FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER:

FOURTH SERIES.

VOL. VII.]	BETHANY, VA. AUGUST, 1857.	[NO. VIII.

      I TRANSLATE the following sketch of the character of "the beloved disciple," from Tholuck's celebrated "Introduction" to his Com- mentary on John's Gospel. We have all become familiar with the anecdotes here related, but it is interesting to know the authority on which they are founded.

A. P HOOKE. [448]      

      If, in connection with a few passages from his life which have come down to us from antiquity, we contemplate the picture which the Gospel and Epistles of John present us of their author, he appears as a mild, amiable, rather feminine character.

      This picture is traceable in the tender and delicate character of his style, and especially in those passages where he deplores in elegiac strains the unbelief of the world, Chap. i:10-11; chap. iii:19-30,

      chap. xii:37. Originally, perhaps, this gentleness was liable to sudden starts of passion, as is frequently the case with such feminine natures, which feel the rudeness of a repulse as sensibly as the attractions of love. Of this temper in the Apostle we have an instance in the Gospel of Luke, chap. ix:54, "And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?"* Agree- ably to the spirit of the Old Testament, the resentment of the disciple on this occasion was, indeed, justifiable, for it was directed against the ungodly, but the Lord reminds him that such a temper does not become a disciple of the New Testament.

      In another point of view the character of John does not appear in evangelical history as altogether immaculate. Some selfishness is manifested on that occasion when he, complains in an envious spirit of those who had received the miraculous powers of the Gospel without having left all, like the apostles, to follow Christ, (Mark ix:38). A degree of selfishness, too, is exhibited when he, with his brother, applies to Christ through. his mother for the favor of an earthly distinction in the Messianic kingdom. It must, consequently,. be inferred, that. those qualities. of love, humility and mildness which distinguish the writings and later history of the evangelist, were the work of the transforming grace of Gpd--the influence of the Spirit of Christ. upon the disciple), submitting himself to his will. We must not suppose, however, that the gentleness of John,. when tempered by the Spirit of Christ, was the result of feeble apathy. With all imaginable mildness in the manner, a sharp moral earnestness manifests itself in his epistles, 1st Ephesians i:6; iii. 9-20; v:16; 2d Epist. 10-11. Also from a later period of his life a circumstance is reported by Polycarp on the authority of Irenæus, in which we recognize the disciple of whom Luke speaks, chap. ix:54, He fled [449]

      The current theory, that on account of this concurrence, Sohn and his brother received the surname, Boanerges,--sons of thunder--becomes rather unlikely according to our understanding of the event. If the name was applied view of that event, the words of Christ on the occasion are divested of all absolute reproach or severity. At any rate the mere name implies no positive blame, but rather indicates an ardor of natural temperament. [449] from a bath in which was the heretic Corinthus, saying, 'I fear lest it fall in."'

      There are also incidents presented to us on which his lovingness is impressed as it appears in his gospel and Epistles. The following is given on the authority of Clemens Alexandrinus, 111 will repeat to you a legend, or rather a veritable tradition of John, the Apostle, which has been faithfully preserved in memory. On his return from Patmos to Ephesus, he visited the adjacent regions for the purpose of appointing bishops and setting the churches in order. When in a town in the neighborhood of Ephesus, the' name of which I will not give, exhorting and comforting the brethren, he met with a youth, of an ardent disposition and prepossessing appearance, to whom he became so much attached, that he commended him to the special charge of the bishop of the church, with these words, I charge thee before Christ and the church with the care of this, youth as a pledge of good faith. The bishop took charge of the young man promising to do for him all in his power, and on his departure John repeated once more his injunction to the old man, who immediately took the youth into his family, fostered him, and watched over him till he was admitted to baptism, after which he relaxed his care and watchfulness. The young man, too early released from the restraints of discipline, fell into bad company. At first he was led into extravagance, then seduced into robbing by night on the highway. Like a mettled horse that dashes aside from the right road, and plunges headlong down a precipice, Ha ardent nature led him on into the very lowest depths of crime. As. he now despaired of the mercy of God, and as his fate was linked to that of his companions, he resolved to distinguish himself in his line. He selected his confederates, and put himself at the bead of a gang of banditti, unexampled for deeds of violence and blood.

      In the course of time John was once more recalled to the town on business, which being despatched, he turned to the bishop and said, "Well, bishop, restore me the pledge with which I entrusted thee be. fore the Lord, and the church." The bishop was at first startled. He feared that he referred to some pecuniary. fraud. But when John said," I demand again the young man, and the soul of a brother,"' the old man, sighed deeply, and added with tears, "he is dead! "Dead!" exclaimed the Lord's disciple, "and how dead?" "He is dead, to God," replied the old. man, "he became ungodly, and step by step, a robber. He has abandoned the church for the mountains, where he now is,. with his companions." When the Apostle heard this, he rent his clothes, beat his head, and with a loud voice cried out, "O what a watchman did I leave behind: over my brother's soul!" He [450] procured a horse and guide, and hastened to the rendezvous of the robbers. He was seized by the watch; he yielded, saying. "I have come for the very purpose of being conducted to your leader." The young man stood armed, awaiting his approach; but when he recognized John in the captive, he fled for shame. John, however, forgetting his age, swiftly pursued him, saying, "Why dost thou flee from me, 0, my child! from me, thy fattier, an unarmed old man 1 Have compassion on me, 0, my child! Fear not! Thou hast still hope of life! I will intercede with Christ in thy behalf. If it were meet, I would gladly die for thee, as Christ died for us. I would lay down my life for thee, 0, stop! Faith, nay Christ has commissioned me! "When he heard these words, he at first stopped and bung down his head. After some moments he threw away his weapons, and then began to tremble and to weep bitterly; and when the -venerable man came near him, he embraced his knees, imploring his forgiveness with streaming eyes, and with expressions of the most intense sorrow'. Thus he was baptized anew, as it were, in tears; only he withheld his right hand. The Apostle, however, assured him with the most solemn pledges 'that he would obtain forgiveness for him from his Saviour. He entreated him. He knelt down and kissed his hand, now purified, as it were, by repentance. He prevailed. He took him back to the brethren. Then he prayed with him so devoutly, wrestled with him in fasting, exhorted him with words so kindly and sincerely, that he finally succeeded in restoring him to the church as an example of true repentance and genuine conversion."

      To this passage from the life of St. John, which so entirely beam the impress of his spirit, Hieronymus adds the following:--"When John had. arrived at extreme old age, and being too feeble to walk to the congregation, he suffered himself to be carried thither by his younger brethren. He was no longer able to say much, but continued to repeat, "Little children, love one another." And when asked. why he persisted in repeating this one word, he replied, "because it is the commandment of the Lord, and enough is done, if but this be done."

      In Later times, Neander, and especially Lücke, have maintained that violence and anger were the distinguishing characteristics of John's individual temperament, but surely we cannot conceive of a, violence that; is. not in polar antithesis to gentleness. [451]

[The Millennial Harbinger (August 1857): 448-451.]

      Alban P. Hooke's "Character of John the Evangelist" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 7, No. 8, August 1857. The electronic version of the essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1857), pp. 448-451.

      For information on this little-known Disciple, see Hans Rollmann's "Alban P. Hooke, an Unusual Contributor to the Millennial Harbiner" in Discipliana 58 (Summer 1998): 60-64.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the essay. Emendations are as follows:

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      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
724.694.8602
stefanik@westol.com

Created 20 July 1998.