Gospel Of John Setting Analysis

Setting Based on the text, the Gospel of John was mainly set in Judea and Galilee. The setting of the text is stated throughout John, and it gives context to the type of people that Jesus was preaching to at any particular point in the text. This can also show a purpose as to why the author of John wrote their gospel the way they did. D. A. Carson states in part that traditionally, the purpose of the fourth gospel “revolved around the location of the Johannine community” and had to do with the “trajectories of developing Christianity” (Carson 1987). This would make sense given the fact that the Johannine community was focused on the teachings of Jesus, and thus the Gospel of John would fit nicely into that mold. However, Carson goes on to

There are several different theories and even to this day, there has yet to be one that is prevailing, Zeba Crook reports on the controversial debate, stating that “there is no airtight proof that Mark was composed in Syria or the Galilee” and “that there is no airtight proof against the Roman provenance” (2005). However, Crook does appreciate the fact that even though the setting in which the Gospel of Mark was written, that the purpose was to reach out to those who were under Roman rule who could potentially face persecution if they decided to follow Jesus. This follows the idea that the reason for the Messianic Secret was to protect Jesus and his followers. Nevertheless, every hypothesis is subject to criticism, which is what Ralph P. Martin discusses in his paper over the theology of Mark. Martin challenges the Messianic Secret by deeming it “unhistorical” (Martin 1978). Martin’s reasoning for deeming the Messianic Secret unhistorical centralizes around the fact that Jesus was oppressed. This can easily be accepted because in context and with consideration of the historic events that were actually happening during Jesus’ ministry, oppression is a highly viable