Category: 1 CORINTHIANS

The Bible – New Testament

1 Corinthians

Index

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 

Chapter 15

1

1 2 Now I am reminding you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand.

2

Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3

3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures;

4

that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures;

5

that he appeared to Kephas, then to the Twelve.

6

After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

7

After that he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

8

Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.

9

For I am the least 4 of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God (that is) with me.

11

Therefore, whether it be I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

12

5 But if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

13

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised.

14

And if Christ has not been raised, then empty (too) is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.

15

Then we are also false witnesses to God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.

16

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

17

and if Christ has not been raised, 6 your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.

18

Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19

If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all.

20

7 8 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21

9 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being.

22

For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,

23

but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;

24

then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.

25

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26

11 The last enemy to be destroyed is death,

27

12 for “he subjected everything under his feet.” But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him.

28

When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will (also) be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

29

13 14 Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they having themselves baptized for them?

30

15 Moreover, why are we endangering ourselves all the time?

31

Every day I face death; I swear it by the pride in you (brothers) that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.

32

If at Ephesus I fought with beasts, so to speak, what benefit was it to me? If the dead are not raised: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

33

Do not be led astray: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

34

Become sober as you ought and stop sinning. For some have no knowledge of God; I say this to your shame.

35

16 17 But someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?”

36

18 You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.

37

And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind;

38

but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the seeds its own body.

39

19 Not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human beings, another kind of flesh for animals, another kind of flesh for birds, and another for fish.

40

There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the brightness of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly another.

41

The brightness of the sun is one kind, the brightness of the moon another, and the brightness of the stars another. For star differs from star in brightness.

42

20 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.

43

It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.

44

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

45

So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, 21 became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.

46

But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual.

47

The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven.

48

As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.

49

Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image 22 of the heavenly one.

50

23 24 This I declare, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

51

25 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,

52

in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53

For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.

54

26 And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

55

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

56

The sting of death is sin, 27 and the power of sin is the law.

