The Gospel According to John
The Gospel of John, also known as the "Fourth Gospel," is a fascinating document with a very unique character. Although we can't be sure, it doesn't seem that Jn used Mk as a source, even though in some passages the writers of Jn and Mk may have drawn upon similar traditions. It doesn't appear that Jn knew of the Q document, either. Various sources of Jn's gospel have been proposed, such as a "sings source," a "discourses source," and a "passion source" (see Ehrman, 152-3), but without other documents that have made use of the same sources, its difficult to tell what kinds of written documents Jn may have used.
Jn's gospel differs from the Synoptics in a number of ways. In Jn, we find no:
- parables.
- children
- exorcisms
- messianic secret
- Garden of Gethsemane
- tearing of the temple curtain
- apocalyptic discourse.
There are other differences, as well:
- The attack on the temple occurs at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, rather than at the end.
- Rather than statements about the kingdom of God, we get "I am" statements, e.g. 6.48; 10.7; 11.25. In the Synoptics, Jesus' preaching generally concerns, in one way or another, the kingdom of God. In Jn (especially the first half), Jesus' preaching is generally about himself. Jesus is much more definitively portrayed as the object of worship.
- Eternal life for believers is heavily emphasized.
- Miracles are referred to as "signs."
- The "disciple whom Jesus loved," absent from the Synoptics, is an important figure in Jn.
Jn has been ascribed to John the Son of Zebedee, John Mark, and the Beloved Disciple, but we can't say with certainty who wrote it. It was probably written near the end of the first century, ca 80-90 CE.
Jn's gospel and the Johannine Epistles (1, 2, and 3 Jn) comprise a body of works that tradition has associated with John, the Son of Zebedee. It's unlikely that these works were all produced by the same writer. Rather, they seem to have been produced by a "Johannine school," a community of faith responsible for the particular emphases of the Johannine literature. The Revelation to John also exhibits some of the characteristics of the Johannine school, but its particular theological emphases set it apart from these other works in some significant ways.
Sources:
Brown, Raymond.
An Introduction to the New Testament.
New York: Doubleday, 1997.
Ehrman, Bart D.
The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings,
2nd ed.
New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.
