The fourth gospel is often described as a hellenistic gospel. The question in the synoptic gospels concerns the extent to which the divine reality broke into history in jesus coming, and the answers are given in terms of the closeness of the new age. Consideration of the hellenistic background for the word logos in johns gospel. The gospel of john and the ancient greek philosophy. This term echoes usages of the old testament word of god. The gospel of john nt323 is an applicationbased study of johns gospel. Other references to john the baptist in this gospel emphasize the differences between them and johns subordinate role. The text of the gospel is lost with only fragments of it surviving as brief quotations by the early church fathers and in apocryphal writings. Looking at how the ideas of this unique gospel coincide with those of the multicultural world in which the author would have lived is also critical when imagining. The church traditionally depicted john as an eagle soaring above the other evangelists depicted as a man, an ox, and a lion. It is also one of the most beautifully poetic sections in the bible. How did grecoroman culture influence the gospel of john.
The texts dualistic vision of humanity light and darknesstruth and falsity, its cosmological speculation about truth and light, and its appeal to the figure of the word, have antecedents in greek philosophical and religious thought. John is the last gospel and, in many ways, different from the synoptic gospels. This studiorecorded audio course invites listeners to put aside familiar understandings of the gospel of john and to replace them with a wellresearched social, cultural and historical perspective faithful to the original gospel text. The jewish gospel of john audio course is a recording of dr. The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, can be ascribed to a common author. New birth in the gospel of john alastairs adversaria. Mark says, jesus came into galilee after the death of john, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god. True tf readers of the johannine letters, with their exhortations to express love interspersed with scorching denunciations of former fellow christians, may come away with mixed feelings. Combined with a concern with the possible sources used by the evangelist, the view that the gospel of john is a late hellenistic document was given definitive expression by r. Update, per request short answer no, not a mistake. The full article is available by clicking the link below. For this study of the gospel of john, we will engage in inductive bible study, which means we.
It encourages the student to read the gospel as an ancient text written to a group of jewish christians in the diaspora. The gospel of john was written towards the end of the first century. Within john s gospel, the evangelist focuses on human interest and deep character development of just a few individuals. This is the first detailed study of johannine mysticism against a palestinian jewish background has been previously undertaken. The philonic influence has to be understood in its context with the whole hellenistic movement to which the thought of the gospel is related. The logos was clearly a greek theme, and older commentators saw this as the beginning of their reflection that the gospel had a hellenistic theme about it. At the beginning of the christian era, alexandria, egypt an important center of the jewish dispersion had become the chief center of hellenistic thought. The gospel of john and the hellenization of jesus james still. The gospel begins with its profound reflection on the logos. While most scholars no longer hold that the same author wrote the gospel of john and three johannine epistles, their thematic and stylistic similarities suggest that the texts were written by persons from the same community.
From internal evidence the gospel was written by a beloved disciple whose name is unknown. The gospels presentation of the life of jesus is distinctive, the theological perspective is remarkable, and the significance of christ is couched in a literary form that combines simplicity of expression with consummate literary artistry. Mysticism in the gospel of john the library of new testament studies. The gospel according to john has long been a favorite of christian readers of scripture. In john we find the culmination of greek philosophy that has created the jesus that we are the most familiar with today. John, from the very beginning, presents jesus in terms of. Gospel according to saint john, fourth book of the new testament.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Papias mentions john the son of zebedee, the disciple, as well as another john, the presbyter, who might have been at ephesus. It is an oversimplification, but not much of one, to say that christianity had two founders. Historical context for lukejohn by unknown the core. Professor barrett begins by looking at the views of westcott, dodd, hoskyns, bultmann and van unnik on the question of whether john should be regarded as basically greek or jewish.
Lewis, aquinas, or a john chrysostom no longer exists in a dominant form anywhere. But john, the last of all, seeing that what was corporeal was set forth in the gospels, on the entreaty of his intimate friends, and inspired by the spirit, composed a spiritual gospel. The gospel of john, the three johannine epistles, and the book of revelation, exhibit marked similarities, although more so between the gospel and the epistles especially the gospel and 1 john than between those and revelation. Journey for the study of the new testament supplement series 158 mysticism in the gospel of john 9781850758655 by jey j. The gospel opens with a prologue in which jesus is identified with the word see logos. Was the inclusion of the hellenistic gospel of john and. It argues that jesus is light in gjohn is a complex metaphor which is deeply rooted in the old testament metaphor the. John begins his gospel with the same phrase that begins the book of genesis. That is to say, it is written in a greek environment, and is designed to appeal to men saturated in greek culture by the employment of greek concepts and imagery. In johns writings this preposition is used to construct the duality between god and the world, truth and falsehood, righteousness and sin. Long answer lets start with paul, aka, saul of tarsus. Hellenism, hellenists encyclopedia of the bible bible. Introduction it would seem that the subject, eschatology in johns gospel, is so straightforward as to allow us to get on immediately with the study. The background the value of the fourth gospel rests ultimately in its recognition by christians from the earliest time as a prophetic revelation, an inspired account of jesus acts and teachings.
