What is "pseudo-john"

Pseudo-John is the name given to pseudepigraphical authors who wrote in the name of various early Christian church leaders named John to give their own works greater legitimacy.

• Works by Pseudo-Johns written in the name of John the Apostle / John the Evangelist include:
  • The Apocalypse of Pseudo-John, a pseudo-prophetic text based on the Book of Daniel 10.1-12.13,45 concerning the end of time.
  • Liber de Dormitione Mariae, a 6th-century apocryphal narrative of the death of Mary.
• Works by Pseudo-Johns written in the name of John Chrysostom include, for instance:
  • Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, comments on the Gospel of Matthew ostensibly collected from secondary manuscripts.
  • The Encomium of John the Baptist, an apocryphal hagiography of John the Baptist.

The name 'Pseudo-John' is not used for the authors of the Johannine works (the Gospel of John, the Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation). The authors of some of these texts give their name as John, but did not write in the name of someone else.