Category:Beloved Disciple (subject)

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The Beloved Disciple is a character in the Gospel of John, traditionally identified with John.

• This page is edited by James E. West, Quartz Hill School of Theology, United States of America.

Overview

The Beloved Disciple is usually regarded as the author of the Fourth Gospel and identified with Jesus' disciple John son of Zebedee and John of Patmos, the author of Revelation. However, there is no reliable corroboration of these notions from extra-biblical sources and even the Bible itself never identifies either the 'beloved disciple' nor the author of the Fourth Gospel. Therefore, it is unsafe to equate the Beloved Disciple with John the son of Zebedee, or John of Patmos, or any other known figures. More likely, it seems, is the belief that the Gospel and the Epistles and the Revelation all flow from a 'Johannine School' of theology. R. Alan Culpepper is perhaps the best known representative of this line of thought.

The Beloved Disciple in ancient sources

The Beloved Disciple is referred to exclusively in the Gospel of John.

• See Beloved Disciple (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

The Beloved Disciple in literature & the arts

Fictional accounts on the Beloved Disciple have usually followed the traditional story of John. However, in recent years, the character seems to have take a life of his own (see, notably, The Beloved Disciple and the House of Hippo (2001 Harwood), novel).

In 2000 James Twyman produced a musical CD which was titled The Order of the Beloved Disciple, with tracks including, 1. Our Lady Of The Universe; 2. The Hail Mary; 3. Ave Maria; 4. Fr. Joso's Prayer; & 5. The Message. John, The Beloved Disciple by Dan Palmer was produced in 2008 and is another musical rendition relating to the Beloved Disciple.

After the pioneering Corpus Christi (1998 McNally), play, the Beloved Disciple has an established status in contemporary gay culture. Jesus in Love (2006 Cherry), novel, and The Gay Disciple (2007 Henson), novel are among the fictional retellings of the Jesus story to present the Beloved Disciple as a young male homosexual.

• See Beloved Disciple (arts) -- survey of fictional works

The Beloved Disciple in scholarship

There have been as many attempts to identify the Beloved Disciple as there have been commentaries on the Gospel of John.

In 1985, James H. Charlesworth argued that the Beloved Disciple should be identified with the disciple Thomas. Other scholars (Eller, Waejen, and most recently, Ben Witherington III [see http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2007/01/was-lazarus-beloved-disciple.html]) have seen in Lazarus a more likely candidate. None of the suggested hypotheses has gained consensus.

Most recently, The Gospel of John (2010 Michaels), book goes into the various possibilities (see pp. 17ff). Ramsey maintains that the Beloved Disciple is not Andrew, Philip, Nathaniel, Judas Iscariot, Thomas, Lazarus, Mary, Martha, Judas-not-Iscariot, Mary Magdalene, or a son of Zebedee. He was male, but other than that, he remains anonymous. Ramsey concludes his discussion on the identity of the Beloved Disciple as putative author of the Fourth Gospel as follows: ... he tells his story freely, yet... he retains his privacy, a privacy that even the most inquisitive commentator will do well to respect (p. 24).

• See Beloved Disciple (research) -- survey of scholarly works

Related categories

• John / John of Patmos

External links

• Wikipedia