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The Acts Of John Within The Johannine Corpus, James W. Barker

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

This essay reassesses the place of the Acts of John among other Johannine literature. Although the Gospel, three epistles, and Apocalypse were eventually deemed canonical, contemporary scholarship typically treats Revelation separately. Based on patristic testimony and manuscript materiality, I contend that not only the Apocalypse but also the Acts of John should be (re)incorporated alongside the Gospel and Epistles. Charles E. Hill has argued persuasively that the proto-orthodox were unafraid of the Fourth Gospel, despite its popularity among heterodox and heretical groups. I extend the same argument to the Acts of John.