16.8 2.1 35.4 9.6 50.7-13.8 59.4-42 147.9-42 209.1 0 18.9 2.7 37.5 4.5 56.4 3.4 3.8 1.7 3.4 6.9 1.5 50.4-69 48.6-82.5 71.4-172.8 12.3 23.4 44.1 36 69.3 36 106.2 0 153.9-103.5 153.9-196.8C384 71.3 298.2 6.5 204 6.5z\"><\/path>\n        <\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_text\">Pin<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"tve_s_count\">0<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","tve_custom_css":"@import url(\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Jost:400,700,500&subset=latin\");@media (min-width: 300px){:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769c1\"] { font-size: 16px !important; font-style: italic !important; color: rgba(106, 107, 108, 0.7) !important; --tcb-applied-color: rgba(106,107,108,0.7) !important; --tve-applied-color: rgba(106,107,108,0.7) !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\"] .tcb-button-link { letter-spacing: 2px; background-image: linear-gradient(var(--tcb-local-color-62516,rgb(19,114,211)),var(--tcb-local-color-62516,rgb(19,114,211))); --tve-applied-background-image: linear-gradient(var$(--tcb-local-color-62516,rgb(19,114,211)),var$(--tcb-local-color-62516,rgb(19,114,211))); background-size: auto; background-attachment: scroll; border-radius: 5px; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-color: transparent !important; padding: 8px 10px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\"] .tcb-button-link span { color: rgb(255, 255, 255); --tcb-applied-color: #fff; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\"] { float: left; z-index: 3; position: relative; --tve-alignment: left; --tcb-local-color-62516: var(--tcb-skin-color-0) !important; margin-top: 1px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476947\"]::after { clear: both; }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476998\"] { letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 16px !important; }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769a7\"] { color: rgb(19, 19, 32) !important; --tcb-applied-color: rgb(19,19,32) !important; --tve-applied-color: rgb(19,19,32) !important; font-size: 42px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769d8\"] { width: 100%; margin-top: 1px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476b25\"] { width: 100%; margin-top: 1px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769b4\"] { margin-bottom: 20px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\"] { max-width: unset; --tve-alignment: center; float: none; width: unset; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; padding: 30px !important; --tve-applied-max-width: unset !important; --tve-applied-width: unset !important; margin-bottom: 40px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cde\"] { background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --tve-applied-background-color: var$(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\"] > .tve-cb { display: block; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] { text-align: center; --tve-color: rgb(39,39,42); --tve-applied---tve-color: rgb(39,39,42); --tve-font-weight: var(--g-regular-weight,normal); --tve-font-family: Jost; --g-regular-weight: 400; --g-bold-weight: 700; --tve-line-height: 1.20em; min-height: 1px; --tve-applied-min-height: unset !important; height: unset !important; --tve-applied-height: unset !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce6\"] { border: 1px solid rgb(255, 133, 34) !important; --tve-applied-border: 1px solid rgb(255, 133, 34) !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\"] { max-width: unset; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; --tve-applied-max-width: unset !important; padding: 8% !important; }:not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] p, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] li, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] blockquote, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] address, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] .tcb-plain-text, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] label, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h1, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h2, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h3, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h4, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h5, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] h6 { color: var(--tve-color,null); --tve-applied-color: var$(--tve-color,null); font-family: var(--tve-font-family,Jost); }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] { --tve-color: null; --tve-applied---tve-color: null; --tve-font-weight: var(--g-regular-weight,normal); --tve-font-family: Jost; --g-regular-weight: 400; --g-bold-weight: 700; --tve-font-size: 16px; --tve-line-height: 1.60em; min-height: 110px; }:not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] p, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] li, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] blockquote, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] address, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] .tcb-plain-text, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] label, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h1, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h2, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h3, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h4, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h5, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] h6 { color: var(--tve-color,rgb(39,39,42)); --tve-applied-color: var$(--tve-color,rgb(39,39,42)); --tcb-applied-color: rgb(39,39,42); font-family: var(--tve-font-family,Jost); }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] p, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] li, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] blockquote, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] address, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] .tcb-plain-text, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] label { font-weight: var(--tve-font-weight,var(--g-regular-weight,normal)); }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] p, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] li, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] blockquote, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] address, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] .tcb-plain-text, :not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce4\"] label { font-weight: var(--tve-font-weight,var(--g-regular-weight,normal)); }:not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] p, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] li, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] blockquote, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] address, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] .tcb-plain-text, :not(#tve) .thrv-content-box [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce8\"] label { font-size: var(--tve-font-size,16px); line-height: var(--tve-line-height,1.60em); }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf5\"] { background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --tve-applied-background-color: var$(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf7\"]::after { clear: both; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\"] > .tve-cb { justify-content: center; display: flex; flex-direction: column; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf8\"] { width: 32px; --tve-alignment: center; float: none; margin: 0px auto !