John was accordingly summoned to Rome to be tried for his faith. Here before the authorities the apostle's doctrines were misstated. False witnesses accused him of teaching seditious heresies. By these accusations his enemies hoped to bring about the disciple's death.

Følgelig blev Johannes kaldt til Rom for at stå til regnskab for sin tro. Her blev apostlens lærdomme i fordrejet skikkelse fremstillet for øvrigheden. Falske vidner beskyldte ham for at udbrede oprørske vildfarelser. Ved disse anklager håbede hans fjender at volde apostlens død.