When, and By Whom, Was the Gospel of John Written?
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Today, critics often assert that the Gospel of John was written in the 100’s CE, not by the apostle John, but by someone, or even multiple writers, who weren’t even born until long after Jesus’ death. These critics, of course, deny the inspiration by God’s holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16), “as they do also the rest of the scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16 NKJV). Although the Gospel of John was written anonymously, it is important for us to know when, and by whom, was the gospel of John written, if possible. Every extant manuscript that includes the beginning of the book names John as the writer. Was this “John” someone other than the apostle John? This article investigates and analyzes the facts.
JOHN WAS LITERATE
Critics have claimed that John was an illiterate fisherman. However, this claim is unsupported by any facts. When Jesus “called” John and his brother James to follow him full time, “they . . . were in a boat mending their nets. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat in the boat along with the hired men and followed Jesus” (Mark 1:19,20 NAB). John was involved with his father’s fishing business on the Sea of Galilee, which was lucrative enough to have “hired men”. The Galilee area was an international crossroads, with Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek being spoken, and it is likely that John was fluent in these languages. He likely had business dealings with various people who spoke these languages.
Who wrote the book of Zechariah? And When was it written? Before the sixteenth century, the writership of the book of Zechariah was unanimously believed to have been written by “the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo,” beginning “in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius” king of Persia, in 520 BCE (
Critical scholars say the book of Jonah is fiction. “Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai” (