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Towards the center of the spectrum, Raymond Brown is more cautious than Cullmann and Vawter but more lenient than Bultmann and his school, identifying several passages as containing sacramental allusions and rating them according to his assessment of their degree of certainty.
Most scholars on the stronger-sacramental end of the spectrum assess the sacraments as being of great importance to the evangelist. However, some scholars who find fewer sacramental references, such as Udo Schnelle , view the references that they find as highly important as well. Schnelle in particular views John's sacramentalism as a counter to Docetist anti-sacramentalism. On the other hand, though he agrees that there are anti-Docetic passages, James Dunn views the absence of a Eucharistic institution narrative as evidence for an anti-sacramentalism in John, meant to warn against a conception of eternal life as dependent on physical ritual.
In comparison to the synoptic gospels, the Fourth Gospel is markedly individualistic, in the sense that it places emphasis more on the individual's relation to Jesus than on the corporate nature of the Church. Moule , the individualistic tendencies of the Fourth Gospel could potentially give rise to a realized eschatology achieved on the level of the individual believer; this realized eschatology is not, however, to replace "orthodox", futurist eschatological expectations, but is to be "only [their] correlative.
Beyond this, the emphasis on the individual's relationship with Jesus in the Gospel has suggested its usefulness for contemplation on the life of Christ. John's account of the Baptist is different from that of the synoptic gospels. In this gospel, John is not called "the Baptist. In John's gospel, Jesus and his disciples go to Judea early in Jesus' ministry before John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed by Herod. He leads a ministry of baptism larger than John's own. The Jesus Seminar rated this account as black, containing no historically accurate information. In the first half of the 20th century, many scholars, primarily including Rudolph Bultmann , have forcefully argued that the Gospel of John has elements in common with Gnosticism.
Other scholars, e.
Raymond E. Brown have argued that the pre-existing Logos theme arises from the more ancient Jewish writings in the eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs , and was fully developed as a theme in Hellenistic Judaism by Philo Judaeus. Gnostics read John but interpreted it differently from the way non-Gnostics did. Raymond Brown contends that "The Johannine picture of a savior who came from an alien world above, who said that neither he nor those who accepted him were of this world, [46] and who promised to return to take them to a heavenly dwelling [47] could be fitted into the gnostic world picture even if God's love for the world in could not.
The Gospel of John is significantly different from the synoptic gospels , with major variations in material, theological emphasis, chronology, and literary style.
John lacks scenes from the Synoptics such as Jesus' baptism, [51] the calling of the Twelve, exorcisms, parables, and the Transfiguration. Conversely, it includes scenes not found in the Synoptics, including Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana, the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and multiple visits to Jerusalem.
In the fourth gospel, Jesus' mother Mary , while frequently mentioned, is never identified by name. For John, Jesus' town of origin is irrelevant, for he comes from beyond this world, from God the Father. While John makes no direct mention of Jesus' baptism, [51] [50] he does quote John the Baptist 's description of the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove , as happens at Jesus' baptism in the Synoptics.
Major synoptic speeches of Jesus are absent, including the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse , [55] and the exorcisms of demons are never mentioned as in the Synoptics. Thomas is given a personality beyond a mere name, described as " Doubting Thomas ". Jesus is identified with the Word " Logos " , and the Word is identified with theos "god" in Greek ; [58] no such identification is made in the Synoptics.
In the Synoptics, the chief theme is the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven the latter specifically in Matthew , while John's theme is Jesus as the source of eternal life and the Kingdom is only mentioned twice. In the Synoptics, the ministry of Jesus takes a single year, but in John it takes three, as evidenced by references to three Passovers. Events are not all in the same order: the date of the crucifixion is different, as is the time of Jesus' anointing in Bethany and the cleansing of the temple occurs in the beginning of Jesus' ministry rather than near its end.
In the Synoptics, quotations from Jesus are usually in the form of short, pithy sayings; in John, longer quotations are often given. Other scholars consider stories like the childbearing woman or the dying grain to be parables. According to the Synoptics, the arrest of Jesus was a reaction to the cleansing of the temple, while according to John it was triggered by the raising of Lazarus. Some, such as Nicodemus , even go so far as to be at least partially sympathetic to Jesus. This is believed to be a more accurate historical depiction of the Pharisees, who made debate one of the tenets of their system of belief.
The teachings of Jesus found in the synoptic gospels are very different from those recorded in John, and since the 19th century scholars have almost unanimously accepted that these Johannine discourses are less likely than the synoptic parables to be historical, and were likely written for theological purposes. The gospel has been depicted in live narrations and dramatized in productions, skits , plays , and Passion Plays , as well as in film. Parts of the gospel have been set to music. One such setting is Steve Warner 's power anthem "Come and See", written for the 20th anniversary of the Alliance for Catholic Education and including lyrical fragments taken from the Book of Signs.
Additionally, some composers have made settings of the Passion as portrayed in the gospel, most notably the one composed by Johann Sebastian Bach , although some verses are borrowed from Matthew. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Book of the New Testament. This article is about the book in the New Testament.
Not to be confused with Johannine epistles. Matthew Mark Luke John. Apostle Beloved disciple Evangelist Patmos Presbyter. Apocryphon Acts Signs Gospel. Further information: Authorship of the Johannine works. Further information: Christology. Main article: Logos Christianity.
Further information: Sacrament. Further information: John the Baptist.
Further information: Christian Gnosticism. Further information: Historicity of the Bible.
Iesus Deus. Cambrdige University Press, August 25, at pm. It is believed that Origen, an Alexandrian Christian scholar and theologian, wrote his Gospel of John commentary while in Alexandria at some point after A. He was educated.
He also notes that the sole exception occurs in the prologue, serving a narrative purpose, whereas the later aphorisms serve a "paraenetic function". Dodd — It holds that the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to future events, but instead to the ministry of Jesus and his lasting legacy. Pitts, eds. Brill, , —, esp. The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Summer Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits.
Reconceptualizing Johannine Theology and the Roots of Gnosticism.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Eardmans Publishing Co. Aune, David E. Westminster John Knox Press. Barrett, C. The Gospel According to St.
Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press. Bauckham, Richard Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. Blomberg, Craig The Historical Reliability of John's Gospel.
InterVarsity Press. Bourgel, Jonathan Journal of Theological Studies. Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John, Volume 1. The Gospels and Jesus. Oxford, Vorster, Willem S. Specalized topics. Infancy Narratives. Freed, Edwin D.