JOHN THE PRESBYTER. — Supposed disciple of the Apostles, who lived in Ephesus. Saint Dionysius of Alexandria makes mention of him (c. 255): he conjectures his existence from internal criteria (B. Allo [V. BIBLICA.], pp. cxciii ff., cc ff.) from the Apocalypse attributed to him; and he speaks, only by hearsay, of the double tomb in Ephesus of the Apostle and of this man (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 25). Eusebius (ibid., III, 39; PG 20, 296 ff.) affirms his existence.
He deduces it from the passage in which Papias attests his care in inquiring into the living doctrine of the Apostles: “τῶν οὖν περὶ Πέτρον... λόγους, τί Ἀνδρέας... εἴρηκεν... τί Ἰωάννης ἢ Ματθαῖος ἢ τίς ἕτερος τῶν τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητῶν, ἄ τί Ἀριστίων καὶ ὁ περὶσυρτος Ἰωάννης, τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητῶν, λέγουσιν.” G. is mentioned twice: first with the group of six Apostles, in the past (εἴρηκεν), and is certainly the Apostle G.; then with Aristion in the present (λέγουσιν), and would be that G. of whom St Dionysius speaks; probable author of the Apocalypse. Excluding this last point, St Jerome (De vir. ill., 18 ff.) accepted the opinion of Eusebius; an opinion shared by many Catholics (E. Jacquier, M.-J. Lagrange, B. B. Allo, etc.) and by very many non-Catholics who attribute to G. the P. the Apocalypse and sometimes also the Fourth Gospel. But the argument of Eusebius does not hold; it is the fruit of a prejudice: he wishes to deny the Apostle the Apocalypse. Since he was still living, Papias, after the past testimony (εἴρηκεν), requires the present one; he calls him ὁ περὶσυρτος, as shortly before he had called the Apostles; in the fragment, περὶσυρτος is equivalent simply to “apostle” (A. Casamassa [V. BIBLICA.], p. 186). All tradition, beginning with the well-informed Irenaeus, ignores this G. the P.; who, in any case, would have nothing at all to do with the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel (J. Chapman, O. Bardenhewer, F. X. Funk, M. Lepin, A. Casamassa, etc.; among non-Catholics, Th. Zahn, F. Büchsel, etc.).