The internal evidence in support of the Apostolic authorship of St. John’s
Gospel can be briefly summarized as follows:
17
(i)
The author possessed a clear familiarity with Old Testament
Jewish thought, as well as social and religious customs.
Historical and archeological research have subsequently
revealed that the fourth Gospel depicts exactly the complex
social and political orders that existed in the early first century
AD, orders destroyed by the Romans in the year 70.
(ii)
The author had first-hand local knowledge of the geography of
Israel and the topography of Jerusalem and its surrounds.
(iii)
The author expressly claims to be an eyewitness and possess
first-hand knowledge of facts, as well as thoughts and
conversations of Christ and the Apostles which no one else was
privy to. The author even records the original Aramaic words
used by Christ, such as Abba, Talitha cum.
(iv)
St. John the Apostle is never mentioned by name in the Gospel
even though the author is meticulous about naming other
Apostles and characters. The only explanation for such an
omission is that St. John was the author, and his devotion and
humility led him to write about Christ and others rather than
himself.
(v)
Again, the author’s humility led him to simply call himself “the
disciple
whom
Jesus loved.” Such a reference obviously
bespeaks the extraordinary relationship the author had with
Christ, one that could only be of an Apostle.
17
From G. H. Duggan S. M., Beyond Reasonable Doubt, St. Paul Books & Media,
1987, pp. 99-110.
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