is undeniable, and stands upon stronger evidence than almost any other
particular regarding the early Church, being distinctly and directly
stated by Paul himself: that the three "pillar" Apostles representing
the Church there were James, Peter, and John. Peter is markedly termed
the Apostle of the circumcision, and the differences between him and
Paul are evidence of the opposition of their views. James and John
are clearly represented as sharing the views of Peter, and whilst Paul
finally agrees with them that he is to go to the Gentiles, the three
[------] elect to continue their ministry to the circumcision.(1)
Here is John, therefore, clearly devoted to the Apostleship of the
circumcision as opposed to Paul, whose views, as we gather from
the whole of Paul's account, were little more than tolerated by the
[------]. Before leaving New Testament data, we may here point out the
statement in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter and John were known to
be "unlettered and ignorant men"(2) [------]. Later tradition mentions
one or two circumstances regarding John to which we may briefly refer.
Irenæus states: "There are those who heard him (Polycarp) say that
John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus and perceiving
Cerinthus within, rushed forth from the bath-house without bathing, but
crying out: 'Let us fly lest the bath-house fall down: Cerinthus, the
enemy of the truth, being within it.'... So great was the care which the
Apostles and their disciples took not to hold even verbal intercourse
with any of the corrupters of the truth,"(3) &c. Polycrates, who was
Bishop of Ephesus
{404}
about the beginning of the third century, states that the Apostle John
wore the mitre and petalon of the high priest [------],(1) a tradition
which agrees with the Jewish tendencies of the Apostle of the
circumcision as Paul describes him.(2)
Now if we compare these data regarding John the son of Zebedee with the
character of John the author of the Apocalypse, as we trace it in
the work itself, it is impossible not to be struck by the singular
agreement. The Hebraistic Greek and abrupt inelegant diction are natural
to the unlettered fisherman of Galilee, and the fierce and intolerant
spirit which pervades the book is precisely that which formerly forbade
the working of miracles, even in the name of the Master, by any not
of the immediate circle of Jesus, and which desired to consume an
inhospitable village with fire from heaven.(3) The Judaistic form of
Christianity which is represented throughout the Apocalypse, and the
Jewish elements which enter so largely into its whole composition, are
precisely those
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