What evidence is there in John's writings that he was no longer the proud man he had been when Jesus called him?

Answer 1

A:New Testament scholars say that none of the writings attributed, during the second century, to the apostle John was really written by the apostle. The Book of Revelation certainly is signed by someone csalled John and at one stage this person was thought to be the apostle, but modern scholars usially now refer to him as John of Patmos to identify this author separately. The fourth gospel was anonymous and only attributed to the apostle John in the second century, as were the three epistles that now bear his name. Scholars say there is no good reason to accept those attributions.

John's Gospel was eventually attributed to John largely because it never mentions the disciple called John, but does mention a "disciple whom Jesus loved". The Church Fathers concluded that the author himself must have been this disciple, but too modest to give his name. Since the Gospel never mentions John, the Church Fathers took the next step, to conclude that the beloved disciple was John.

As amateur psychologists, the Church Fathers thought this attribution was logical, and it does indeed suggest John to be quite modest. If not, then the strange references to the beloved disciple were written for quite different reasons than modesty. Clearly, if the authors of these books were all different people, they would have different personalities to the apostle, none of them the same as the disciple.