57

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 [1-58] Some consider this chapter an earlier Pauline composition inserted into the present letter. The problem that Paul treats is clear to a degree: some of the Corinthians are denying the resurrection of the dead (⇒ 1 Cor 15:12), apparently because of their inability to imagine how any kind of bodily existence could be possible after death (⇒ 1 Cor 15:35). It is plausibly supposed that their attitude stems from Greek anthropology, which looks with contempt upon matter and would be content with the survival of the soul, and perhaps also from an overrealized eschatology of gnostic coloration, such as that reflected in ⇒ 2 Tim 2:18, which considers the resurrection a purely spiritual experience already achieved in baptism and in the forgiveness of sins. Paul, on the other hand, will affirm both the essential corporeity of the resurrection and its futurity. His response moves through three steps: a recall of the basic kerygma about Jesus’ resurrection (⇒ 1 Cor 15:1-11), an assertion of the logical inconsistencies involved in denial of the resurrection (⇒ 1 Cor 15:12-34), and an attempt to perceive theologically what the properties of the resurrected body must be (⇒ 1 Cor 15:35-58).
2 [1-11] Paul recalls the tradition (⇒ 1 Cor 15:3-7), which he can presuppose as common ground and which provides a starting point for his argument. This is the fundamental content of all Christian preaching and belief (⇒ 1 Cor 15:1-2, ⇒ 11).
3 [3-7] The language by which Paul expresses the essence of the “gospel” (⇒ 1 Cor 15:1) is not his own but is drawn from older credal formulas. This credo highlights Jesus’ death for our sins (confirmed by his burial) and Jesus’ resurrection (confirmed by his appearances) and presents both of them as fulfillment of prophecy. In accordance with the scriptures: conformity of Jesus’ passion with the scriptures is asserted in ⇒ Matthew 16:1; ⇒ Luke 24:25-27, ⇒ 32, ⇒ 44-46. Application of some Old Testament texts (⇒ Psalm 2:7; ⇒ 16:8-11) to his resurrection is illustrated by ⇒ Acts 2:27-31; ⇒ 13:29-39; and ⇒ Isaiah 52:13-⇒ 53:12 and ⇒ Hosea 6:2 may also have been envisaged.
4 [9-11] A persecutor may have appeared disqualified (ouk . . . hikanos) from apostleship, but in fact God’s grace has qualified him. Cf the remarks in 2 Cor about his qualifications (⇒ 2 Cor 2:16; ⇒ 3:5) and his greater labors (⇒ 2 Cor 11:23). These verses are parenthetical, but a nerve has been touched (the references to his abnormal birth and his activity as a persecutor may echo taunts from Paul’s opponents), and he is instinctively moved to self-defense.
5 [12-19] Denial of the resurrection (⇒ 1 Cor 15:12) involves logical inconsistencies. The basic one, stated twice (⇒ 1 Cor 15:13, ⇒ 16), is that if there is no such thing as (bodily) resurrection, then it has not taken place even in Christ’s case.
6 [17-18] The consequences for the Corinthians are grave: both forgiveness of sins and salvation are an illusion, despite their strong convictions about both. Unless Christ is risen, their faith does not save.
7 [20] The firstfruits: the portion of the harvest offered in thanksgiving to God implies the consecration of the entire harvest to come. Christ’s resurrection is not an end in itself; its finality lies in the whole harvest, ourselves.
8 [20-28] After a triumphant assertion of the reality of Christ’s resurrection (⇒ 1 Cor 15:20a), Paul explains its positive implications and consequences. As a soteriological event of both human (⇒ 1 Cor 15:20-23) and cosmic (⇒ 1 Cor 15:24-28) dimensions, Jesus’ resurrection logically and necessarily involves ours as well.
9 [21-22] Our human existence, both natural and supernatural, is corporate, involves solidarity. In Adam . . . in Christ: the Hebrew word adam in Genesis is both a common noun for mankind and a proper noun for the first man. Paul here presents Adam as at least a literary type of Christ; the parallelism and contrast between them will be developed further in ⇒ 1 Cor 15:45-49 and in ⇒ Romans 5:12-21.
10 [24-28] Paul’s perspective expands to cosmic dimensions, as he describes the climax of history, the end. His viewpoint is still christological, as in ⇒ 1 Cor 15:20-23. ⇒ 1 Cor 15:24, ⇒ 28 describe Christ’s final relations to his enemies and his Father in language that is both royal and military; ⇒ 1 Cor 15:25-28 insert a proof from scripture (⇒ Psalm 110:1; ⇒ 8:6) into this description. But the viewpoint is also theological, for God is the ultimate agent and end, and likewise soteriological, for we are the beneficiaries of all the action.
11 [26] The last enemy . . . is death: a parenthesis that specifies the final fulfillment of the two Old Testament texts just referred to, ⇒ Psalm 110:1 and ⇒ Psalm 8:7. Death is not just one cosmic power among many, but the ultimate effect of sin in the universe (cf ⇒ 1 Cor 15:56; ⇒ Romans 5:12). Christ defeats death where it prevails, in our bodies. The destruction of the last enemy is concretely the “coming to life” (⇒ 1 Cor 15:22) of “those who belong to Christ” (⇒ 1 Cor 15:23).
12 [27b-28] The one who subjected everything to him: the Father is the ultimate agent in the drama, and the final end of the process, to whom the Son and everything else is ordered (24.28). That God may be all in all: his reign is a dynamic exercise of creative power, an outpouring of life and energy through the universe, with no further resistance. This is the supremely positive meaning of “subjection”: that God may fully be God.
