John the Presbyter
early Christian; appears in fragments from Papias of Hierapolis as one of the author's sources; traditionally identified with John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and/or John of Patmos (author of the Book of Revelations)
b. 1st century
John the Presbyter was an obscure figure of the early Christian Church who is either distinguished from or identified with the Apostle John and/or John of Patmos. He appears in fragments from the church father Papias of Hierapolis as one of the author's sources and is first unequivocally distinguished from the Apostle by Eusebius of Caesarea. He is frequently proposed by some as an alternative author of some or all of the Johannine books in the New Testament.
Works
How we know
Recorded as a historical figure.
Also recorded as
- Beloved Disciple possibly same
- John of Patmos possibly same
- John the Evangelist possibly same
- John the Apostle possibly same
Glosses
- The five Johns Wikidata carries five separate items for John — the apostle, the evangelist, the beloved disciple, the presbyter and the seer of Patmos — linked to one another by P460, and this dataset keeps all five rather than…