Friday, August 20, 2010

NT Pod 38: Who is the Beloved Disciple in John's Gospel?

It's time I got up to date with posting the latest episodes of the NT Pod here also on the NT Blog. NT Pod 38 asks "Who is the Beloved Disciple in John's Gospel?"

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I refer to this twice in a paper I'm trying to publish. I wonder how an internet citation will be received.

Mike K said...

Thanks Mark, I always enjoyed your NT podcasts. I have a few questions in response. Since you find the anonymous disciple in 1:35-42 as the later Beloved Disciple (BD), I wonder if this gives some weight to Bauckham's argument for an inclusio in John (I am reading through critiques of Jesus & the Eyewitnesses in the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 6 [2008], and particularly David Catchpoole and Stephen Patterson critique Bauckham's inclusio on the basis on John 1:35 and ch. 21 to be too obscure and the lack of explicit connection of 1:35 w/ the later BD). Also you make a strong case for the BD as the apostle John due to the constant connection with Peter and the lack of mention of the apostle John, but I just wonder how this might square with Papias and how he seems to distinguish John the Elder from the original apostles? If the Gospel of John is trying to make a connection with the witness of John son of Zebedee, does Papias' source John the Elder have anything at all to do with the Gospel of John (does Papias even know or have any allusions to the Gospel of John?) or is he just some second generation Christian whose disciples from whom Papias received his traditions about Mark & Matthew?

TruthHunt said...

The truth is that whoever the disciple whom Jesus loved was he cannot have been John, because that man-made tradition actually forces the Bible to contradict itself, which the truth cannot do.

Ps. 118:8, Pr. 30:5-6 and many other verses warn against putting the authority of God’s word in subjection to non-Bible sources. But as the saying goes, one has to take off their own shoes before they can take a walk in someone else’s moccasins, and similarly, when it comes to cases of The Bible vs. Tradition, one has to be willing to let go of the traditions of men in order be corrected by the truth that is demanded by the plain sight in the text of scripture.

TheFourthGospel.com has a free eBook that compares scripture with scripture in order to highlight the facts in scripture that are often overlooked about the “other disciple, whom Jesus loved”. If one is open to biblical correction on this topic, then they should weigh the testimony of scripture that it cites regarding the one whom “Jesus loved” and may find it to be helpful as it encourages bible students to take seriously the admonition “prove all things”.