Gospel of John

The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. is considered to be one of the most traumatic events in Jewish history, having an impact on Jewish groups across the entire spectrum of Second Temple Judaism. Yet scholarly opinions are divided as to whether 70 constituted a trauma for communities of Jewish Christ-believers. Some suggest that the event had relatively little impact on nascent Christian communities, while others view the event as both traumatic and formative in the development of Christianity. Scholars on both sides of this debate use the language and concept of trauma to describe the impact of 70 in the development of Christianity. Missing from the discussion, however, is a consideration of what exactly constitutes a trauma. On the basis of Jeffrey Alexander’s theories about communal trauma, this paper will argue that the destruction was experienced as a trauma by at least some Jewish followers of Christ. This response was, however, negated or denied by church leaders who argued that the event had been foretold and indeed was the deserved punish- ment for the Jewish role in Jesus’ crucifixion, and therefore should not be traumatic for Christ-believers, even those of Jewish origin.

The author of the Gospel of John attempts to align the beginning of the Gospel (John 1:1-2:11) with the Genesis creation story (primarily Genesis 1, but with a connection drawn between John 2:1-11 and the story of Adam and Eve) in order to interpret the beginning of the Gospel as the story of (a) the new creation and (b) more specifically, the creation of the church. The alignment proceeds chronologically, in such a way that the seven days of creation are used to structure the sections and events of this section of John. On each "day" of the new creation, accordingly, an "essential element" of the church is evoked and thus brought into being. The new creation concludes with the alignment of the wedding at Cana with the story of Adam and Eve, presenting this story as the new Eve leading the new Adam to redemption through her (i.e., Mary's) perfect obedience.

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

Die Studie untersucht die Bedeutung von Wein und Blut im Johannesevangelium und deren relationales Verhältnis. Sie hinterfragt dabei die bisherigen Forschungspositionen. Neuere Ergebnisse der ritual- und sozialgeschichtlichen Forschung zur frühchristlichen Mahlpraxis verändern die Perspektive auf traditionell als "Abendmahlstexte" wahrgenommene Perikopen. Zugleich sind damit aber auch zentrale Fragen der Theologie des Johannesevangeliums mit im Blick. Auch hier bietet die Studie neue Impulse. Der Text des Johannesevangeliums war in seiner Rezeption ritualprägend und eben nicht umgekehrt durch ein angenommenes Eucharistieritual vorgeprägt. Die Metaphorik des Essens und Trinkens für die Annahme von Lehre, die bisher von der "eucharistischen" Diskussion verdeckt war, erlaubt einen neuen Blick auf die ritualgeschichtliche Entwicklung und Theologie des Abendmahls.

This study examines the text transmission of the figure of Martha of Bethany throughout the Fourth Gospel in over one hundred of our oldest extant Greek and Vetus Latina witnesses. The starting point for this study is instability around Martha in our most ancient witness of John 11–12, Papyrus 66. By looking at P66’s idiosyncrasies and then comparing them to the Fourth Gospel's greater manuscript transmission, I hope to demonstrate that Martha's presence shows significant textual instability throughout the Lazarus episode, and thus that this Lukan figure may not have been present in a predecessor text form of the Fourth Gospel that circulated in the second century. In order to gain the greatest amount of data on the Fourth Gospel's text transmission, I rely on several sources. Occasionally these sources conflict in their rendering of a variant; I have tried to make note of these discrepancies and look at photographs of witnesses whenever possible. Although this study is primarily focused on Greek and Vetus Latina witnesses, an occasional noteworthy variant (e.g., from a Syriac or Vulgate witness) may be mentioned when relevant to the subject at hand. The work of many established redaction critics, who have already hypothesized that Martha was not present in an earlier form of this Gospel story, will also be addressed.

Read the entire paper here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/was-martha-of-bethany-added-to-the-fourth-gospel-in-the-second-century/6CBD2C9576A583DD02987FE836C427B7

Please feel free to copy, and to distribute as it might meet the purpose of helping yourself and others get to understand the purpose, person, and authority of Jesus' life and His teaching according to the Gospel of John.
Anyone who is seeking helpful interaction while or after completing these studies may feel free to contact me by email - brianwagner@vbc.edu

The question of who truly believes according to John's Gospel can be unclear, complicated by characters who display contradictory evidence, both portrayed positively yet also reflecting imperfections. A solution to the confusion lies in attending to the overt narration of the Gospel, which creates a distinction between events within the story and the presentation to the reader. Positive expressions of faith within the story can be identified as 'acceptable belief', involving commitment to Jesus but with a limited understanding of his identity and mission. Only after the cross is 'genuine belief', (which includes greater understanding), possible.

In his objective study of the texts, Maurice Bucaille clears' away many preconceived ideas about the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Quran. He tries, in this collection of Writings, to separate what belongs to Revelation from what is the product of error or human interpretation.

