The prophetic forerunner of Christ in the Gospels (not the Apostle John).
John the Baptist is presented in the Gospels as the prophetic figure who called contemporaries to repentance, symbolized in baptism, and announced Jesus as the Messiah.
For further information see:
- R.L Webb, John the Baptizer and Prophet: A Sociohistorical Study (Wipf & Stock, 2006 = Sheffield Academic Press, 1991)
- Shimon Gibson, "John the Baptist", Encyclopaedia Judaica (2008)
- Wikipedia
