That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life
External Evidence:    The external evidence for the Apostle John’s authorship is very great. Only much later did someone try to suggest that the "elder John" was a John different from the Apostle. The term "elder" however was used by 2nd and 3rd generation Christians to refer to their predecessors, "the men of early days". It was natural then for John, the last of the apostles, to refer to himself as one of "the elder men" (Cf. EGT, V, p.160).