His study sheds new light on the Holy Scriptures. At the end of a gripping account, he places the Believer before a point of cardinal importance: the continuity of a Revelation emanating from the same God, with modes of expression that differ in the course of time. It leads us to meditate upon those factors which, in our day, should spiritually unite rather than divide-Jews, Christians and Muslims.

As a surgeon, Maurice Bucaille has often been in a situation where he was able to examine not only people's bodies, but their souls. This is how he was struck by the existence of Muslim piety and by aspects of Islam which remain unknown to the vast majority of non-Muslims. In his search for explanations which are otherwise difficult to obtain, he learnt Arabic and studied the Quran. In it, he was surprised to find statements on natural phenomena whose meaning can only be understood through modern scientific knowledge.

He then turned to the question of the authenticity of the writings that constitute the Holy Scriptures of the monotheistic religions. Finally, in the case of the Bible, he proceeded to a confrontation between these writings and scientific data.

The results of his research into the Judeo-Christian Revelation and the Quran are set out in this book.

An introduction to conflations in the texts of New Testament documents - focusing upon, and challenging, Hort's proposals that conflations in Byzantine MSS' texts imply that the Byzantine Text is derivative of the Alexandrian and Western text-types.

In his Commentary on John, St. Cyril of Alexandria follows the divine Apostle in understanding Christ’s body – or more specifically, His assumed human nature – as the true Temple, the fulfillment of the Mosaic Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temple, which were but shadows and types. For Cyril, the Temple of Christ’s body becomes the central image for understanding not only His incarnation, but the meaning of worship in spirit and truth and the redemption and deification of fallen humanity. Though writing before the Nestorian controversy, Cyril nonetheless stresses that while Christ’s Temple is a real human body and soul, it is not a separate person and in no way divides Him. Jesus sanctifies His Temple through the Holy Spirit in order to sanctify all of human nature –and indeed all of creation – and through this sanctification He affords created nature the potential to become a temple of the Holy Spirit and to participate in God Himself. When the veil of the Temple was torn asunder, worship according to the Law ended and a new era of spiritual worship was inaugurated, which is carried out in the “temple” of each believer. Yet spiritual worship is also ecclesial and sacramental, being figuratively connected with the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s side on the Cross and marked the inauguration of the Christian Sacraments. For by partaking of the body of the Son of God Himself in the Holy Eucharist and receiving the Holy Spirit in Baptism, the faithful become temples of God, the very places where true worship is offered, and are thereby united to God and to one another.

The study of Jesus in the Qur'an might profitably begin with the fact that there he is called not the expected Arabic Yasu' but rather the unaccountable 'Isa. From there the reader of the Qur'an may wonder to what extent the writer of the materials on Jesus was familiar with the canonical Gospel accounts that had circulated widely and extensively in the Middle East during the six centuries preceding the emergence of Islam. The Qur'anic portrait of Jesus is full of mysteries, lacunae, and intriguing questions.

This is the revised final draft of one of the two lead papers presented at the SNTS pre-conference on The Johannine Question. It covers the last half-century of Johannine paradigms, critiques Pierson Parker's 21 objections to the son of Zebedee having ANYTHING to do with the Johannine tradition, and introduces three aspects of overlooked evidence on the subject.

I believe it was published in 2018:

Paul N. Anderson, “The Son of Zebedee and the Fourth Gospel: Some Clues on John’s Authorship and the State of the Johannine Question.” El Evangelio de Juan. Origen, Contenido y Perspectivas--The Gospel of John. Origin and Perspectives, eds. B. Estrada and L. G. Sarasa, Colección Teología Hoy 80 (Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá 2018).

A defense of the genuineness of John 7:53-8:11, with an explanation of the mechanism that elicited its early loss, a description of many of the witnesses for inclusion and non-inclusion of the passage, and a special chapter on the Old Latin chapter-summaries.

Convocation Address at Bethel University, August 29, 2016 about recent troubles in Minnesota, particularly the shooting of Philando Castille, and our responsibility as followers of the Gospel. There is an audio link also available. After you click the link, it's the first one in the queue; fast-forward to 15:00:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/2016-2017-chapel-college-arts/id1148681753?mt=10

Abstract: The frequent occurrence of the conjunction οὖν is a distinctive feature of the Gospel of John (GJ).  Various explanations have been offered but none adequately account for the frequency and perplexing inconsistency in its usage.  This paper will argue that linguistically the distinctive occurrence of οὖν in the GJ is not really a matter best explained by the abstract/formal rules of Greek grammar, nor by the exigencies of narrative discourse structure (whether oral dramatic performance or written text), but rather it is simply a case of linguistic oral “residue”/ “traces” of an oral speech pattern characteristic of conversational narrative discourse/“oral performance” language embedded in the written text of the GJ.

