Gospel of John This essay will show contrasts in views on the Gospel of John regarding authorship,dates, and the relationship between John's Gospel and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some comparison of thought, concerning composition and life setting, will also be presented. The majority of the information that we have today, describing the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, is contained in the four Gospels. The Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke, are called the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of John differs in many key areas to the Synoptics,and I will address some differing lines of thought. The two primary texts I will be using for comparison will be taken from; 1. " An introduction to the New Testament" pages 362379 titled "The Gospel according to John" by Raymond .E. Brown. 2. "John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament" pages 118 titled "Introduction to the Gospel of John" by Andreas. J. Kostenberger. Authorship. Raymond E.Brown contends that John may not have been responsible for all, or parts of the Gospel of John that are available to us today. He begins by stating that in the last two centuries the "majority of scholars shifted towards the position that John was not authored by an eyewitness" He also wrote "Accordingly the present Gospel is thought to involve the work of two hands, an evangelist who composed the body of the Gospel,and a redactor who later made additions." Brown goes on to make a number of statements, some his own thoughts, and some quoting other scholars, which give more indications of his own personal opinion and approach to the matter of authorship. For example, "...a typ... ... middle of paper ... ...ld not be exaggerated." Conclusion: I find it difficult to decide in some of these matters which way I "lean" as the matters concerned are complex and often clouded by the mists of nearly two millenia. I take some comfort in Kostenbergers attitude " .......without undue dogmatism on all sides." Also with Brown I am inclined to agree, in the absence of irrefutable proof, that it is wise to take a median position. Bibliography: Brown, R.E. Introduction to the New Testament (Doubleday.N.Y. 1996) Hill, J.R. Bible Study Commentary, John. (Ark Publishing,London 1981) Kostenberger, A. J. John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. (Baker Bookhouse Co.2004) Knoch, A.E. Concordant Commentary on the New Testament. (Concordant publishing Concern.1968) Tasker, R.V.G. The Gospel according to St. John.(Tyndale Press. 1966)
Stanton, Graham. Gospel Truth?: New Light on Jesus and the Gospels. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995. Paperback.
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
Mark’s gospel and John’s gospel contain many differences from the beginning, but both end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The gospels of John and Mark represent Jesus as two different people. The disparity is that Mark represents Jesus as a servant while John portrays Jesus as a divine being. However, one must realize the two texts are meant to read by different audiences during different time periods. Each description presents a particular aspect of the life of Historical Jesus.
"The Gospel According to John." usccb.org. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
"It appears, that of all the apostle John was especially favoured with our Lord's regard and confidence, so as to be called the disciple whom Jesus loved" (Peoples Bible-John 1). Even though John loved his leader so much, he still ran away like the other disciples did when Jesus was arrested. John was still their when Jesus had his trial and was crucified. Jesus also in trusted John with the care of his mother. John was there with Jesus when he would perform all of his great miracles. On of the famous lines from John is "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Peoples Bible- John 6). John was the spiritual evangelist. John and his brother James were called the Sons of Thunder.
The New Testament is a collection of different spiritual literary works, which includes the Gospels, a history of early church, the epistles of Paul, other epistles and apocalypse. Without deeply thinking or researching of the chronological order of the Gospels, a reader should not have problem to observe that the Gospels begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and to notice that there are many common areas, including content and literary characteristics, among the first three Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Bromiley, Geoffrey William, Fredrich, Gerhard, Kittel, Gerhard. “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” Struttgart, Germany. W. Kohlhammer Verlag. 1995. Print.
Before making some discussions on the gospel we believed to be written by the disciple who loved by Jesus (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7) it is good to see the purpose of this gospel. The purpose of the gospel of John seems summarized in two verses “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, who are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31, NIV).
Edwards, James R. The Gospel According to Mark (Pillar New Testament Commentary Series). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001.
All four gospels present Jesus as both the Son of God and son of man. They all record His baptism, the feeding of the 5,000 from five loaves and two fishes, Mary's anointing of the Lord Jesus, His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. However, each writer does so in a slightly different way, recording additional details or emphasizing one aspect more than the others.
O’Day, Gail R. (1995). “The Gospel of John.” 491-865. In The New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Vol. 9. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
The genius of the Apostle John resides in his ability to penetrate to the theological
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The movie The Gospel of John (Seville, 2005) is a visual representation of the accounts of Jesus Christ life on earth. The big picture is that of God’s plan for a personal relationship with us. When God created humans, he put them into relationships, first with him and then with each other. The strength of the movie is how Jesus core values of truth, love and compassion are portrayed through his relationship with his disciples. Jesus fostered the relationships with his disciples, showing love through his teachings and interactions with societal outcast. He displayed his value system through the use of parables and commandments, and performing miracles.
The Gospel According to St. John was written during the first century AD in Asian Minor. The author of the book cannot be definitively proven according to the Zinderfan Pictorial Bible Dictionary but there is strong evidence that the author was John the apostle. The author had an intimate knowledge of Jewish traditions and the geography of Palestine. The gospel goes into many explanations of these things because its intended audience was gentiles. It is unlikely a gentile would have had the knowledge to give the background information that the author presents. The writer of the gospel identifies himself as the "disciple who Jesus loved." In the gospel most of the disciples were mentioned by name and so can be eliminated as the author of the gospel. Those not mentioned included Mathew, James the less, Simon the Zealot, James, and John.