13 [29-34] Paul concludes his treatment of logical inconsistencies with a listing of miscellaneous Christian practices that would be meaningless if the resurrection were not a fact.
14 [29] Baptized for the dead: this practice is not further explained here, nor is it necessarily mentioned with approval, but Paul cites it as something in their experience that attests in one more way to belief in the resurrection.
15 [30-34] A life of sacrifice, such as Paul describes in ⇒ 1 Cor 4:9-13 and 2 Cor, would be pointless without the prospect of resurrection; a life of pleasure, such as that expressed in the Epicurean slogan of ⇒ 1 Cor 15:32, would be far more consistent. I fought with beasts: since Paul does not elsewhere mention a combat with beasts at Ephesus, he may be speaking figuratively about struggles with adversaries.
16 [35-58] Paul imagines two objections that the Corinthians could raise: one concerning the manner of the resurrection (how?), the other pertaining to the qualities of the risen body (what kind?). These questions probably lie behind their denial of the resurrection (⇒ 1 Cor 15:12), and seem to reflect the presumption that no kind of body other than the one we now possess would be possible. Paul deals with these objections in inverse order, in ⇒ 1 Cor 15:36-49 and ⇒ 1 Cor 15:50-58. His argument is fundamentally theological and its appeal is to the understanding.
17 [35-49] Paul approaches the question of the nature of the risen body (what kind of body?) by means of two analogies: the seed (⇒ 1 Cor 15:36-44) and the first man, Adam (⇒ 1 Cor 15:45-49).
18 [36-38] The analogy of the seed: there is a change of attributes from seed to plant; the old life-form must be lost for the new to emerge. By speaking about the seed as a body that dies and comes to life, Paul keeps the point of the analogy before the reader’s mind.
19 [39-41] The expression “its own body” (⇒ 1 Cor 15:38) leads to a development on the marvelous diversity evident in bodily life.
20 [42-44] The principles of qualitative difference before and after death (⇒ 1 Cor 15:36-38) and of diversity on different levels of creation (⇒ 1 Cor 15:39-41) are now applied to the human body. Before: a body animated by a lower, natural life-principle (psyche) and endowed with the properties of natural existence (corruptibility, lack of glory, weakness). After: a body animated by a higher life-principle (pneuma; cf ⇒ 1 Cor 15:45) and endowed with other qualities (incorruptibility, glory, power, spirituality), which are properties of God himself.
21 [45] The analogy of the first man, Adam, is introduced by a citation from ⇒ Genesis 2:7. Paul alters the text slightly, adding the adjective first, and translating the Hebrew adam twice, so as to give it its value both as a common noun (man) and as a proper name (Adam). ⇒ 1 Cor 15:45b then specifies similarities and differences between the two Adams. The last Adam, Christ (cf ⇒ 1 Cor 15:21-22) has become a . . . spirit (pneuma), a life-principle transcendent with respect to the natural soul (psyche) of the first Adam (on the terminology here, cf the note on ⇒ 1 Cor 3:1). Further, he is not just alive, but life-giving, a source of life for others.
22 [49] We shall also bear the image: although it has less manuscript support, this reading better fits the context’s emphasis on futurity and the transforming action of God; on future transformation as conformity to the image of the Son, cf ⇒ Romans 8:29; ⇒ Philippians 3:21. The majority reading, “let us bear the image,” suggests that the image of the heavenly man is already present and exhorts us to conform to it.
23 [50-57] These verses, an answer to the first question of ⇒ 1 Cor 15:35, explain theologically how the change of properties from one image to another will take place: God has the power to transform, and he will exercise it.
24 [50-53] Flesh and blood . . . corruption: living persons and the corpses of the dead, respectively. In both cases, the gulf between creatures and God is too wide to be bridged unless God himself transforms us.
25 [51-52] A mystery: the last moment in God’s plan is disclosed; cf the notes on ⇒ 1 Cor 2:1, ⇒ 7-10a. The final trumpet and the awakening of the dead are stock details of the apocalyptic scenario. We shall not all fall asleep: Paul expected that some of his contemporaries might still be alive at Christ’s return; after the death of Paul and his whole generation, copyists altered this statement in various ways. We will all be changed: the statement extends to all Christians, for Paul is not directly speaking about anyone else. Whether they have died before the end or happen still to be alive, all must be transformed.
26 [54-55] Death is swallowed up in victory: scripture itself predicts death’s overthrow. O death: in his prophetic vision Paul may be making Hosea’s words his own, or imagining this cry of triumph on the lips of the risen church.
27 [56] The sting of death is sin: an explanation of Hosea’s metaphor. Death, scorpion-like, is equipped with a sting, sin, by which it injects its poison. Christ defeats sin, the cause of death (⇒ Genesis 3:19; ⇒ Romans 5:12).

