© 10 Colin Melbourne
Boiled Alive in Oil
Q: Where in the Bible does it say that John was boiled in oil? I have read it before, but don’t know where. We had a visiting minister this past Sunday, and he talked about it. My kids are doubting because none of us can find it. Thanks for any help you can give. Ann
A: Thank you for your question Ann. The story of the Apostle John’s miraculous rescue, from being boiled alive in oil, is not mentioned in the Holy Bible.
It comes to us from extra-biblical sources recorded by several near-contemporary historians and theologians.
Here’s an example by Tertullian, the second century theologian, in; The Prescription Against Heretics, Chapter 36.
He writes stridently, rebuking opponents, advising them to visit the actual sites where the Apostles; Peter, Paul, and John, had recently suffered for Christ:
Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy, you have Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority (of apostles themselves). How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s! Where Paul wins his crown in a death like John’s. [Referring to John the Baptist. Ed] Where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island-exile!
<< In Rome, an arched gate in the old city wall called the “Latin Gate”, is said to be the exact place John was plunged into the cauldron of boiling oil.
Accounts by Roman Catholic theologians and historians such as Tertullian, and Josephus (See end note), are unreliable.
Catholicism was invented by Satan, the father of lies, so all his children are born liars too.
However, there are enough genuine Christian accounts of the miracle to give it credibility.
But first, here’s some background to the event.
Hail Caesar!
In the year AD 54 a seventeen year-old lad called Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus became Emperor of the Roman Empire.
A callow spotty youth ruled the known world.
Unsurprisingly, such power quickly went to his head, he “became divine”, and developed into a very nasty piece of work. Nero mercilessly butchered anyone who opposed him, and even had his mum, Agrippina, murdered when he was 22.
This was the same Caesar to whom imprisoned Paul appealed, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, in Acts 25:11, and was subsequently sent to Rome to await the Emperor’s bidding.
The Lord had already shown Paul what was coming, and he was courageous enough to follow Christ, and face up to Nero. Let us meditate on that, mighty men and women of the Living God.
Following the resurrection, and Pentecostal power-baptism, the Gospel of Christ spread quickly throughout the world. Such was the zeal of the first 120 Spirit-filled believers.
The Bible tells us that in just two years the whole of Asia had heard the Gospel of Christ. (Acts 19:10) Remember, this was without radio, television, newspapers, or the internet. Just open air Gospel preaching out where the sinners were, and the miracle anointing of the Lord.
Young Nero was affronted that Christians refused to worship him as God, he responded by initiating the first Roman persecution of Christians. It’s claimed, though not verified, the Apostle Peter was crucified, upside down. The appalling wanton cruelty Nero inflicted on our brothers and sisters in the Roman Colosseum is still a byword for demonic perversity.
Meanwhile, Paul remained preaching fearlessly in Rome for two whole years before capricious Nero ordered him beheaded. His race finished, the dolorous blow was struck, and the Apostle to the Gentile’s head tumbled along the Appian Way.
Fail Caesar!
Nero Caesar’s days were numbered.
A fire razed half the city of Rome during the tyrant’s tenth year as Emperor, and numerous uprisings led to him fleeing. He finally killed himself in AD 68, aged just 31.
Saints Alive!
The Apostle John was staying at this time in the city of Ephesus on the Western coast of Asia Minor, preaching, teaching, and nurturing the nascent church of God.
There arose after Nero a new Roman Emperor named Domitian. How did he cope with being “the world’s most powerful man”?
You guessed, he decreed himself to be God, demanded to be worshipped, and executed Roman senators who opposed him.
Domitian witnessed the rapid spread of Christianity, with its message of the coming King, and he slid into terminal paranoia. Just like the baby-killing vassal, King Herod of Jerusalem, Domitian tried to stamp out the House of David.
He initiated the second Roman persecution of Christians, slaughtering church leaders, and relatives of Christ, the nephews of Jude, Christ’s brother.
Learning that the Apostle John was living in Ephesus, the Roman Emperor commanded the Proconsul of Ephesus to apprehend and send John to Rome, where he attempted to execute him.
God’s publisher of the Protestant Reformation, John Foxe, describes the Apostle John’s martyrdom in the 1583 edition of his Book of Martyrs (see endnote), in the chapter entitled in charming 16th century spelling;
The first Booke conteyning the X first persecutions, of the Primitive Churche.
In this persecution John the Apostle and Evangelist was exiled by the sayd Domitianus into Pathmos. Of who divers and sundry memorable actes, be reported in sundry Chronicles. As first how he was put in a vessell of boiling oil, by the Proconsul of Ephesus. The Legend and Perionius say, it was done at Rome.
Foxe describes further miraculous events in the Apostle’s long life, along with accounts of the martyrdom of the rest of the Apostles, illustrated with woodcut engravings. Well worth reading yourself.
So we see that John’s miracle is historically documented. It shows the hideous persecution the first believers endured.