How do the Greco-Roman views of ethnicity inform our reading of the Spirit in the Fourth Gospel? This study not only reviews the role of ethnicity and race in the ancient world; it also proposes a bold new understanding of Johannine pneumatology. From an ethnocritical perspective, this study argues that the Spirit was articulated for an ethnically diverse Johannine community that was dealing with the issues of race relations. The Spirit is the divine breath of God that commissions Jesus for the redemption of all ethnicities. The Spirit is involved in the maternal birth of all ethnic members who are in the family of God. The Spirit draws all people despite their ethnic lineage and heritage. And the Spirit is actively involved as an advocate for the minoritized community undergoing synagogue violence. Will the members of the Johannine community still hold onto ethnic ideologies of dehumanization that were prevalent of their age? Can the Johannine community still have the Spirit and support ideologies of ethnic division and hate? This study seeks to answer these questions.

One of the distinctive features of the Fourth Gospel is the emphasis it places on the " name " (ὄνομα) of God. As the earliest Christian texts already exhibit a shift toward Jesus's name as the cultic or divine name, what might have motivated the Evangelist to this recovery of the divine name category? Joshua J. F. Coutts argues that the divine name acquired particular signicance through the Evangelist's reading of Isaiah, which, in combination with the polemical experience and pastoral needs of early Christians, formed the impetus for his interest in and emphasis on the divine name.

This paper examines several textual references to people, places, and customs of Early Roman Jerusalem in the Gospel of John in light of archaeology and literary sources for the same time period. A high degree verisimilitude is argued for and the likely source for this is seen to be eyewitness testimony (21:24).

Karen Jobes’s new volume in Kregel’s Through Old Testament Eyes series joins Andrew Le Peau’s Mark commentary (Kregel, 2017). Subtitled “A Background and Application Commentary,” the series is a basic commentary on the English text with a special emphasis on using the Old Testament to illuminate aspects a New Testament book.

Near the end of the book, Jobes observes “the Scripture of Israel are woven throughout the Gospel of John, though with a technique different from the other Gospels” (p. 319). Citing Richard Hays’s Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, John “simply and steadily presupposes the law of Moses and the words of Israel’s Scripture as the essential hermeneutical matrix for recognizing and understanding Jesus’s testimony” (p. 320). Jobes describes this as John’s “verbal artistry” (p. 24). She offers as an example Jesus changing the water to wine (John 2:1-11). As he tells this story, John has in mind the “symbolic value of wine in the Old Testament as a symbol of the messianic age and of blood” (p. 27). The six stone jars are an odd detail for most modern readers, but Jobes suggests an allusion to messianic imagery in 2 Baruch.

This paper examines Martin Luther's interpretation of love in the gospel of John. It is part of a series that explores the meaning of love in Luther for the Christian life. Here Luther speaks of some expressions f love that are not prominent in some of his other writings. For example, he writes on love and friendship, on love for Christ and love as the eschatological reality. His understanding of love in this text does not fit into the sharp opposition of eros and agape that Anders Nygren used to interpret Luther.

The article surveys recent scholarship on the use of creation imagery in the Gospel of John, with the aim of presenting rather exhaustive register of possible references. Both the obvious and the less clear-cut allusions to Gen 1–3 are discussed, the main focus being to accumulate and assess evidence (for or against) all the apparent references to creation imagery. Included in this examination are several unconvincing and even far-fetched proposals advanced by some modern scholars, in order to give the fullest possible picture of current discourse on these issues. After discussing the creation theme in the Prologue (1:1–18), the article explores the presence of creation imagery in the Book of Signs (1:19–12:50) and the Book of Glory (13:1–21:25)

This new commentary from Craig Keener replaces Andreas Köstenberger’s John commentary in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Ed. Clint Arnold, Zondervan, 2001). Unfortunately Köstenberger work contained “accidental plagiarism,” something Köstenberger himself has recognized. This led to the decision to remove Köstenberger’s commentaries from the Baker Exegetical New Testament Commentary (2004) and the ZIBBC.

The result of this is another Craig Keener commentary on John. His earlier commentary on the fourth Gospel (Hendrickson, 2003; now Baker Academic) was two volumes and 1242 pages of introduction and commentary, plus another 166 pages of bibliography and 225 pages of indices. The ZIBBC is much more concise at a mere 212 pages of introduction and commentary and 39 pages of endnotes and indices. As a result, this new commentary is a useful tool for laypeople and busy pastors who want to read the Gospel of John with added clarity.

This article presents a reading of Peter's assignment as sheperd in John 21 as a relecture of John 10:12 and 13:36-39: Peter is thus not appointed as representative of Jesus, the only Good Sheperd, but as a now faithful hireling. With this construction the Johannine community came to terms with its integration into the so-called Petrine church.