John the Evangelist

In the Christian mystical tradition one of the great texts is Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross, in which he talks about the periods of loneliness, fear, and doubt that one goes through after the initial awakenings into the light. Evagrius,

John of the Cross will forever be credited for the idea of dark night of the soul, but the inspiration wasn’t his alone. John acknowledged his indebtedness to a number of previous authors, including an obscure sixth-century mystic who wrote under the name of Dionysius and spoke of “a ray of darkness.”2 Of all those who influenced John’s work, howev

John was at the cross with Jesus. He was the only disciple who remained faithful and stayed with Jesus as he suffered. Their bond pointed to a future reality—a love that every Christian would know with God and, one day, with every other Christian in eternity.

Clement of Alexandria tells us, “But, last of all, John, perceiving that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel, being urged by his friends, and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel.”