1 Corinthians

Index

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

The Bible – New Testament

1 Corinthians

Index

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 

Chapter 6

1

1 How can any one of you with a case against another dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment instead of to the holy ones?

2

Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?

3

Do you not know that we will judge angels? Then why not everyday matters?

4

If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters, do you seat as judges people of no standing in the church?

5

I say this to shame you. Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough to be able to settle a case between brothers?

6

But rather brother goes to court against brother, and that before unbelievers?

7

Now indeed (then) it is, in any case, a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another. Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?

8

Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.

9

2 3 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals

10

nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11

That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

12

4 “Everything is lawful for me,” 5 but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not let myself be dominated by anything.

13

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;

14

God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

15

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ’s members and make them the members of a prostitute? 6 Of course not!

16

(Or) do you not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For “the two,” it says, “will become one flesh.”

17

But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

18

Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. 7

19

Do you not know that your body is a temple 8 of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20

For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

1 [1-11] Christians at Corinth are suing one another before pagan judges in Roman courts. A barrage of rhetorical questions (⇒ 1 Cor 6:1-9) betrays Paul’s indignation over this practice, which he sees as an infringement upon the holiness of the Christian community. 6, 2-3: The principle to which Paul appeals is an eschatological prerogative promised to Christians: they are to share with Christ the judgment of the world (cf ⇒ Daniel 7:22, ⇒ 27). Hence they ought to be able to settle minor disputes within the community.
2 [9-10] A catalogue of typical vices that exclude from the kingdom of God and that should be excluded from God’s church. Such lists (cf ⇒ 1 Cor 5:10) reflect the common moral sensibility of the New Testament period.
3 [9] The Greek word translated as boy prostitutes may refer to catamites, i.e., boys or young men who were kept for purposes of prostitution, a practice not uncommon in the Greco-Roman world. In Greek mythology this was the function of Ganymede, the “cupbearer of the gods,” whose Latin name was Catamitus. The term translated Sodomites refers to adult males who indulged in homosexual practices with such boys. See similar condemnations of such practices in ⇒ Romans 1:26-27; ⇒ 1 Tim 1:10.
4 [12-20] Paul now turns to the opinion of some Corinthians that sexuality is a morally indifferent area (⇒ 1 Cor 6:12-13). This leads him to explain the mutual relation between the Lord Jesus and our bodies (⇒ 1 Cor 6:13b) in a densely packed paragraph that contains elements of a profound theology of sexuality (⇒ 1 Cor 6:15-20).
5 [12-13] Everything is lawful for me: the Corinthians may have derived this slogan from Paul’s preaching about Christian freedom, but they mean something different by it: they consider sexual satisfaction a matter as indifferent as food, and they attribute no lasting significance to bodily functions (⇒ 1 Cor 6:13a). Paul begins to deal with the slogan by two qualifications, which suggest principles for judging sexual activity. Not everything is beneficial: cf ⇒ 1 Cor 10:23, and the whole argument of 1 Cor 8-10 on the finality of freedom and moral activity. Not let myself be dominated: certain apparently free actions may involve in fact a secret servitude in conflict with the lordship of Jesus.
6 [15b-16] A prostitute: the reference may be specifically to religious prostitution, an accepted part of pagan culture at Corinth and elsewhere; but the prostitute also serves as a symbol for any sexual relationship that conflicts with Christ’s claim over us individually. The two . . . will become one flesh: the text of ⇒ Genesis 2:24 is applied positively to human marriage in Matthew and Mark, and in ⇒ Eph 5:29-32: love of husband and wife reflect the love of Christ for his church. The application of the text to union with a prostitute is jarring, for such a union is a parody, an antitype of marriage, which does conflict with Christ’s claim over us. This explains the horror expressed in 15b.
7 [18] Against his own body: expresses the intimacy and depth of sexual disorder, which violates the very orientation of our bodies.
8 [19-20] Paul’s vision becomes trinitarian. A temple: sacred by reason of God’s gift, his indwelling Spirit. Not your own: but “for the Lord,” who acquires ownership by the act of redemption. Glorify God in your body: the argument concludes with a positive imperative to supplement the negative “avoid immorality” of ⇒ 1 Cor 6:18. Far from being a terrain that is morally indifferent, the area of sexuality is one in which our relationship with God (and his Christ and his Spirit) is very intimately expressed: he is either highly glorified or deeply offended.

Index

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

The Bible – New Testament

Saint John 

Index 

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

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Introduction

The Gospel according to John is quite different in character from the three synoptic gospels. It is highly literary and symbolic. It does not follow the same order or reproduce the same stories as the synoptic gospels. To a much greater degree, it is the product of a developed theological reflection and grows out of a different circle and tradition. It was probably written in the 90s of the first century.

The Gospel of John begins with a magnificent prologue, which states many of the major themes and motifs of the gospel, much as an overture does for a musical work. The prologue proclaims Jesus as the preexistent and incarnate Word of God who has revealed the Father to us. The rest of the first chapter forms the introduction to the gospel proper and consists of the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus (there is no baptism of Jesus in this gospel – John simply points him out as the Lamb of God), followed by stories of the call of the first disciples, in which various titles predicated of Jesus in the early church are presented.

