The Gospel according to John is the fourth gospel document in the sequence of the canon of the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written down. Like the other three synoptic gospels, it contains an account of some of the actions and sayings of Jesus, but is quite different from them in ethos and theology.

The Church Fathers believed only The Gospel of John and The Gospel of Matthew to be written by apostles of Jesus. While the "beloved disciple," who is traditionally identified with John the Apostle, had traditionally been regarded as the author, this is now disputed by scholars of the "Higher Criticism" based on historical context and close textual analysis.

Authorship, date, and place

Main article: Authorship of the Johannine works

Though most scholars agree in placing the gospel of John somewhere between AD 65 and 85, some place it later, in the first or early second century. The text itself states only that the Gospel was written by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to as the Beloved Disciple, traditionally identified with John the Apostle, believed to have lived at the end of his life at Ephesus. The dating is important since John is agreed to be the last of the canonical Gospels to have been written down and thus marks the end-date of their composition.

Externally: In 125 A.D., the early Christian writer Papias named John the Apostle as the author of the Gospel of John. Internally: John 21:24 explicitly states that it is the disciple whom Jesus loved (the beloved disciple) who wrote this. Westcott cites this and much more, also quoting John. 1:14 and 14:35. (Westcott, B. “The Gospel According to St. John.” Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980. pp. ix-lxvii, li-ff.) However, scholarly research starting in the 19th century has questioned the apostle John's authorship, arguing that the work was written decades after the events it describes. Some attack John’s authorship based on differences of Greek style within the Gospel: breaks and inconsistencies in sequence, repetitions in the discourse, as well as passages that clearly do not belong to their context. Most critical scholars are of the opinion that John was composed in stages (probably two or three), beginning at an unknown time (50-70?) and culminating in a final text around 95-100. This date is assumed in large part because John 21, the so-called "appendix" to John, is largely concerned with explaining the death of the "beloved disciple," probably the leader of the Johannine community that produced the text. If this leader had been a follower of Jesus, or a disciple of one of Jesus' followers, then a death around 90-100 is reasonable. This claim is, of course, rejected by conservative commentators. Conservative commentators note that the author was an eye-witness to Christ, privy to information only an eye-witness could have had (John 13:23ff, 18:10, 18:15, 19:26-27, 19:34, 20:8, 20:24-29). They suggest that perhaps an introduction (John 1:1-18) and a conclusion (John 21) could have been added as an afterthought, kind of like how one might write a thesis.

Conservative scholars state that taking the canons of literature in the first century Greek, looking at external evidences (that there is extensive use of John by Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Papias, Polycarp, Irenaeus, and Ignatius (the early church) (cf. Green-Armytage, A. H. N. John Who Saw, pp. 59-80)), and considering internal evidences (such as lack of the mention of the destruction of the temple and mention of the “Sheep Gate,” prior to the destruction of Jerusalem), there is sufficient evidence and general consensus that this Gospel was composed before 100 AD and as early as 50-70AD. Barrett (cf. Barrett, C. K. The Gospel According to St. John., p.108-109) suggests an earliest date of 90AD, based on familiarity with Mark’s gospel, and the late date of a synagogue expulsion of Christians (which is a theme in John). Morris (cf. Morris, L. The Gospel According to John p.59) suggests 70AD, given Qumran parallels and John’s turn of phrases (usage of “his disciples” vs. “the disciples”). The author probably knew about the Synoptic tradition, since much of his material is independent of it, providing another perspective on Christ. Paul used this material extensively in his epistles, which also favors an earlier date, perhaps the early or mid 50s; J.A.T. Robinson (cf. Robinson, J. A. T. Redating the Gospels, pp. 284, 307) agrees with this, proposing an initial edition by 50-55AD and then a final edition by 65AD.

Like the other gospels, John was certainly based on previous texts now lost. The contemporary scholar of the Johannine community, Raymond E. Brown, identifies three layers of text in the Fourth Gospel (a situation that is paralleled by the synoptic gospels): 1) an initial version Brown considers based on personal

A fragmentary scrap of papyrus discovered in Egypt in 1920, now at the John Rylands Library, Manchester, accession number P52 (see link below), bears parts of John on one side and on the other. If it has been correctly dated to the first half of the second century (by C. F. Roberts), it ranks as the earliest known fragment of the New Testament in any language. Fuller details are at the entry on the Rylands Library Papyrus P52.

