the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Bible Dictionaries
Gospel of Saint John
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
The fourth Book of the New Testament and last of the Sacred Books written. Its author is the Apostle Saint John, who wrote the Gospel at Ephesus shortly before his death, about the year 100. He records how Jesus, during His life, manifested His glory and proved Himself to be the Messias and Son of God. While the first three Gospels are mainly concerned with the human side of the life of Christ and with His ministry in Galilee, Saint John is more intent on showing the Divine side of the Saviour's life and treats especially of His ministry in Judea and Jerusalem. The Gospel is characterized by its sublimity of doctrine and diction, and by the many discourses of Jesus which make up the greater portion of the narrative. Consisting of twenty-one chapters, it is written in chronological order and contains: prologue declaring the Eternity and Divinity of the Word made Flesh (1:1-18); manifestation of Christ's glory as Messias and Son of God in His public ministry (1:19 to 12:50); revelation of His glory to the Apostles on the night before His Passion (13-17); outer glorification of Jesus in His Passion and death (18,19); manifestation of His Glory as the Risen Lord (20,21). The Biblical Commission, May 29, 1907, declared that the constant and universal tradition from the 2century, the testimony of the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, the codices, versions and catalogs of the Sacred Books, all give convincing proof that the fourth Gospel was written by Saint John and that it is a strictly historical document. Chapters specially commendable for reading: 1, Prologue, First Disciples; 2, Cana, Cleansing of the Temple; 4, Samaritan Woman; 6, Promise of the Holy Eucharist; 10, Good Shepherd; 11, Raising of Lazarus; 12-18, Discourses after the Last Supper; 20,21, the Risen Lord.
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Entry for 'Gospel of Saint John'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ncd/​g/gospel-of-saint-john.html. 1910.