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The most that can be said is that before the death of Paul the last view we obtain of his mission-field shows it exposed, especially in the region of Ephesus, to a rising flood of superstition and false doctrine, while documents that can be dated with some definiteness in 95-117, such as Revelation, the Johannine and Ignatian Epistles, and the letter of Polycarp, show a great advance of heretical teaching in the same region.

But as a matter of real fact those who maintain the Johannine authorship do not venture to assert any such historical superiority.

In his doctrine of Scripture as in many other respects the Johannine writer shows a breadth and catholicity of mind which almost anticipates the development of later ages.

New discovery and more careful study of literary relations have inverted Baur's views as to dates of the Johannine writings.

In seeking the life behind the literature as the real revelation, the Johannine writer makes the essential distinction between Jewish and Christian doctrine.