His miraculous deliverance from death is also compatible with some important biblical facts.
For example, the Lord had not finished the Apostle’s ministry, when Satan tried to kill John. The last book of the Holy Bible, the Revelation, was yet to be written, and Christ would subsequently present the Apocalyptic vision to John on Patmos Island.
You recall that Jesus said, of John, that He wanted him to remain alive until He returned. Jn. 21:22.
It follows therefore that the Lord would indeed preserve him, even when a Roman Emperor ordered that John be deep-fried in a cauldron of boiling oil.
The word of God cannot be broken (Jn. 10:35), Christ said He wanted John kept alive until He returned. This was fulfilled when John saw the glorified Christ in the vision of the Revelation 1:17-18.
That is why John was miraculously preserved from the boiling oil.
My personal conviction is that it is a true story. There’s a scriptural precedent too.
Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were preserved when thrown into the fiery furnace (Dan. Ch. 3), Jesus also saved John from harm.
It is said that all who witnessed the miracle became believers as a result.
Oil used in Torture and Warfare
If you have been spattered with hot cooking oil you’ll understand why Roman thugs chose boiling oil as a weapon of torture. Oil boils at three times the temperature of boiling water. The white of an egg takes three minutes to congeal when you hard-boil a chicken egg in water. It would only take one minute if boiled in oil.
When attacking armies laid siege to fortifications they used a tree-trunk battering ram to knock the walls and gates down. Defending soldiers heated animal fats and oil, pouring it from the ramparts onto the attackers below. It penetrated the protective covering of shields and animal hides, and flaming arrows would then be fired to set it alight.
Historians have reconstructed a flame-thrower designed during the Byzantine Mediterranean naval wars. It employed leather bellows, and pumped a stream of ignited hot oil through the air over dozens of yards. Handy for setting attacking ships on fire.
Roman Catholics also have a penchant for barbecuing Christians in hot sticky fluids.
See the account of the mighty martyr George Marsh burned alive at Chester, within walking distance of my birthplace, using a barrel of pitch and tar.
The AntiChrist’s City
There’s further evidence for the validity of John’s deliverance.
The presumed site of John’s miracle deliverance, the stone Latin Gate depicted in the engraving at the top of this article, still exists today.
Nearby, Catholics have built a small round chapel signifying the event. It is called, Giovanni in Oleo (John in oil).
There’s also a fresco, depicting John being hoisted into the boiling oil, it is painted on the ceiling of a Roman building devoted to martyrs called, “Nereo and Achilleo”.
Domitian simply could not kill John, the living martyr, so following his miraculous survival, the Apostle was banished to hard labour on the island of Patmos. It was there that the Lord gave John the precious Revelation written for you and me in the Holy Bible.
Emperor Domitian was soon killed, ruling for a mere fifteen years. A later Emperor pardoned John because he’d survived martyrdom, and allowed him to return to Ephesus. There; busy for the Lord, governing the Asian churches, and mighty to the end of his race, the Apostle of Love was promoted to Heaven at the age of 99. (Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Book 3 Chapter 23.)
Notice here we have strong validation of the truth of the miraculous deliverance, because the pardon was granted, by his arch enemies, on the basis of already having survived martyrdom.
John was the only one of the original Apostles of Christ to die a natural death. A wonderfully ironic riposte to Satan and Emperor Domitian.
Endnote on Josephus: A Jewish Roman collaborator, who initially resisted Roman occupation in Galilee, but was captured and defected to Rome. Josephus fought against the Jewish nation by advising Titus in the AD 70 Siege of Jerusalem, and consequent destruction of both The Temple of Solomon, and Jerusalem itself. His wife and family perished in the bloodshed he assisted. Josephus became a Roman citizen, and flattering vassal of the Roman Emperor. He married four times and divorced twice. His unreliable history books, though lauded by nominal “Christians”, were banned by Jews, and it is with valid reason that Josephus was branded a Jewish traitor, and facilitator of Rome’s intrigues.
What does Anointing with Oil in the Bible mean, and why do Christians anoint the sick with oil?
Note on Foxe’s Book of Martyrs 1583
All later editions of Foxe’s Martyrs have been heinously corrupted by Catholics, the 1583 edition is the only one we endorse, because it is the final edition John Foxe published. You can read this anointed book just as John Foxe printed it. Mastering 16th century spelling doesn’t take long, and it’s well worth the effort because it is a treasure chest of blessing and inspiration. It will strengthen your faith.
<< 1583 Foxe’s Martyrs: John Foxe recounts how the aged Apostle John restored, with blazing grace, a believer who’d fallen into deep sin, thieving and murdering for a living. It’s a stunning example of John, the Apostle of Love, living what he preached, and will move you to tears at God’s grace. To Him be all the Glory!
© 10 Colin Melbourne
Tract image © Chick Publns. Used by permission.
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