JOHNSON 



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JOHNSON 



the Jordan, so they willingly left their work 

 when Jesus called them, together with two 

 other brothers, Peter and Andrew. Although 

 both James and John were impulsive and 

 headstrong, causing Jesus to give them the 

 name of Boanerges, or sons of thunder, their 

 natural defects of character were overcome 

 and changed to elements of strength. 



At the raising of Jairus' daughter, John was 

 one of the three who were allowed to witness 

 it, while the same three saw the transfigura- 

 tion and were the ones upon whom Jesus 

 leaned for comfort and sympathy in his hour 

 of trial and agony in Gethsemane. John fol- 

 lowed his master to the crucifixion and at the 

 cross Jesus commended his mother Mary to 

 the apostle's loving care (John XIX, 27). For 

 a time after that John returned to his old 

 fishing trade, but, following the Pentecost, he 

 joined Peter in active missionary work. Both 

 were imprisoned by Jewish authorities; after 

 being freed, they were sent to Samaria by 

 their fellow apostles to aid in the work which 

 Philip had begun. During the persecutions 

 of the new Church in Jerusalem John stayed 

 there like a pillar of strength, where Paul 

 found him when he returned from his first 

 missionary journey (Galatians II, 9). In the 

 latter part of his life John lived in Asia Minor, 

 where the seven churches there established 

 were under his care. For a time he was exiled 

 on the island of Patmos, where he wrote the 

 Revelation (see REVELATION, BOOK OF), prob- 

 ably in A. D. 95, but at the beginning of Nerva's 

 reign he was allowed to return to Ephesus. 

 There he died some years later, but during 



the latter part of his life he wrote the Gospel 

 of John (see GOSPELS), and the three Epistles 

 of John, all four of which are included in the 

 New Testament. 



The Epistles of John are three short ad- 

 dresses. The first was to the Gentiles in Asia 

 Minor; the second to the Elect Lady, which 

 some consider as the Church; and the third, 

 to the "well-beloved Gaius." All three urge 

 the people to preserve their faith in God and 

 especially their love for all that is good and 

 holy. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST (5 B.C.-A.D. 28), the 

 great prophet and immediate forerunner of 

 Christ, who in two years of public ministry 

 not only prepared the people for Christ's ap- 

 pearance, but also pointed Him out to them. 

 He was born in a small town, probably Hebron, 

 in the hill country of Judah, just six months 

 before the birth of Christ; the mothers of the 

 two were cousins. After spending most of his 

 life in seclusion near his home he appeared as 

 a preacher in the wilderness along the banks 

 of the Jordan in A. D. 26. He urged people to 

 repent immediately from their sins, baptizing 

 many who accepted his teaching, from which 

 he received the name John the Baptist. Near 

 the close of John's ministry Christ came to 

 him to be baptized, and John, upon recogniz- 

 ing Him as the Messiah, proclaimed the fact 

 to all the people. Soon after, Herod the 

 tetrarch imprisoned John for things which he 

 had said against his character, and later had 

 him beheaded, to please the vindictive Hero r 

 dias (see Mark VI, 17-28), who used as her in- 

 strument her daughter Salome. 



OHNSON, ANDREW (1808-1875), an 

 American political leader and statesman. He 

 was elected Vice-President of the United States 

 in 1864 and succeeded to the Presidency on 

 the death of President Lincoln. He was the 

 seventeenth President of the United States, 

 and the third Vice-President to succeed to the 

 higher office through the death of the Presi- 

 dent. On him fell one of the greatest burdens 



which any President has ever borne, the prob- 

 lem of reconstruction of the Southern states. 

 He shouldered the load with courage and a 

 desire to do right, and pursued a moderate 

 course, but he met opposition from a party 

 which was controlled by strong partisans. The 

 attempt to remove him from the Presidency 

 by impeachment was generally regarded, even 

 before his death, as ill-advised, and if for no 



