eive and afterwards to publish to the
world, those deep and spiritual views of Christ's person and office
which so remarkably characterize his gospel.

So far as we have any notices of John in the Acts of the Apostles and
epistles of Paul, his residence after our Lord's ascension was at
Jerusalem. But, according to the unanimous testimony of antiquity, he
spent the latter part of his life in Ephesus, where he died at a very
advanced age, not far from the close of the first century. The subject
of his banishment to the isle of Patmos will come up in connection with
the Apocalypse.

There is a mass of traditions respecting the latter years of
this apostle, which are, however, of a very uncertain character.
Among the more striking of these are: his being taken to Rome
during the persecution under Domitian, and there thrown into a
caldron of boiling oil, whence he escaped unhurt; his refusal to
remain under the same roof with the heretic Cerinthus, lest it
should fall upon him and crush him; his successful journey on
horseback into the midst of a band of robbers to reclaim a
fallen member of the church who had become their leader; and
especially, that during the last days of his life, he was
customarily carried into the assembly of the church, where he
simply repeated the words: "Little children, love one another."

34. The arguments for the _late composition_ of this gospel--after the
destruction of Jerusalem--have already been given. Chap. 2, No. 14. If
we say between A.D. 70 and 100, it will be as near an approximation to
the time as we can make. The _place_, according to Irenaeus (in Eusebius,
Hist. Eccl. 5. 8) was Ephesus, with which statement all that we know of
his later life is in harmony.

35. From the beginning of our Lord's ministry John was, as we have seen,
admitted to his intimate companionship and friendship. He was not
therefore, dependent on tradition. His gospel is the testimony of what
he had himself seen and heard. Yet it covers only a _part_ of the
Saviour's ministry; and the question remains why, with the exception of
the closing scenes of our Lord's life on earth, that part should be to
so remarkable an extent precisely _what the earlier evangelists have
omitted_. In answer to this question it might be said that those actions
and discourses of our Lord which John selected most clearly exhibit his
person and office as the son of God; and that these we