Who Wrote the Gospel of John?

Christian tradition assigned the name of “John” to the New Testament’s fourth gospel, but the text itself does not claim to be written by him. Obvious seams in the text between the end of chapter 20 (an original ending to the gospel) and chapter 21 (which was added on) show that the text is the product of multiple authors. One of those authors claims that a source for the gospel is the testimony of one of Jesus’ beloved disciples. But although the “beloved disciple” is a significant character in the gospel, the authors deliberately do not give his name. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will explore the fourth gospel to determine what the text can tell us about its authors and the community that produced it. What else can we know about the Johannine community and how do they relate to the historical John (Jesus’ disciple) and other early Christians who share the name John?

Join the livestream to participate in the discussion and to ask questions to our lecturer during the Q&A.

[fastballflakes]

Another fantastic Hamercopia of Knowledge this evening. Thank you once again for sharing your time with us tonight and delivering another wonderful lecture.

[ElevenWholeBeans]

Will we see more lectures on gnosticism and their teachings? That would be more than amazing

[davidfolts]

John Hamer: Cartographer extraordinaire, our mental maps of Biblical history are supercharged. Thank you!

[Mercury-Wells]

❤ Many thanks to Dr Hamer, Leandro & the whole Center Place crew for this very informative lecture. I always learn a lot from these presentations.

[dbarker]

Another good lecture. Thank you.
I wonder if in 2, 000 years scholars will be asking "Who wrote the Gospel of John Hamer?" ?

[katherinebridwell]

1:16 pm. MST. Katherine Bridwell listening. Thank You John. Interesting. Kathy from Ft. Collins, Co. congregation

[pebystroll]

Fantastic as always, i never mise an episode

[hamnchee]

Welcome back 🇨🇦
Great lecture! Thank you

[Axalon]

I like to think the bit about Lazarus being the beloved disciple was aimed directly at the YouTube comments section 😅

[clockworkcookie]

i love these lectures so much, many times they help me relax before sleeping . ❤

[encompass]

Very enjoyable to see the process of deconstruction - makes so much sense!

[junramos]

Thank you once again for another invaluable lesson! :-) :-)

[dantallman]

I always enjoy the images and iconography in Centre Place lectures. 
@30:12 The Rogier van der Weyden oil painting (Escorial Palace, Madrid c ~1460.) caught my eye. The red block wall was unexpected.

[josepheridu]

It seems to be that the Gospel of John was editorially open for a long time. It reminds me to the development of the Pentateuch, combining different traditions and adding comments.

[johnfoster]

Hi John!

What do you think of the theory that the Beloved Disciple was James the Lesser?

I saw somewhere that the story of "Doubting Thomas" was a reaction to both the "Gospel of Thomas" and to Docetism, stressing that Jesus was indeed a walking corpse, and not just a spiritual manifestation.

[abrahamphilip]

The Gospel of John, the Gospel of Our Lady, the Gospel of love & lifting,

[brokinsage]

The disciple he loved is clearly meant to represent the reader

[maghalie]

What's the topic of the next lecture please?
Your answer, dear Center Place, would be much appreciated

[juliogadelhaparente]

Hammer is such a carismatic speaker and spiritual savant...but, i miss the atended lectures. I know people sometimes got distracted by the comments but that made it more lively and less pedagogic and programatic..

[bothewolf]

They're like the Gremlins the "new batch" but like in a good way.