The only ancient writers who mention him are Gennadius, presbyter of Massilia (end of 5th century), in his De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, and Pope Gelasius in De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis, in which his works are classed as Apocryphi, probably on account of certain heterodox statements contained in them.
The Decretum Gelasianum associated with Pope Gelasius I, though of later date, follows Jerome in accepting one letter of "John the apostle" and two letters of the "other John the elder".
The Christian Church combatted these stories, but the opposition of centuries—the Decree of Gelasius in 496 is well-known—was unable to prevent the narratives from becoming unhistorical as to facts.
He seems to have been still living at Marseilles when Gennadius wrote under the papacy of Gelasius (492-496).
Pope John Paul II | Pope Benedict XVI | Pope | Pope Paul VI | Alexander Pope | Pope Pius IX | Pope Pius XII | Pope Francis | Pope Leo XIII | Pope Pius XI | Pope John XXIII | Pope Innocent IV | Pope Pius VII | Pope Pius X | Pope John Paul I | Pope Alexander III | Pope Clement VII | Pope Urban VIII | Pope Clement V | Pope Pius VI | Pope Julius II | Pope Gregory VII | Pope Clement VIII | pope | Pope Sixtus V | Pope Alexander VI | Pope Benedict XIV | Pope Benedict XV | Pope Innocent XI | Pope Sixtus IV |
The study makes a rigorous examination of the "two swords doctrine" of Pope Gelasius I, along with Dante's distinct sentiments in the Roman Catholic debates between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and Kelsen's conversion to Catholicism was contemporaneous to the book's completion in 1905.
In Rome on the other hand, the pope appears with ever-increasing frequency as the advocate of the needy population; thus Pope Leo I intercedes with Attila the Hun king and Geiserich the Vandal king, and Pope Gelasius I with Theodoric the Ostrogothic king.