Category:John of Patmos (subject)

John of Patmos is the author of Revelation.

Overview

John of Patmos is traditionally identified with "the beloved disciple" of the Fourth Gospel and Jesus' disciple "John son of Zebedee". 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. The 'John' of Revelation also may, or may not be the son of Zebedee. Since our sources are not very specific about the patrimony of this author, suppositions concerning any putative connection to John son of Zebedee are speculative and nothing more. Therefore, it is unsafe to equate the author of Revelation with John the son of Zebedee, or the author of the Gospel of John or the Johannine epistles. 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 Culpepepper is perhaps the best known representative of this line of thought.

John of Patmos in ancient sources

Revelation