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf9\"] { margin-top: 0px; margin-left: 0px; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfa\"] { height: 65px !important; --tve-applied-height: 65px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\"] { --tve-alignment: left; float: left; left: -17px; width: 65px; top: -17px; z-index: 2 !important; margin: 0px auto !important; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; --tve-applied-width: 65px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\"] > .tve-cb { justify-content: center; display: flex; flex-direction: column; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\"] { --tve-alignment: left; float: left; bottom: -17px; width: 65px; right: -17px; z-index: 2 !important; margin: 0px auto !important; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; --tve-applied-width: 65px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\"] > .tve-cb { justify-content: center; display: flex; flex-direction: column; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfd\"] { height: 65px !important; --tve-applied-height: 65px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfe\"] { width: 32px; --tve-alignment: center; float: none; margin: 0px auto !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cff\"] { margin-top: 0px; margin-left: 0px; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d00\"] { background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --background-color: var(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; --tve-applied-background-color: var$(--tcb-skin-color-22) !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d01\"] { background-image: none !important; --background-image: none !important; --tve-applied-background-image: none !important; }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d07\"] { font-size: 19px !important; line-height: 1.6em !important; padding-top: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; }}@media (max-width: 767px){[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\"] { margin-top: -40px !important; margin-bottom: 10px !important; }:not(#tve) [data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769a7\"] { font-size: 32px !important; line-height: 1.25em !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d476988\"] .tcb-button-link { padding-top: 8px !important; padding-bottom: 8px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-6808ff9d4769b4\"] { margin-bottom: 10px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cdd\"] { padding: 15px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfb\"] { width: 50px; top: -12px; left: -12px; --tve-applied-width: 50px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfd\"] { height: 50px !important; --tve-applied-height: 50px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfc\"] { width: 50px; right: -12px; bottom: -12px; --tve-applied-width: 50px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfa\"] { height: 50px !important; --tve-applied-height: 50px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349ce7\"] { padding: 18% 12% 12% !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349d01\"] { margin-bottom: 8px !important; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cfe\"] { width: 28px; }[data-css=\"tve-u-19663349cf8\"] { width: 28px; }}","tve_user_custom_css":"","tve_globals":{"e":"1","font_cls":[]},"tcb2_ready":1,"tcb_editor_enabled":1,"tve_landing_page":"","_tve_header":"0","_tve_footer":"0"},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gospels","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>John in the Bible: Life, Death &amp; Interesting Facts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John in the Bible: Life, Death &amp; Interesting Facts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bart Ehrman Courses Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Schachterle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh Schachterle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josh Schachterle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496\"},\"headline\":\"John in the Bible: Life, Death &#038; Interesting Facts\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2259,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/John-in-the-Bible.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Gospels\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/\",\"name\":\"John in the Bible: Life, Death & Interesting Facts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/John-in-the-Bible.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496\"},\"description\":\"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/John-in-the-Bible.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/John-in-the-Bible.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"John in the Bible\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/john-in-the-bible\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"John in the Bible: Life, Death &#038; Interesting Facts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bart Ehrman Courses Online\",\"description\":\"New Testament scholar, Dr. Bart Ehrman&#039;s homepage. Bart is an author, speaker, consultant, online course creator, and professor at UNC Chapel Hill.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496\",\"name\":\"Josh Schachterle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Josh Schachterle\"},\"description\":\"After a long career teaching high school English, Joshua Schachterle completed his PhD in New Testament and Early Christianity in 2019. He is the author of \\\"John Cassian and the Creation of Monastic Subjectivity.\\\" When not researching, Joshua enjoys reading, composing\\\/playing music, and spending time with his wife and two college-aged children.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bartehrman.com\\\/author\\\/joshua-schachterle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"John in the Bible: Life, Death & Interesting Facts","description":"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"John in the Bible: Life, Death & Interesting Facts","og_description":"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/","og_site_name":"Bart Ehrman Courses Online","article_published_time":"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Josh Schachterle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Josh Schachterle","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/"},"author":{"name":"Josh Schachterle","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496"},"headline":"John in the Bible: Life, Death &#038; Interesting Facts","datePublished":"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/"},"wordCount":2259,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png","articleSection":["Gospels"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/","name":"John in the Bible: Life, Death & Interesting Facts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png","datePublished":"2025-04-24T21:26:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496"},"description":"Explore the life of the Apostle John in the Bible \u2014 fisherman, disciple, church leader\u2014and discover whether he truly authored the Gospel traditionally attributed to him.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-in-the-Bible.png","width":1920,"height":800,"caption":"John in the Bible"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/john-in-the-bible\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"John in the Bible: Life, Death &#038; Interesting Facts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/","name":"Bart Ehrman Courses Online","description":"New Testament scholar, Dr. Bart Ehrman&#039;s homepage. Bart is an author, speaker, consultant, online course creator, and professor at UNC Chapel Hill.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/093ded8d7ebd6dba05664824677f2496","name":"Josh Schachterle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee7d71ad096f24c0ea7c9ac32fda19b507e5993532bec17469a600a1c9f0ec7a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Josh Schachterle"},"description":"After a long career teaching high school English, Joshua Schachterle completed his PhD in New Testament and Early Christianity in 2019. He is the author of \"John Cassian and the Creation of Monastic Subjectivity.\" When not researching, Joshua enjoys reading, composing\/playing music, and spending time with his wife and two college-aged children.","url":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/author\/joshua-schachterle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19710"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19787,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19710\/revisions\/19787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}