John's Miraculous Escape and Ananias' Identity

Q: I have two: 1) Was the Apostle John boiled in oil and survived? 2) There seem to be two references to Ananias in scripture. The one who was sent to pray over Saul who became Paul so that the scales left his eyes, and another reference to Ananias who died for lying to the Holy Spirit. Are these one and the same person? Why or why not?

A: Thank you for both of your questions. According to accepted tradition, the Apostle John was boiled in oil and survived. Many sources tell of John's experience. One source puts it like this: "During the reign of Roman emperor Domitian after having spent time imprisoned in Rome, John was sentenced to be boiled in the Colosseum. So he was boiled in the oil but endured no harm or suffering. It is said that all in the entire  Colosseum audience was converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. John was allegedly banished by the Roman authorities to the Greek island of Patmos, where some believe that he wrote the Book of Revelation." In this description, as well as others, John is said to have not been harmed at all by the boiling oil. If this is true, his survival is indeed a miracle of God on par with the miracle experienced by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3, when King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the furnace for refusing to bow down and worship an idol. As Daniel 3:25 records, "The king said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire. They aren't tied up. And the fire hasn't even harmed them. The fourth man looks like a son of the gods."One can only wonder if there were similar stories said about the Apostle John's experience surviving being boiled in oil. Regardless, the story is a definite testimony to the faithfulness and power of the Lord.

It is humbling to realize that the Apostle John was probably the only Apostle who died of natural causes. In fact, it has been said that he died "in great old age at Ephesus." Thankfully, the Lord used the Apostle John's long life to write five books of the Bible; the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John and Revelation. The life of a Christian is not without suffering as the life of the Apostle John testifies. This should not come as a surprise to us as Christians as it only serves to validate the truth of the God's Word. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33)." Little did the Apostle John know that when he heard Jesus say those words in his presence that he would be a living testimony of that fact. Interestingly enough it was John's own zeal for the Gospel that one could say led him to being boiled in oil. John, along with his brother James, were nicknamed "sons of thunder" because, as it has been said, "when their patience was pushed to its limits their anger became wild, fierce and thunderous causing them to speak out like an untamed storm." Tradition claims John was going to bathe in Ephesus when he shouted, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the Truth, is within.” Perhaps, this "thunderous" outburst would later contribute to John being arrested during the Roman persecution. It was in Rome where he was sentenced to be boiled in oil.


In regards to the passages of scripture that mention Ananias, it would not appear that they are one and the same person. There are different reasons for this belief. The first reason is that Acts is a historical book that basically gives the history of the early church in chronological order. Therefore, when we read about Ananias and Sapphira dying in Acts 5:1-11, it would seem that this happened prior to the Ananias of Acts 9:10-19 meeting Paul. Secondly, the Ananias of Acts 9 is said to be a disciple whom the Lord called to in a vision. Whereas, the Ananias of Acts 5, is said to have conspired with his wife to lie (Acts 5:1) and is told by Peter that "Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3)." While Christians do certainly engage in sin, for Peter to say all these things about Ananias makes one believe that Ananias is not a disciple or the person whom God commanded to go to Paul. Finally, there is evidence that the name Ananias was a common name used at the time. You have the two Ananias' mentioned in your question from Acts 5:1 and Acts 9:10, but you also have a high priest named Ananias mentioned in Acts 23:2. He was noted for his cruelty and violence which led to him being assassinated by his own people. Therefore, it would stand to reason that these are not the same Ananias', but different individuals at different times in history.

This question about Ananias is an understandable one to ask. While we see names we are familiar with in scripture like John, James, Mary and Martha, because they have survived to today, we are not familiar with names like Ananias. Therefore, it is easy to think that when we see that name mentioned, that it is referring to one particular individual. However, Ananias must have been a common name similar to a name we are more familiar with today like William or Michael. Sometimes, the Bible authors will take a moment to tell us which person they are referring to in order to assist the reader in determining who is being talked about. For example, John 14:22 says, "Then Judas spoke. "Lord," he said, "why do you plan to show yourself only to us? Why not also to the world?" The Judas who spoke those words was not Judas Iscariot." Here you see the Apostle John, coincidentally, differentiating between the two Judas' so as not to get the one speaking confused with the one who betrayed Jesus. Unfortunately, that isn't the case with those named Ananias, so we are left to ask questions of each other and refer to other sources in order to find some of these details. But, Jesus did say the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. I pray that He has used me in some way to lead you as He guides both of us into His truth.