religious study
The Gospel according to John l The gospel was originally untitled and anonymous. It was given the name in the late 2nd century. Who wrote the gospel of John? The gospel has been attributed to John, the son of Zebedee, a disciple. This is based on John 21.24, “This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.” The “we” in 21.24 indicates that someone else is the final editor of John’s gospel. The final version of the gospel was probably written after John died, by members of John’s worshipping community. The basic foundation of the gospel may have been written by the disciple John, with John’s followers adding to it. Other writings in the New Testament with the name of John in the title: The Letters of 1, 2, and 3rd John are considered to be written not by John, but by his community. The Revelation of John is considered to be by another author. This is according to scholars, based on writing style (Source Analysis). The gospel of John is the latest of the 4 gospels, written 100 C.E. Why do scholars believe this? 1. The opponents of Jesus in this gospel are called “the Jews.” In the synoptic gospels, the opponents are called “scribes and Pharisees.” The distinction between “Jews” and “Christians” did not come about until 50 years after the death of Jesus. Jesus and the disciples were Jews. 2nd reason for the late date: The lack of mention of specific geographical locations for Jesus’s life and ministry. Dating of the gospels by scholars Mark 70 C.E. Matt 80 C.E. Luke 90 C.E. John 100 C.E. 3rd reason for the late date: It is not a Greco-Roman biography. It is the furthest away from this typical genre. It is instead a theological discourse. The most unique feature of the gospel of John concerns the presence of a particular literary genre within the gospel this gospel includes long monologues spoken by Jesus. Jesus did not speak in this manner in the other gospels. Since Jesus did not speak in this way in the other 3 gospels, these words, said to be by Jesus, are most likely not by Jesus, but by John and his community. Form Analysis: Characteristic Johannine pattern of narration: • Action (sign, miracle) • Dialogue (about the miracle) • Monologue (spoken by Jesus) • Appendix Other unique features of John’s gospel: 2. It is Gnostic 3. Dionysian 4. Employs Greek Logos philosophy We will be looking at these features as we go through the gospel. The Structure of the gospel Chapter 1: Introduction – Prologue Chapters 2 – 12: The Book of Signs Chapters 13 – 17: Farewell Discourse Chapters 18 – 20: Passion Narrative Chapter 21: Epilogue – the appearance in Galilee Who is Jesus, according to John? The first indication is in the prologue The Prologue: 1.1-18 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own house, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’” And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. John 1.1 in Greek 1 ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. It says, in the beginning was the logos, and the logos was with God, and the Logos was God. Logos means: Word Reason Intelligent principle of the cosmos It is where we get our word logic. It is the intelligent essence of the Universe. Applying tradition analysis to “logos” 1. The earliest reference of Logos is from the 6th century BCE by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who said, In the beginning was the logos from which all things arise. 2. From the 3rd century BCE The Greek philosophical school of Stoicism regarded the logoi spermatikois, the seeds of intelligence, scattered throughout matter, giving matter form. Logoi spermatikois were also considered to be in the Law and Wise individuals. 3. In the 1st century C.E., the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, Egypt said that the Logos was the primeval man (the model of man from which all other men were made). In late first century C.E., the gospel of John says that Jesus is the logos, the intelligent principle of the entire cosmos and the model of man. The idea of the logos has evolved from Heraclitus to the Stoics, to Philo, to the Christians. To translate the original Greek word “logos” as “word” is too narrow, it should be translated intelligent principle of the cosmos that which gives matter form. Only in John’s gospel is Jesus described as coming from heaven. In John chapter 20, Jesus is said to ascend to heaven. Therefore, in this gospel, Jesus comes from heaven and returns to heaven. This U-shaped journey in the philosophy of religion is called The Journey of the Soul. Applying tradition analysis to the idea of The Journey of the soul: This concept is found in 1. The Greek philosophy of Plato and Orpheus 2. Eastern theologies 3. Gnosticism We