John the Presbyter

JOHN THE PRESBYTER. - Supposed disciple of the Apostles, who lived at Ephesus. St. Dionysius of Alexandria (ca. 255) mentions him: he conjectures his existence on internal grounds (B. Allo [v. bibl.], pp. cxciii ff., cc ff.) from the Apocalypse that he attributes to him; and he speaks, only from hearsay, of the double tomb at Ephesus of the Apostle and of this man (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 25). Eusebius (ibid., III, 39: PG 20, 296 f.) affirms his existence.

He deduces it from the fragment in which Papias attests his care in informing himself of the living doctrine of the Apostles: τοῦ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων... λόγους, τί Ἀνδρέας... εἶπεν... ἢ τι Ἰωάννης ἢ Ματθαῖος ἢ τις ἕτερος τῶν τοῦ Κυρίου μαθητῶν, ἃ τε Ἀριστῶν καὶ ὁ πρεσβύτερος Ἰωάννης, τοῦ Κυρίου μαθηταί, λέγουσιν. G. is named twice: first with the group of 6 Apostles, in the past tense (εἶπεν), and he is certainly the apostle G.; then with Aristion in the present tense (λέγουσιν), and he would be that G. of whom St. Dionysius speaks; the probable author of the Apocalypse. Once this last point is excluded, St. Jerome (De vir. ill., 18 f.) accepted the opinion of Eusebius; an opinion shared by several 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 wants to deny the Apocalypse to the Apostle. Since the latter was still living, Papias, after the past testimony (εἶπεν), recalls that of the present; he calls him ὁ πρεσβύτερος, as shortly before he called the Apostles; in the fragment, πρεσβύτερος is equivalent without doubt to "apostle" (A. Casamassa [v. bibl.], p. 186). The whole tradition, beginning with the very 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.).

Jorth Gospel, Oxford 1911: M.-J. Lagrange, Ecouzile selon st Jean, 3rd ed., Paris 1927, pp. XXIX-XXIX; P. De Ambroggi, Appunti sulla questione di G. P. presso Papia, in Scuola cattolica, 1 (1930, II), p. 374 ff.; id., G. apostolo e G. p.: una persona o due?, ibid., 2 (1931, I), pp. 304-14, 389-96; E. B. Allo, L'Apocalypse, 3rd ed., Paris 1933, p. CXXXVIII; A. Casamassa, I Padri Apostolici, Rome 1938, pp. 184-87; G. Perrella, Il testo di s. Papia circa G. l'anziano, in Divus Thomas, 43 (1940), pp. 47-56; H. Simon-G. Dorado, Novum Testamentum, I, Turin 1944, pp. 140-43.

Francesco Spadafora