Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/674

 654 JOHN THE EVANGELIST as he was burning incense in the temple of Je- rusalem. When Zacharias asked for some sign of the truth of the prophecy, his tongue was sealed, and he did not recover his speech till after the birth of the child. Six months after Elizabeth had conceived, she was visited by Mary, and at her salutation she felt the babe leap in her womb. John abode in the desert until, a short time before the ministry of Jesus, he appeared clothed with camel's hair and with a leathern girdle about his loins as a prophet in the country about the Dead sea, exhorting the people to repentance, and proclaiming the approach of the Messiah. Those who believed he baptized in the Jordan, announcing at the same time the coming of a mightier one, who should baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire. He recognized the Messiah in Jesus, who presented himself for baptism, and pub- licly declared him "the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world." It is not certain what were the relations between John and Jesus ; hut the disciples of the former were a separate sect after his death, and still exist in the East under the name of Sabians or Christians of St. John. On account of his cen- sure of the marriage of Herod Antipas with his sister-in-law Herodias, John was impris- oned in the castle of Machesrus, and probably it was there that he was beheaded at the in- stance of Herodias. His birth and death are commemorated by the Roman Catholic church respectively on June 24 and Aug. 29. In Eng- land he was formerly esteemed the patron of architects, and was held in special honor by the freemasons. See, besides the different lives of Jesus, especially those by Hase and Neander, Witsius, De Joanne Baptuta (in his Miscellanea Sacra, vol. ii.) ; Leopold, Johannes der Taufer (Hanover, 1825); and Von Roh- den, Johannes der Taufer (Lubeck, 1838). The ecclesiastical traditions concerning John the Baptist are collected in the Acta Sanctorum, vol. iv., and in a compendious form in Tille- mont's Memoires, vol. i. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, one of the apostles, son of the fisherman Zebedee and Salome, born in Bethsaida, on the lake of Galilee, died about A. D. 100. He followed the occupation of his parents, was probably a disciple of John the Baptist, and became when about 25 years old, with his brother James, a disciple of Jesus, whom he was one of the first constantly to accompany. It is believed that he was the youngest of the apostles, and the special at- tachment of the Saviour to him is expressed in his description of himself as "that disciple whom Jesus loved." He was present at the transfiguration, assisted in preparing the last supper, at which he reclined on the bosom of his master, and was the only disciple who ac- companied Jesus to the cross. While hanging on the cross the Saviour confided his mother to the care of St. John. After the ascension John remained for a while at Jerusalem, but from this time Scriptural history is silent con- cerning him. The traditions, however, agree that he afterward abode in Ephesus and Asia Minor. According to Jerome, he was arrest- ed by command of the proconsul, and taken to Rome, where he was plunged into a vessel of boiling oil, but, as this did not harm him, he was banished in the year 95 to the island of Patmos. He was released after the death of Domitian, and died in the reign of Trajan, at a very advanced age. According to the same authority, he became toward the last so weak that he was obliged to be carried to the Christian assemblies, and when there could only say, "Love one another, my children." His festival is celebrated by the Roman Cath- olic church on Dec. 27. He is usually painted with a cup from which a serpent is issuing, in allusion to poison which was believed to have been offered him in a glass, from which he ex- pelled the venom in the form of a serpent by making the sign of the cross. The New Tes- tament contains a Gospel, three epistles, and the Apocalypse, or book of Revelation, bear- ing his name. His Gospel gives the speeches of Christ more fully than the synoptic Gospels, but historical facts appear less prominently in it than the doctrines which are implied and established by the facts. According to the fa- thers, it was written at Ephesus or at Patmos in the latter part of the 1st century. The work of Bretschneider, Probabilia de Enangelii et Epwtolarum Johannis Apostoli Indole et Ori- gine (Leipsic, 1820), is the earliest attempt of importance to raise doubts of the genuineness of the Gospel. The subject is discussed by Strauss (in his Leben Jesu), Baur, Schwegler, and others, from a rationalistic standpoint; while it has been defended by Tholuck (Glaubwur- digkeitder etangelischen Gfeschichte) and others of note. See, besides the authors just men- tioned, Ebrard, Kritik der evangelischen Qe- schichte (Zurich, 1850); Meier, Commentar (Gottingen, 1856; new ed., 1865-'6); Ewald, Die Johanneischen Schriften (2 vols., Gottin- gen, 1861-'2) ; Bleek, Einleitung in das Neue Testament (Berlin, 1862) ; Davidson, " Introduc- tion to the New Testament" (London, 1868); and Roffhack, Awlegung, &c. (Leipsic, 18V1). The first epistle was probably addressed to Christian congregations in Asia Minor, which had been under the charge of the apostle, and urges love, devotion, and moral strictness. It consists of separate thoughts and precepts, with little logical connection. The most im- portant works on this epistle are the commen- taries of Sebastian Schmid (Leipsic, 1687, and many later editions) and Neander (Berlin, 1851 ; English translation by Mrs. Conant, New York, 1852). The second epistle is ad- dressed to a lady of rank, called " the elect lady," supposed by some to refer to a Chris- tian church. The third epistle is addressed to Gaius, who is commended for bis hospitality to the faithful, and contains, like the first, al- lusions to Gnostic errors. (Tor the book of Revelation, see APOCALYPSE.)