will look at Gnostic elements in the gospel of John. Gnostics existed since the 2nd century BCE. They broke away from Judaism and formed their own religion. They are pre-Christian and some still exist today in Iran. They incorporate Platonic ideas. Gnosticism is from the Greek word Gnosis. Gnosis means knowledge, acquaintance. It means I know this person. Gnostics emphasized knowing God personally. Gnostics sought answers to questions such as Who are we? Where are we from? Into what have we been cast? Where are we going? Gnostic answers: We are spirits in a material world. We are material beings with a soul of light which is divine. We come from the Divine Spiritual Realm and will return. “Wake up!” The Gnostics call people to wake up to your own divinity. Once you realize or remember that you are divine and from the spiritual realm, it is then that you are SAVED. Knowing this information is your salvation. You do not need to be a slave to religion say the Gnostics. You do not need to follow all the religious rules, you just need to live spiritually, because you are already saved. Gnostics also emphasized friendship, friendship with God and one another. Service to one another was to replace service to God. The concept of Friendship not slave religion in John’s gospel: 1. John’s gospel includes Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. This symbolizes service to others. This is not in the other gospels. 2. In John 15, it says that Friendship is to replace servanthood, and the relationship between us and God is to be based on love not law. John 15.12- 14 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. The cosmology of the Gnostics is dualistic: the world above is made of Light and Spirit, the world we live in is made of Dark Matter. We live in a prison, according to the Gnostics, ruled by Fate, and Fate is ruled by the planets. Several branches of Gnosticism existed but they share a common story of beginnings. Here is a brief summary of a gnostic text, the Apocryphon of John. In the beginning was the One, the Monad. It was Pure spirit, pure thought, pure light, pure love, the parent of all (both male and female). The monad overflows with love, light, thought, creating ten spiritual realms. The first two spiritual realms have a child called the Anointed, the Christ. Through the logos, the intelligent principle, the Anointed, creates 4 heavenly realms. Each of these realms emanate out 3 realms. The last realm is Sophia. Her name means wisdom. Sophia has a child without the knowledge of her spouse. Sophia hides the child whose name is Yaldabaoth. This name means child of chaos. Yaldabaoth grows up ignorant and selfish and steals his mother’s spirit. With her spirit, Yaldabaoth creates a material world based on the pattern of the spiritual world above. He tries to make humans, but they are inanimate, lifeless, clay figures. Meanwhile, Sophia longs for her lost spirit that Yaldabaoth stole. She goes to the Monad for advice. Sophia carries out the Monad’s plan. Sophia tells Yaldabaoth to blow his breath into the humans and they will come alive. So Yaldabaoth blows and his spirit goes out of him and into the humans and they become alive. Sophia has tricked Yaldabaoth into giving up some of her spirit that he had stolen. The spirit now resides in the humans. But, Yaldabaoth turns around and enslaves the humans. He tells them: I am a jealous God and you must serve only me. There is no other God. This part is a Gnostic commentary on Judaism at the time, that it is too focused on the rules. But, Sophia again has pity on her lost spirit and goes to the Monad. This time the Monad sends down the Anointed who tells the humans the truth: That they are spirit from the divine realm. That they just need to wake up to this fact. They don’t need to serve Yaldabaoth who is no god at all. They just need to know the truth, and the truth will set them free. That they are from the Divine realm, and upon death will return. The important thing is to believe this, and then they will be FREE. The End. Back to the Gospel of John Gnostic elements in the gospel of John about “Belief” 1. Whosoever believes in Jesus shall have eternal life (3.16) 2. He who believes in the Son has eternal life (John 3.36) 3. He who believes my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (5.24). (Notice that there is a distinction here between Jesus and God.) 4. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free (John 8) What one is to believe, comes in the “I am” statements: Jesus says, I am the bread of life (John 6.35). I am the good shepherd (10.11). “I am” statements (continued) John 10.30 The Father and I are one (He also calls us all to be one with God 12.36 & 1.12) “I am” statements (continued) 11.25 I am the resurrection and the life. 14.6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. 