Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Unloading 17 More Loaded Questions for "Bible Christians" 10/17

Steve Ray has a list of more than 35 loaded Questions for "Bible Christians" (quotation marks his)(link to the whole list). I originally planned to respond to just 35 of them, but the series seems to have been of interest, so in this extension, I'm responding to three more numbered questions in his list, plus fourteen "bonus questions" that take the form "Where does the Bible say ... ." I'm trying to provide the answers in the same common format as the original series, for easy reference. This is number 10/17.

Where does the Bible . . .
. . . tell us the name of the “beloved disciple”?

Simple Answer(s):

1) The Bible doesn't say "the name of the disciple whom Jesus loved is [x]."

2) The Bible does tell us that the disciple whom Jesus loved is the author of the Gospel of John:

John 21:20-24
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

3) While no verse of the text tells us that the author's name is John although all the copies of the gospel title it the gospel "according to John."

Important Qualification(s):

We have additional historical evidence that it was John's gospel. Nevertheless, nothing important about what believe hangs on whether it was John or some other of Jesus' disciples that wrote the book.

- TurretinFan

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