Skepticism about the date (not about the fragment's authenticity) is based on two issues. First, no other scrap of Greek has ever been so narrowly dated based on the handwriting alone, without the support of textual evidence. Second, this fragment is not from a scroll but from a codex: a bound book not a roll. If it dates to the first half of the second century, this fragment would be an uncharacteristically early example of a codex, the form that superseded the scroll. Since this fragment is small—about nine by five centimeters— it is uncertain whether it comes from a full copy of the John that we know. Nevertheless, while some experts in paleography have objected to the dating, it is agreed that this piece of papyrus is the earliest text for any portion of the New Testament. Its closest rival in date is the Egerton Gospel, a mid-second-century fragment of a codex that records a gospel not identical to any of the canonical four, but which has closer parallels to John than with the synoptic gospels. Thus the Egerton Gospel may represent a less-developed example of the same tradition (though of a slightly later date).

Brent Nongbri writes in the conclusion to the essay "The Use and Abuse of P52: Papyrological Pitfalls in the Dating of the Fourth Gospel" (Harvard Theological Review 98 , page 48):

"What emerges from this survey is nothing surprising to papyrologists: paleography is not the most effective method for dating texts, particularly those written in a literary hand. Roberts himself noted this point in his edition of P52. The real problem is the way scholars of the New Testament have used and abused papyrological evidence. I have not radically revised Roberts's work. I have not provided any third-century documentary papyri that are absolute "dead ringers" for the handwriting of P52, and even had I done so, that would not force us to date P52 at some exact point in the third century. Paleographic evidence does not work that way. What I have done is to show that any serious consideration of the window of possible dates for P52 must include dates in the later second and early third centuries. Thus, P52 cannot be used as evidence to silence other debates about the existence (or non-existence) of the Gospel of John in the first half of the second century. Only a papyrus containing an explicit date or one found in a clear archaeological stratigraphic context could do the work scholars want P52 to do. As it stands now, the papyrological evidence should take a second place to other forms of evidence in addressing debates about the dating of the Fourth Gospel."

There are other theories of authorship. One of the most dramatic is the claim by Ramon K. Jusino that John was written by Mary Magdalene. , 1998, available on-line.

The Austrian philosopher, Goethean scholar and founder of anthroposophy Rudolph Steiner argues that John, the author of the fourth gospel, and the ressurected Lazurus are one and the same person. See Rudolph Steiner's book 'The Gospel of John'.

Place. The Gospel has no clues as to the exact location, so it is unknown. Leon Morris (Morris, L. The Gospel According to John p.60) cites three possibilities: Ephesus (as per Irenaeus), Alexandria, or Antioch.

Sources

A hypothesis elaborated by the noted German theologian and biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann in Das Evangelium des Johannes, 1941 (translated as The Gospel of John: A Commentary, 1971), suggested that the author of John depended in part on an oral miracles tradition or a manuscript of Christ's miracles that was independent of the synoptic gospels, whose authors did not use it. This has been labelled a "Signs Gospel" and alleged to have been circulating before AD 70: evidently it is lost. Even readers who doubt that such a document can be precisely identified have noticed the remnants of a numbering associated with some of the miracles that appear in the canonical Gospel of John. Textual critics have noted that, of the miracles that are mentioned only by John, all of them occur in the presence of John ; that these signs are unusually dramatic; and that these "signs" (semeia is uniquely John's expression) are accomplished in order to call forth faith. These miracles are different, not only from the rest of the "signs" in John, but also from all of the miracles in thesynoptic gospels, which, according to this interpretation, occur as a result of faith.

These characteristics may be independently assessed by a reader who returns to the text. One conclusion is that John was reinterpreting an early Hellenistic tradition of Jesus as a wonder-worker, a "magician" that would fit within the Hellenistic world-view. These ideas were so hotly denied that heresy proceedings were instituted against Bultmann and his writings. (See more detailed discussions linked below.)

