John's Gospel Research Paper

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.

The Gospels are stories of Jesus’ life and teachings, told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in the first four books of the New Testament. There is little difference between the first three, they tell the same stories of jesus but with slight differences. But the gospel of John, the gospel that traditionally appears fourth in the new testament, has many differences to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They are used to spread the teachings of jesus, and give us guidance in our lives. ‘Gospel’ is derived from the old english, ‘god-spel’, (‘god’-’good’, ‘spel’- ‘news’). The gospel literally translates to ‘good news’.

Though the gospels are similar, the gospel John is very distinct from the others. One way that it is different was that He (John the writer) was writing to both believers and nonbelievers- so everybody. Also, he wasn’t writing about Jesus’ life mainly, but how people will have eternal life if people believe in him. While the other Gospels have said multiple times “Kingdom of God”, John used “eternal life” more. Another way that the gospel John is very distinct from the others is that John includes a lot more of Jesus’ ministry. For instance, all of John 2-4 is for the most part out of the other three gospels. This is the part where Jesus is ministering in Galilee. Lastly, another difference that I noticed was in the beginning of the three gospels, it starts our roughly with Jesus’ birth, but the gospel of John does not. Instead, it starts out with the creation of the

The first four books of the New Testament, collectively referred to as “The Gospels,” are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Defined, gospel means “good news” (BD, 682). Together, these gospels written by distinctly different authors, each with a different perspective, offer marvelous insight into the life and ministry of the Savior and Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. Through their similarities and differences, they provide a beautiful testimony of his teachings and works to provide a dynamic and living picture of who Jesus is: a King, Christ in action, a human, and as the light and life of the world. Each author is striving to bring the good news of who the Son of God is and his amazing and infinite Atonement, to all mankind.

The theme of John in writing his Gospel is the manifestation of Christ’s glory. To accomplish his purpose the apostle selects some of those things in the life and work of Christ that exhibit most clearly his true character and mission (Vaughn, 1965). John explicitly said in his purpose statement (John 20:30-31) that the aim of his Gospel is to present Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Old Testament Scriptures and the unique Son of God. John’s primary means of revealing Jesus as the divine Messiah is the seven sign-miracles and their attendant contexts of teaching, all of which are recorded in the first twelve chapters (Kim, 2010).

The Bible is the holy book for the basis of Christian religious and spiritual teachings. It is essentially a library comprised of over 66 books that have been broken up into the Old Testament and the New Testament, which contains the four canonical gospels (JGA, 11). The gospels, which translates to good news, center their teachings around Jesus’s life, from his birth to his resurrection. The sole purpose of the Gospels are to give God’s followers a foundation for believing in Him and Jesus by providing spiritual guidance and advice on how to live a life as a devoted Christian. There are four Gospels, Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John; each being written and published at different times starting from 65 CE to 100 CE (JGA, 13). Each one of these gospels writers have a different principal emphasis in presenting Jesus and his life’s work.

Unlike the other gospels, Jesus is portrayed as deity; the Word became flesh and dwelled among men. The Synoptics cannot compare with the Gospel of John when it comes to the incarnation. Opposite of Mark’s fast paced account of the events of Jesus;

In this essay, I will justify why Jesus, a historical figure, is molded in ancient texts to fulfill biased endeavors in spirituality without proven or creditable sources. This initial warping of Jesus carries over pre-organized beliefs and conclusions about who he was and what he did. First, I will discuss the obvious biases of each Gospel writer and explain why they are partial in displaying Jesus, each story simply benefiting their own belief and purpose. After, comparing and contrasting the Gospel’s varying images of Jesus, I will show the continuous inconsistency on who Jesus was and what he represents tracing back to the original penmanship in 65-90 CE. Next, I will explain why the sources used to write all four Gospels are unreliable

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?

When reading the book of the John it is important to know the genre which is the Gospel. Before reading the book of John it important to know the main focus and intentions of the book which is that the Gospel is primarily focused on the life of Jesus and its main objective is to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. As Russel puts it by reading the Gospel, readers can discover the charactersists of Jesus and learn about his teachings that serve as an outstanding model for all Christians who seek spiritual growth. One must keep in mind also the various directions for interpreting the Gospels which in the book of John contain six which include: emphasizing the broader context when reading, studying

Most scholars do not believe that the author of John’s Gospel was based on the earlier Gospels (Harris, 2014). Scholars, such as Thomas Brodie, had a difference of opinion pertaining to whether the Gospel of John was created on behalf of John own account with Jesus (Harris, 2014). He challenged the different that the important material from the Synoptics was transformed. Brodie concluded after careful research that John’s Gospel was based on a theological rearrangement of the traditions life and meaning of Jesus (Harris, 2014). John’s narrative represented mainstream Christianity instead of the independent Johannine community. However, the major differences between the Synoptics Gospels and the Fourth Gospel of John were that John’s vision

The Gospel according to John initiates with the beginning of time. Through descriptions of the beginning of time, Jesus is described as the word, the light, and the son. Later in the gospel John the Baptist is sent from God and he is by Levites and priest who he was, John emphasized the fact that he was neither the Messiah nor a prophet, but rather he was sent to announce the coming of The Lord. The next day, Jesus came to John and was baptized. While John baptized Jesus he noticed the Spirit come down on Jesus and remain, therefore concluding that Jesus was the Son of God.

The fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the church was likely one of the spurs that caused St. John to finally record his Gospel. Because the Jews had become scattered and disillusioned after the destruction of the temple, St. John saw an evangelistic opportunity to help many see that Jesus was the Messiah -- and therefore the fulfillment of both the temple and the sacrificial system (John 2:18-22; 4:21-24). In a similar way, the rise of Gnosticism and other false teachings connected to Christianity presented an opportunity for St. John to clarify a number of theological points and doctrines using the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. These differences in purpose go a long way to explaining

John is the beloved disciple and the youngest of the twelve disciples, he is a reflective, spiritual and profound in his writing. The Savior of the World is Jesus who told a women everything she did and many believed because they heard for themselves. The people needed signs and wonders to believe and John told many of the miracles of Jesus. John writes poetically of the divine Jesus and the cost of what it means to draw near to Jesus. The gospel of John records eyewitness accounts along with evidence that answers the question of who is Jesus in seven signs.

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