NT Week 5: Gospel of John

Who?According to Clement and Irenaeus (C 2nd CE), John, son of Zebedee, known as the Beloved Disciple. But Ch. 21 is thought to be a later addition. So perhaps a later disciple of the Beloved Disciple? Seems to have been a Jewish Christian.

What?Often thought of as the “spiritual gospel”, contains a “high Christology” and “realised eschatology”. Preserves a different tradition than the synoptic gospels, 90% is unique to John.

Why?Christians being estranged from their Jewish moorings, and beginning to attract more Gentiles. John calls for Christian unity. “Love one another”, not “love thy neighbour” - 20.31 Some think it preserves the story of the Johannine community on another level.

Where?Traditionally thought in Ephesus, but Alexandria also a possibility.

When?P52 dated c. 125 CE, church fathers writing in the 2nd century. So likely late first century.

Unique Selling Points:The Logos - Gr. ó logos, “the word”. Jesus pre-exists in heaven where he was God’s mediator in the creation, before coming to earth. Prologue 1:1-18 replaces OT-derived mythological Birth Narratives.. May suggest a Platonic influence.

The Paraclete - John has no real perousia (return of Christ) - rather, the Paraclete is present among the faithful as comforter or advocate. Gr. ó paracletos - advocate, go-between, but often understood as the Holy Spirit.

“I am” sayings - Gr. ego eimi, recalls Hebrew YHVH, “I am that I am”. Rather than using parables, Jesus giving divine wisdom by comparing himself to various things.

A John Corpus?Links with Johannine Letters (1, 2, 3) and possibly apocalypse of John due to a similarity of ideas and language.Raymond Brown The Community of the Beloved Disciple

- four stages of development; initially Jewish, led by the beloved disciple- conflict with synagogues - narrative of persecution- influence of Gnostic/Manichaean groups (Qumran) - Jesus as Word and light- split over physical/spiritual nature of Christ

However, while there is an influence of Gnostic ideas, it s probably not accurate to describe John’s Gospel as Gnostic. More on Gnosticism next week...

Next Week: Beyond the New TestamentJohnson, p. 114-121The Gospel of Thomas - http://www.westarinstitute.org/Polebridge/Excerpts/thomas.htmlInfancy Gospel of James - http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/infancyjames-roberts.htmlGospel of Peter - http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelpeter-brown.htmlGospel of Judas - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf