Gospel of John Essay

The Gospel of John stands out as one who has been appointed by God who testifies about the life and ministry of Jesus. The study of John allows one to see the Jesus as our entry way for salvation. The authorship of John allows one to understand Jesus by an actual and reliable witness to the origins of Jesus ministry, death and resurrection. This extraordinary piece of work is also reflected by the early church fathers. The attempt of this paper will assert that the evidence for authorship of John is more convincing that discrediting.

Should one fully read the opening four Gospels of the New Testament, he or she can find many similar patterns of literature and themes affording much attention to detail and study. This is what someone such as Merriam Webster would define as the ?Synoptic Gospels?. So, what are and how can we explain the differences and similarities among synoptic authors Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the gospel, John? Which Book was written first? To what extent did the Evangelists depend on oral tradition, written sources, or each other? The phenomenon and mystery of these similar but unique Synoptic Gospels has for centuries challenged some of the best minds of academia and the church, stirring up much scholarly

“The Church has always and everywhere maintained, and continues to maintain, the apostolic origin of the four Gospels. The apostles preached, as Christ had charged them to do, and then, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they and others of the apostolic age handed on to us in writing the same message they had preached, the

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

The Gospels also known as the ‘Good News’ is a collection of stories known as parables grouped together in four different perspectives titled Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. These Gospels were written after a period of reflection on the life of Jesus Christ and each provide a different and unique insight of his teachings, morals and lessons. As demonstrated in the source quote, each writer of the Gospels was intend to “present what Jesus meant to them”. Three of these gospels are very similar (Matthew, Mark & Luke) and therefore know as Synoptic while John portrays a completely different perspective on Jesus’s life. Therefore, this report will focus just on Two Gospels and as such on what Jesus meant to the writers of The Gospel of Mark and also the Gospel of Luke.

"It appears, that of all the apostle John was especially favoured with our Lord's regard and confidence, so as to be called the

John presents a very different Jesus compared to the synoptic gospels. It is clear that for John Jesus has many complex elements to his personality and without all of these the picture is not complete. The above quote by Käsemann suggests that in the gospel of John Jesus’ divinity is definite and his presence is felt on the entire world through his words and actions. This allows for the human Jesus but implies the divine Jesus is imperative.

John’s document is a purely Jewish document and just like the other gospels, are distinct. The fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John was written in a way that is different and unlike the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Origen and Clement, remarked in their early writings

Most people with a general understanding of the Bible know that the first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels. Most people also understand on a broad level that the Gospel seach tell the story of Jesus Christ -- His birth, ministry, teachings, miracles, death, and returning from the dead. What many people don't know, however, is that there's a striking difference between the first three Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which are known together as the Synoptic Gospels --and the Gospel of John. In fact, the Gospel of John is so (like nothing else in the world) that 90 percent of the material it contains (related to/looking at/thinking about) Jesus' life cannot be found in the other Gospels.

In Culpepper and Koester’s writing I’ve learned a great deal about the Gospel of John from all perspectives. I’ve learned everything from what makes John unique, the Gospel of John as literature, and some theological insight on the Gospel of John. In this particular paper though I want to focus on three key questions asked and deliver well thought out ideas and answers. Also in this paper the reader will learn what the similarities and differences John has from the Synoptic Gospels, what difference would it make to Christian belief today if the Gospel of John was never written, and what my favorite gospel is and why?

The prologue of the Fourth Gospel is a theological summary of the gospel story as a whole. It tells the story of creation, the grace given to Israel through the law, the perfecting or replacing grace of Jesus Christ, and Christ’s revelation of God the Father. It tells the story how the life of Jesus Christ exclaimed the loving actions of God, saving humanity through the outpour of inexplicable

The three alternative proposals to John’s authorship Johannine Letters introduced by Köstenberger and colleagues are (1) an unknown elder in the so-called "Johannine community"; (2) a follower of the apostle John, and (3) the legendary "John the elder" in Asia Minor. There are two ways to examine the evidence of John’s authorship. The first manner is to view the text internally, or ways in which the authorship of John is supported within the writing. The second of which is to approach the text externally, considering factors outside of the text that would support a specific side of the proposition. Internally, the similarities between the gospel of John and the Johannine letter are too immense to ignore. In fact, Köstenberger states, “The similarities are so numerous and multifaceted that they dwarf any perceived differences by comparison.” That being said, simply similarities are not all that the text have in common. Other internal evidences include similarity in language. For example, Christ is referred to as the ‘word’ in the very beginning of both text (John 1:1, 14

The Johannine documents are unique within New Testament literature. In their way, they reflect on the life and teaching of Jesus, using typically Johannine concepts, expressions vocabulary, and style. These documents were embedded into the ancient contexts from which they originated, gently touching the world that surrounded them. "John expounds these themes by skillfully alternating narratives and discourses so that the words of Jesus bring out the inner meaning of his works" (Gundry, R., 2012, p. 289).

Johannine literature truly portrays Jesus as God, with the theme of His deity interwoven throughout numerous passages. In this respect, John’s style differs from the other four gospels, as Bickel & Jantz (1998) point out that the other three had been written prior to John’s gospel, therefore, “he wasn’t interested in just retelling the events” (p. 222). Since Jesus is the focal point of Scripture, a scholar of the New Testament with uncertainty concerning Jesus’ oneness with God will fail to perceive the crux of Christianity. Therefore, in spite of its importance, John does not focus on Jesus’ entrance into the

The word "gospel" is a translation of the Greek word "euangelion" which means "good news. The first three books in the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) are often referred to as the Synoptic Gospels (from Greek synoptikos, "seen together") They bear greater similarity to each other than any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Along with these similarities come some differences among the gospels, suggesting that each gospel was written for a specific audience and for a specific purpose. This paper will examine the resurrection of Jesus, while identifying the significant differences between Mark, Matthew and Luke. This paper will also analyze the differences to suggest the prominent theological perspective each gospel author