Introduction
It has been doubted (against the judgment of all antiquity and the clearest evidences of style, both in thought and language) whether the present chapter was written by John. Grotius first started the hypothesis that it was supplied by “the elders of the Church of Ephesus,” after the death of John. The reasons are, that there is a clear closing of the book at the close of the twentieth chapter; that the narrative in the present chapter has a romantic air; that the plural we know, in John 21:24, indicates the plurality of authors, and that the hyperbole in the closing verse is inconsistent with the idea of the author’s inspiration. We may admit without question that the book is closed with the twentieth chapter, and that this chapter is a later addition; but then beyond all doubt it was added by the hand of John himself. The “romantic air” is imaginary with the critic, while the depth of the thoughts and events, as well as the tone of composition, is unlike those of any author that ever held a pen save John. The other objections will be met in our notes.
§ 153. JESUS’S APPEARANCE AT THE SEA OF TIBERIAS, John 21:1-24 .
Be the first to react on this!