8.12 I am the light of the world. Jesus as light and enlightenment in the gospel of John: 12.46 I have come as light into the world . . . so you may not remain in darkness 1.9 He is the true light which enlightens everyone. 1.12 He gives power to become children of God 12.36 By believing in the light, we become children of light In the gospel of John, there is no apocalypse. The Apocalypse is defined as the End of the World as we know it and the coming of the Kingdom of God in violence. Comparisons of Apocalyptic expectations in the gospels: 1. Mark 13: A careful reading shows that all the signs of the end of times are related to the destruction of the temple. “All this will occur in the generation of the disciples.” Comparisons of Apocalyptic expectations in Matthew 2. Apocalyptic expectations reach their height in Matthew. There are two full chapters. Comparisons of Apocalyptic expectations 3. In the gospel of Luke, the Kingdom of God is understood as an expansion of the ethics of Jesus, and not a world coming after this one is destroyed. In the gospel of John • There are just a couple of sentences on Apocalyptic expectations. • Basically, Jesus is THE NEW LIFE which leads to our resurrection. In John, the Resurrection occurs in each person once you believe. Once you have WOKEN UP spiritually, you are saved just as in Gnosticism. An ember inside becomes ignited. There is no need for an apocalypse in John; no hell, no 2nd coming. Jesus abides in you when you believe – this is the 2nd coming, when Jesus comes into your heart and soul. The Book of Signs within the gospel of John are 7 signs that point to Jesus as the expected messiah. Sign 1 The miracle of Jesus turning Water into wine (2.11) Sign 2 Jesus heals the Capernaum official’s son (4.45f) Sign 3 Curing of the paralytic at Bethzatha (5.1-15) Sign 4 Feeding of the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish (6.1-14) “When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’” Sign 5 Jesus walks on water (6.17) Sign 6 Jesus heals the blind man (9.1-12) Sign 7 The raising of Lazarus from the dead is the 7th and most important sign. It signifies that Jesus brings new life (John 11). This miracle is only in the gospel of John. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. Dionysian elements in John 1. Turning Water into wine (2.11) The Greek god Dionysus was famous for this. Dionysian elements in John (continued) In John 6.53, Jesus says, “Drink my blood and eat my flesh.” In the Dionysian religion, followers would share a meal, eat the flesh of a wild animal, drink wine, and become infused with the spirit of Dionysus. Women in the Gospel of John 1. In Chapter 4 is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. She tells others about her talk with Jesus. The first evangelist is a woman according to John. (Yet, women are not allowed to preach in many churches.) 2. The woman caught in adultery (John 8.2-11) Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ”Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” The Law says to stone her to death (throw stones at her until she dies). Jesus says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” As he writes in the dirt, one by one, they all walked away. It is believed that he wrote down a list of sins. Jesus acts out of compassion rather than religious tradition or law. 3. The woman who anointed Jesus’s feet The other gospels say she will always be remembered, but only the gospel of John tells us her name: Mary of Bethany 4. The woman in the garden who accuses Peter of being an associate of Jesus when Jesus is arrested: In other gospels she is just called a “girl” or “woman.” In John’s gospel, she is called “the woman who guards the gate.” (18.1) So, Who is Jesus for John? Jesus is 1. the heavenly teacher and savior: The one who comes from heaven and brings truth that will set us free. 2. He awakens us to our spirituality. Just believing his words is salvation. We are born again and will not die, we are eternal. 3. He is the Logos and the Light of the world. We become enlightened, children of light when hearing his words. We become new transformed beings of light. So, when comparing the 4 gospels in the New Testament we can see that each gospel gives a different answer to who Jesus is. Throughout the first century, there were many more different answers. Over the centuries, there continue to be many churches disagreeing about who Jesus is. This matter calls for wisdom and tolerance. Lecture by Prof. J. Corey, Ph.D., Victor Valley College
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