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| John, the apostle and evangelist.
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Chapter IX.
John,2381
the apostle whom Jesus most loved, the
son of Zebedee and brother of James, the apostle whom Herod, after our
Lord’s passion, beheaded, most recently of all the evangelists
wrote a Gospel, at the request of the bishops of Asia, against
Cerinthus and other heretics and especially against the then growing
dogma of the Ebionites, who assert that Christ did not exist before
Mary. On this account he was compelled to maintain His divine nativity.
But there is said to be yet another reason for this work, in that when
he had read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he approved indeed the substance
of the history and declared that the things they said were true, but
that they had given the history of only one year, the one, that is,
which follows the imprisonment of John and in which he was put to
death. So passing by this year the events of which had been set forth
by these, he related the events of the earlier period before John was
shut up in prison, so that it might be manifest to those who should
diligently read the volumes of the four Evangelists. This also takes
away the discrepancy which there seems to be between John and the
others. He wrote also one Epistle which begins as follows
“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard,
that which we have seen with our eyes and our hands handled concerning
the word of life” which is esteemed of by all men who are
interested in the church or in learning. The other two of which the
first is “The elder to the elect lady and her children” and
the other “The elder unto Gaius2382
| 2382 GaiusA H 25 30 31 a e; Caius
Her. T. | the beloved whom I love in
truth,” are said to be the work of John the presbyter to the
memory of whom another sepulchre is shown at Ephesus to the present
day, though some think that there are two memorials of this same John
the evangelist. We shall treat of this matter in its turn2383
| 2383 in its turn A H T 31 a e Val.
etc; omit T. 25 30. | when we come to Papias his disciple.
In the fourteenth year then after Nero2384
| 2384 after Nero A H 30 31 a e. Bamb.
Norimb. Cypr. Val.; omit T 25. | Domitian having raised a second
persecution he was banished to the island of Patmos, and wrote the
Apocalypse, on which Justin Martyr and Irenæus afterwards
wrote commentaries. But Domitian having been put to death and his acts,
on account of his excessive cruelty, having been annulled by the
senate, he returned to Ephesus under Pertinax2385
| 2385 Pertinax A H T 25 30 31 a e Norimb.
Cypr. etc; Nerva Pertinax Bamb. Ambros. Her.; Nerva
principe. Val. | and continuing there until the time of
the emperor Trajan, founded and built churches throughout all Asia,
and, worn out by old age, died in the sixty-eighth year after our
Lord’s passion and was buried near the same city.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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