John - Introduction

The Church recognizes four apostolic witnesses to the Gospel. Three of them are known as synoptic, that is, they recount the same events. The Gospel according to John, however, recounts many events that do not appear in the other three. John states that he is writing so that we may believe, but it seems that this was written to Christians, so that they might truly believe in a time when the Jewish and Christian groups were diverging. Irenaeus, who was the disciple of one of John's disciples, states that this was written by John. John's gospel begins by recounting Jesus' signs and quickly leads to His passion, which begins the most significant aspect of the Gospel.