| Line 43: |
Line 43: |
| | | | |
| | ==Date== | | ==Date== |
| − | According to the general opinion, the Gospel was the last to be written in John's old age. Dates of 85 AD or beyond are usually conjectured. The grounds for this opinion are briefly as follows: | + | According to the general opinion, the Gospel was the last to be released in John's old age. Dates of A.D. 85 or beyond are usually conjectured. The grounds for this opinion are briefly as follows: |
| | | | |
| − | * According to [[Clemente of Alexandria]], the Fourth Gospel was composed after the three Synoptics. | + | * According to [[Clemente of Alexandria]], the Fourth Gospel was released after the three Synoptics. |
| − | * It was written after the death of [[Saint Peter|Peter]], since the last chapter - especially 21:18-19 presupposes the death of the impetuous Apostle. Peter died in 64 AD. | + | * It was probably completed after the death of [[Saint Peter|Peter]], since the last chapter - especially 21:18-19 presupposes his death. Peter died in A.D. 64. |
| − | * It was also written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, for the Evangelist's references to the Jews (cf. particularly 11:18; 18: 1; 19:41) seem to indicate that the end of the city and of the people as a nation is already come. Jerusalem fell in 70 AD. | + | * It was completed after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, for the Evangelist's references to the Jews (cf. particularly 11:18; 18: 1; 19:41) seem to indicate that the end of the city and of the people as a nation is already come. Jerusalem fell in 70 AD. |
| − | * The text of John 21:23, might imply that John was already old when he wrote the Gospel. | + | * The text of John 21:23, might imply that John was already old when he completed and released the Gospel. |
| | * Those who denied the Divinity of Christ, the very heresy to which St. John devotes special attention throughout his Gospel, are believed to have disseminated this view near the end of the first century. | | * Those who denied the Divinity of Christ, the very heresy to which St. John devotes special attention throughout his Gospel, are believed to have disseminated this view near the end of the first century. |
| | | | |
| − | There is also a school of thought that John, and the entire [[New Testament]] for that matter, were written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD believing that heresies had always been around. John 5:2 is sited, where John speaks of a pool with "is" instead of was, even though it was destroyed in 70 AD. (It should be noted that John sometimes uses the present tense to describe situations that have passed in other instances.)<ref>NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1985</ref> | + | There is also a school of thought that John, and the entire [[New Testament]] for that matter, were written before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 believing that heresies had always been around. John 5:2 is cited, where John speaks of a pool with "is" instead of was, even though it was destroyed in A.D. 70. (It should be noted that John sometimes uses the present tense to describe situations that have passed in other instances.)<ref>NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1985</ref> |
| | | | |
| | ==Composition== | | ==Composition== |