The prologue of john and hellenistic jewish speculation jstor. A new reading of the fourth gospel oxford uk and new york usa. No new testament writing owes a direct debt to philo, but the gospel of john viii, the pauline letters, and the letter to the hebrews reflect to some extent philos philosophical terminology and milieu. The gospel of john is the gospel of the restoration of the self in relationship to purified friendship. The other books have accounts of jesus associating with publicans and sinners. The gospel of john, friendship, and the homoerotic. In the fourth gospel, the eschatological belief is little more than a survival. The hellenistic mysticism of the fourth gospel jstor. Schnackenburg, the gospel according to john 3 vols herders theological com mentary on the new testament. Scholars have sometimes argued that the gospel according to st. Many argue that the words, ideas, and writing styles of the prologue show that it was composed at a later date than the remainder of john. But it may be clarified and further defined by some att.
It refers to the current discussion on the relationship between the johns gospel and ancient greek philosophy and intends to develop a new model for the interpretation of johns gospel. The gospel of john is the fourth of the canonical gospels. Even in hebrews, the most hellenistic of new testament books, nash sees few connections to the pagans. This book investigates whether there was a mystical practice in firstcentury palestine and whether john can be better understood in the light of such practice, if there was any. Johns gospel shows the marks of a master literary craftsman. Since understanding the context of this book is key to truly appreciating it, this week i decided to devote my blog to the grecoroman influences on john. The gospel according to john introduction previous gospel of john study next these are recorded so that you may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god, and that believing this you may have life through his name. Hellenism, hellenists, hellenism, imitation of the greeks. The gospel of john holds such a fascination for christians all over the. Peder borgenazs bread from heavenaflmidrashic developments. Irenaeus calls john the beloved disciple who wrote the gospel in ephesus. This was about seventy years after the death of jesus. The gospel of john and the hellenization of jesus secular web. List of books and articles about gospel of john online.
The authorship of the johannine worksthe gospel of john, epistles of john, and the book of revelationhas been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century ad. The disciple whom jesus loved illustrates a oneonone mentoring relationship that may have served as a model for the rest of his life. Mysticism in the gospel of john the library of new testament studies kanagaraj, jey on. What was the nature of that hellenistic religion which laid its. The gospel of john and judaism the gospel coalition. Tf in johns gospel, mary magdalene is the first person to see the risen jesus. The socalled monarchian prologue to the fourth gospel, which was probably written about the year 200 or a little later, says concerning the date of the appearance of the gospel. Gospel of john gjohn utilizing conceptual metaphor theory. A portrait of jesus world hellenistic culture from. Many people have called the gospel of john, the mystical gospel. Introduction authorship and dating of the fourth gospel. Upon the jews return from exile in babylon, they endeavored to protect their national identity by following the law closely. The hellenistic jewish philosopher philo merged these two themes when he described the logos as gods creator of and mediator with the.
The prologue of john and hellenistic jewish speculation thomas h. This account of jesus life is clearly set off from the other three gospels see synoptic gospels, although it is probable that john knew and used both mark and luke as sources. A fullyformed hellenized jesus has emerged to become an equal with god. It would have been virtually impossible for paul to have escaped his upbringing without being impacted by hellenistic philosophy, yet he utilized hellenistic philosophical constructs as part of a framework from which to present the gospel to his hellenistic audience in a culturally relevant and contextualized way.
We see bits and pieces of this in passages such as the prologue of the 4th gospel where this concept of. It traditionally appears fourth, after the synoptic gospels of matthew, mark, and luke. So far, a variety of comparative methods have been used that separate the fourth gospel from its hellenistic background and fail to properly consider its authors. The other three accounts only mention one foray into jerusalem, and that was the last passover when jesus was killed. John was sent just as jesus was sent in divine mission. You will find no direct teaching of the kingdom of god. Johns account, on the other hand, is just the opposite. In the other three accounts, jesus ministry is almost restricted to galilee. What is hellenism, and how did it influence the early church. It is proposed that hellenistic language and culture do. His influence on later judaism has been almost nonexistent, however he had much more influence on early christianity.
Since the end of the first century, the beloved disciple has been commonly identified with john the evangelist. As with the other gospels, no mss which contain johns gospel 1 affirm authorship by anyone other than john. Loyola university of chicago chicago, il 60626 over the centuries the prologue of the gospel of john has fascinated not only exegetes and theologians but also writers and artists of all sorts. Scholars have debated the authorship of johannine literature since at least the third century, but especially since the enlightenment. The following is an excerpt from christian research journal article da242 by ronald nash. Christianity has become a religion of redemption in the hellenistic sense and is concerned wholly with the miraculous change whereby we pass even now from life to death. Alexander the great, who was taught by aristotle, devoted his life to conquering the world for the spread of gr. There may have been a single author for the gospel and the three epistles. Paul and hellenistic philosophy everything is theological.
Certainly there is general agreement about what document is in view under the title johns gospel. Most scholars therefore treat the five as a single corpus of johannine literature, albeit not from the same author. The prologue of john and hellenistic jewish speculation. Mysticism in the gospel of john the library of new.
Part of that fascination is the way in which the prologue seems to offer the. The prologue of the gospel of john is one of the most hotly debated sections of scripture. The study reflects on the purpose of the book, which is to inspire and build faith that jesus is the christ, the son of god, and to demonstrate that committing to this faith will bring. And what was the language and culture of the hellenistic world. Oxford university press, 2017, engbergpedersen argues in favor of using a stoic lens, as he puts it, to construct a philosophical narrative approach to interpreting what he refers to as the narrative argument of the gospel according to john. Johns is the only one of the four not considered among the synoptic gospels i. The meaning of logos in the prologue of johns gospel. Gospel according to john, fourth of the four new testament narratives recounting the life and death of jesus christ. He thinks that the hellenistic and gnostic connections of the gospel should not be.