JOHN, St, the Apostle or Evangelist, was the brother of St James the Great, and the son of Zebede. He quitted the business of fishing to follow Jesus, and became his beloved disciple. He was witness to the actions and miracles of his Master, was present at his transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and attended him in the garden of olives. He was the only apostle who followed him to the cross, and to him Jesus left the care of his mother. He was also the first apostle who knew him again after his resurrection. He preached the faith in Asia, and principally resided at Ephesus, where he maintained the mother of our Lord. He is believed to have founded the churches of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. He is also said to have preached the gospel amongst the Parthians, and to have addressed his first epistle to that people. It is related that, when he was at Rome, the Emperor Domitian caused him to be thrown into a caldron of
boiling oil, but that he came out unhurt; upon which he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he wrote his Apocalypse. After the death of Domitian he returned to Ephesus, where he composed his Gospel, about the year 96; and died there, in the reign of Trajan, about the year 100, at the age of 94.