Does the Bible require us to abandon the traditon that the beloved disciple was John?

Absolutely. If there is a man in jail who has been convicted of a crime and we later uncover videotape or DNA evidence that prove we’ve identified the wrong man, then we let him go. We don’t keep him in jail until we find out who did do it.

Likewise, if Bible evidence can prove that John was not the “other disciple, whom Jesus loved”, then we need to admit our mistake and let go of this erroneous tradition whether or not we can identify the actual author. The idea that the beloved disciple was John does not come from the word of God (i.e. The actual content produced by God's inspired authors) it has been added to it.

There is not a single verse that would justify teaching that the “other disciple, whom Jesus loved” was John, which is why those who promote this man-made tradition ultimately end up pointing to some non-Bible source(s) in their attempts to defend this unbiblical tradition. In fact this tradition is the result of relying on non-Bible sources (the selected statements of ... more.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.