Further arguments that Jesus was also known as a "Divine Man, Wonder-worker (One who is favored by the Gods), or even a Sorcerer" in the late 3rd and 4th centuries have also been given as an explanation of artistic representations of Jesus with a magic wand. Since these representations exist only in the Western part of the Roman

Handling of source material

It is notable that the Gospel's opening prologue in John consciously echoes the opening motif of Genesis (Hebrew Bible)., "In the beginning". Beyond this, there has been much debate over the centuries on the theological background of the prologue: is it a formula of Hellenistic rhetoric, traditional Jewish wisdom, or some type of Qumran-like Dead Sea scrolls metaphysic?

By the beginning of the 21st century, the pendulum of scholarly opinion has swung back to a traditional Jewish background. While Genesis focuses on God's creation, John focuses on the Word (or Logos in the Greek) and the significance of the Word coming into the already created world.

The Johannine gospel identifies the Logos with Jesus. Compare this with the Second Adam as described by Paul in I Corinthians where he states that the First Adam (of Genesis) was a body who became "a living being", while the Second Adam (Jesus) is "a lifegiving spirit." Perhaps with Paul's previously distributed epistle in mind, John aims not only to show Jesus as the Word of God Incarnate, as many believe, but also to confound "the Jews" by superseding the incipit of their earliest historical book!

Structure

After the prologue (1:1-5), the narrative of this gospel begins with verse 6, and consists of two parts. The first part, called "the Book of Signs" (1:6-ch. 12) contains the story of Jesus' public ministry from the time of his baptismal initiation by John the Baptist to its close. In this first part, John chooses seven of Jesus's miracles, always calling them "signs." The second part, called "the Book of Glory" (ch. 13-21) presents Jesus in the retirement of private life and in his dialog with his immediate followers (13-17), and gives an account of his sufferings and crucifixion and of his appearances to the disciples after his resurrection (18-20). Chapter the "appendix" recounting the death of the "beloved disciple," follows.

The Gospel of John is easily distinguished from the three Synoptic Gospels, which share a more considerable amount of text and describe much more of Jesus' life. By contrast, the specific peculiarities of John are notable, especially in their effect on modern Christianity.

John gives far more focus in his work to the mystical relation of the Son to the Father. As a Gospel writer, many believe he essentially developed the concept of the Trinity while the Synoptic Gospels had focused less directly on Jesus as the Son of God. John includes far more direct claims of Jesus being the only Son of God in favour of Jesus as the Son of Man. The gospel also focuses on the relation of the Redeemer to believers, the announcement of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter (Greek Paraclete), and the prominence of love as an element in the Christian character.

Popular Passages in the Gospel

John is one of the most widely known passages in the New Testament: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. According to the professional men's and Bible distribution society Gideons International, John 3:16 has been translated into more than 1,100 languages.

Another popular passage from John is . "Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Jesus had said this to a Samaritan woman whom he met at a well, and he told her about the living water that he offered. This saying was based partially on .

Differences from the Synoptic Gospels

John is significantly different from the three preceding Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in man different ways. Some of the differences are:

• The Kingdom of God is only mentioned twice in John. In contrast, the other gospels repeatedly use the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven as important concepts.
• The Gospel of John does not contain any parables, although metaphoric stories, like John 15, are still found in the gospel.
• The saying "He who has ears, let him hear" is totally absent from John.
• The healings of demon-possessed people are never mentioned as in the Synoptics.
• The Synoptics contain a wealth of stories about Jesus's miracles and healings, but John does not have as much of those stories. John tends to elaborate more heavily on the stories than the Synoptics.
• Various speeches of Jesus are absent, including all of the Sermon on the Mount and the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples when he sent them out throughout the country to heal and preach (as in Matthew 10).
• Overall, the sayings of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels have many close parallels to sayings in the Gospel of Thomas. However, Jesus's sayings in the Gospel of John almost never closely parallel the sayings found in the Gospel of Thomas.

Characteristics of the Gospel of John

The Greek of this gospel is elegant, and its theology subtle and sophisticated, with many parallels in Hellenistic thought.

