Mesopotamian history extends from the emergence of Urban societies in Southern Iraq in the 5th millennium BC to the arrival of

Name:Stephen T. Adair

Student ID Number:2060329784Email Address:adair.steve@gmail.comCourse Name:The Gospel of JohnCourse Number:NT 634 ISR103Assignment Number:Assignment 5Audio Number:N/AProject Number:N/A

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Location of seminar (if applicable): N/A**The Module Number, Audio Number (if applicable), and Project Number (if applicable) must be accurate in order to process the lesson and record the grade. The correct information is stated in the Course Study Guide.

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found on the first page of the Study Guide: 20090910

Degree Program:MA in Biblical StudiesAddress:PO Box 2132City:Mossel BayState:Western CapeZip:6500Country:South AfricaTelephone:+27 44 690 5133

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PLEASE TYPE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS LESSON SUBMISSION AS THEY APPEAR IN YOUR STUDY GUIDE HERE

REFLECTION PAPER (No points assigned but required. Pass/Fail)

Complete Assignments 1-4 before you begin Assignment 5. In a reflection of ca. 500-750 words, answer the question if, and if yes, how your understanding of John has changed after this course and how your view of this Gospel can become relevant for your ministry context.

Introduction

This paper is a reflection of my experience arising through the study of the Gospel of John. New insights into the Gospel are highlighted together with new questions that were raised through the course of the study program. Finally, thoughts on how the study may influence future ministry are shared.

New Insights

The study of the Gospel of John has been a very informative course, giving a new opportunity to explore one of the seminal works of the New Testament.

Exploring the use of logos in the Johannine prologue brought several new insights to the passage, particularly through the works of Dodd, Phillips and Ronning, providing a very good understanding, not only of the prologue, but of the Gospel message as a whole.

Phillips work was interesting. I was initially very sceptical about reader-response techniques (even Phillips himself appears to express some doubts himself in his conclusion he says even though we have attempted to use a sequential reading of the text, there are times when this seemed to be a rather superficial process), however, I found myself agreeing with much of his final conclusion; viz. that John employed the term Logos as a means of making the Gospel message amenable to those outside the Christian community by employing a term that resonated well with several different schools of philosophical and religious thinking, including the Jews, the Greeks and the Gnostics.

A major insight was the fact that most scholars appear to look for an influence upon John which may be shown to show a precedent for associated Logos with the incarnation. All authors appear to fall short of establishing this link. It was noted that whilst John does employ similarities with respect to the Logos with several schools of religious and philosophical thought, he also expresses some clear distinctions. It should be noted that similarity is not the same as dependency. Whilst John may have borrowed the language of the Logos, he also redefines the term, associating it with the real person Jesus Christ, His divinity and His eternal existence.

One factor that no-one appears to address adequately is the influence of Jesus Christ himself on John. John spent three years intimately involved with Jesus, observing His ministry and witnessing first hand His miracles. For me at least, this would have had much more impact upon his thinking than any amount of Greek, Roman or Jewish religious or philosophical thought.

A re-look at the re-instatement of Peter in John 21 and at the use of the love language provided an opportunity to subject the passage to much deeper academic rigour, allowing me to re-confirm earlier ideas and gain much more confidence in my understanding of the account.

New Questions

One question that was raised in my mind during this study was the question of whether Johannine studies have reached a saturation point. There is simply so much research concerning the Fourth Gospel that most research seems to concern itself not with an analysis of the Fourth Gospel per se, but with an analysis of other research of the Fourth Gospel.

Phillips work is a bit of fresh air, as he at least seeks to address the text of the Gospel directly, rather than the view of a previous researcher. However, Phillips work itself is at times rather laboured and long winded.

Ministry Implications

Study of the Fourth Gospel has served to raise once again the profile of the book in my mind, and certainly has prompted clear thoughts on teaching opportunities from the text. In fact, I am currently running a support group for drug addicts in recovery, and have been taking the weekly inspiration word from the Gospel of John. The people in the group appear to really appreciate the lessons found in this book, and one member has taken on responsibility to study the book himself and bring the inspirational word himself once in a while.

Bibliography

Dodd, C. H., Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Cambridge University Press, 1953.

Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume 294 of Library of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006.

Ronning, J., The Jewish Targums and Johns Logos Theology, Hendrickson Pub., 2010.

Dodd, C. H., Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Cambridge University Press, 1953.

Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume 294 of Library of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006.

Ronning, J., The Jewish Targums and Johns Logos Theology, Hendrickson Pub., 2010.

Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume 294 of Library of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006, p224.

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