Some of the passages in this book are alleged to be anti-Semitic, mainly due to the emphasis placed on the responsibility of the Jews (especially the Jewish leaders in Judea) for the Crucifixion. The Gospel uses the term "the Jews" to categorize some of Jesus' detractors. Most likely the author was Jewish himself, speaking to a largely Jewish community, and therefore we must be careful applying a 21st century language lens on a 1st century expression. Nonetheless, these passages were appropriated and used in negative ways by some Christian groups in certain periods of history to persecute Jewish people, being quoted to justify odium theologicum. Other critics read this shift of emphasis to the Jewish public enemies of the Roman imperium and away from the Roman authorities, who actually carried out the execution, as a technique of rendering a developing Christianity more palatable in official circles. It is because of this that some politically-correct English translations (like the controversial Today's New International Version) remove the term "Jews" and replace them with non-offensive terms so as to remove alleged anti-Semitism. Critics of these translations state that when John uses "Jews," he is not referring to all Jews (as John, Jesus and his disciples were all Jews) but to the Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrin) in Judea who openly oppose Jesus. These same critics argued that those people who believe that the Gospel of John is "anti-Semitic" failed to understand how the term "Jews" is actually used.

Unlike the synoptic Gospels, elements of Gnosticism have been recognized by some readers in the Gospel of John though it is not generally regarded as a "Gnostic gospel". In order to find passages that refute Gnosticism—by stating that Christ is approachable even as Spirit—readers must turn instead to the First Epistle of John, in passages such as 1 Jn ; , and . The earliest copies of the Gospel of John are also from Gnostic sources that include overtly Gnostic writings, implying that John was read by Gnostic groups. One school of interpretation distinguishes between "Johannine Christianity" and "Pauline Christianity". The gnosis in Gnosticism is secret information that is available only to initiates. In the Gnostic view, salvation comes through "knowledge" that Jesus is the Christ -- those who understand his true nature are saved, those who don't "stand condemned already."

Though John is not a "secret" gospel—as other surviving apocryphal ("secret") gospels and fragments claim to be—the narrative is interrupted at an important turn of events just before the Crucifixion, for nearly five chapters (John , ) of private discourse and teachings that Jesus shares only with the disciples, the "farewell discourses", which are without parallel in the synoptic gospels, in their present version (but compare the Secret Gospel of Mark).

Other characteristics unique to John

• The Apostle Thomas is given a personality beyond a mere name, as "Doubting Thomas" ( etc).

• Jesus refers to himself with metaphoric "I am" saying seven times () () () () () () ()

• Two "signs" are numbered () ()

• There are no stories about Satan, demons or exorcisms, no predictions of end times, no Sermon on the Mount, and no ethical or apocalyptic teachings.

• The hourly time is given: Greek text: about the tenth hour, translated as "four o'clock in the afternoon" ()

• When the water at the pool of Bethsaida is moved by an angel it heals ()

• Jesus says he is not going to the festival. However, after his brothers had gone, he too goes, but in secret for not all to see ()

• According to the New American Bible, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1970, the story of the adultress () is missing from the best early Greek manuscripts. When it does appear it is at different places: here, after () or at the end of this gospel. It can also be found at Luke .

• Jesus washes the disciples' feet ()

• No other women are mentioned going to the tomb with Mary Magdalene. She seems to be alone. (John )

• Mary Magdalene visits the empty tomb twice. She believes Jesus' body has been stolen. The second time she sees two angels. They do not tell her Jesus is risen. They only ask why she is crying. Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener. He tells Mary not to cling to him. (John : 1-18). That very evening, in the same chapter (), Jesus asks Thomas to touch him and to place his fingers and hand in Jesus' still open wounds. At the sight of Jesus, Thomas gives an exclamation of faith but if he follows Jesus' direction, it is not in the text.

• Some of the brethren thought the "disciple whom Jesus loved" would not die, and an explanation is given for his death. ()

• The "disciple whom Jesus loved" wrote down things he had witnessed, and his testimony is asserted by a third party to be true ()

• The beloved disciple (traditionally believed to be the Apostle John) is never named.

See also

• John 3:16
• Pericope Adulteræ
• Gospel of Mark
• The Gospel of John (movie)
• Ancient History

References

• Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John Anchor Bible, 1966, 1970
• Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple Paulist Press, 1979
• Robin M. Jensen, The Two Faces of Jesus, Bible Review Oct 2002, p42
• J.H. Bernard & A.H. McNeile, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary On The Gospel According To St. John. Edinburgh, T. & T. Clark, 1953.

Related articles:

• Detailed textcritical discussion of the 300 most important variants of the Greek text (PDF, 376 pages)
• . a hypothetical written source for miracles in the Gospel of John: discussion
• illustrated.
• text, translation, illustration and a bibliography of the discussion