The gospel narrative contains a series of “signs” – the gospel’s word for the wondrous deeds of Jesus. The author is primarily interested in the significance of these deeds, and so interprets them for the reader by various reflections, narratives, and discourses. The first sign is the transformation of water into wine at Cana (⇒ John 2:1-11); this represents the replacement of the Jewish ceremonial washings and symbolizes the entire creative and transforming work of Jesus. The second sign, the cure of the royal official’s son (⇒ John 4:46-54) simply by the word of Jesus at a distance, signifies the power of Jesus’ life-giving word. The same theme is further developed by other signs, probably for a total of seven. The third sign, the cure of the paralytic at the pool with five porticoes in ch 5, continues the theme of water offering newness of life. In the preceding chapter, to the woman at the well in Samaria Jesus had offered living water springing up to eternal life, a symbol of the revelation that Jesus brings; here Jesus’ life-giving word replaces the water of the pool that failed to bring life. John 6 contains two signs, the multiplication of loaves and the walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. These signs are connected much as the manna and the crossing of the Red Sea are in the Passover narrative and symbolize a new exodus. The multiplication of the loaves is interpreted for the reader by the discourse that follows, where the bread of life is used first as a figure for the revelation of God in Jesus and then for the Eucharist. After a series of dialogues reflecting Jesus’ debates with the Jewish authorities at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7; 8, the sixth sign is presented in John 9, the sign of the young man born blind. This is a narrative illustration of the theme of conflict in the preceding two chapters; it proclaims the triumph of light over darkness, as Jesus is presented as the Light of the world. This is interpreted by a narrative of controversy between the Pharisees and the young man who had been given his sight by Jesus, ending with a discussion of spiritual blindness and spelling out the symbolic meaning of the cure. And finally, the seventh sign, the raising of Lazarus in ch 11, is the climax of signs. Lazarus is presented as a token of the real life that Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, who will now ironically be put to death because of his gift of life to Lazarus, will give to all who believe in him once he has been raised from the dead.

After the account of the seven signs, the “hour” of Jesus arrives, and the author passes from sign to reality, as he moves into the discourses in the upper room that interpret the meaning of the passion, death, and resurrection narratives that follow. The whole gospel of John is a progressive revelation of the glory of God’s only Son, who comes to reveal the Father and then returns in glory to the Father. The author’s purpose is clearly expressed in what must have been the original ending of the gospel at the end of John 20: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.”

Critical analysis makes it difficult to accept the idea that the gospel as it now stands was written by one person. John 21 seems to have been added after the gospel was completed; it exhibits a Greek style somewhat different from that of the rest of the work. The prologue (⇒ John 1:1-18) apparently contains an independent hymn, subsequently adapted to serve as a preface to the gospel. Within the gospel itself there are also some inconsistencies, e.g., there are two endings of Jesus’ discourse in the upper room (⇒ John 14:31; ⇒ 18:1). To solve these problems, scholars have proposed various rearrangements that would produce a smoother order. However, most have come to the conclusion that the inconsistencies were probably produced by subsequent editing in which homogeneous materials were added to a shorter original.

Other difficulties for any theory of eyewitness authorship of the gospel in its present form are presented by its highly developed theology and by certain elements of its literary style. For instance, some of the wondrous deeds of Jesus have been worked into highly effective dramatic scenes (John 9); there has been a careful attempt to have these followed by discourses that explain them (John 5; 6); and the sayings of Jesus have been oven into long discourses of a quasi-poetic form resembling the speeches of personified Wisdom in the Old Testament.

The gospel contains many details about Jesus not found in the synoptic gospels, e.g., that Jesus engaged in a baptizing ministry (⇒ John 3:22) before he changed to one of preaching and signs; that Jesus’ public ministry lasted for several years (see the note on ⇒ John 2:13); that he traveled to Jerusalem for various festivals and met serious opposition long before his death (⇒ John 2:14-25; 5; 7-8); and that he was put to death on the day before Passover (John l⇒ 8:28). These events are not always in chronological order because of the development and editing that took place. However, the accuracy of much of the detail of the fourth gospel constitutes a strong argument that the Johannine tradition rests upon the testimony of an eyewitness. Although tradition identified this person as John, the son of Zebedee, most modern scholars find that the evidence does not support this.

The fourth gospel is not simply history; the narrative has been organized and adapted to serve the evangelist’s theological purposes as well. Among them are the opposition to the synagogue of the day and to John the Baptist’s followers, who tried to exalt their master at Jesus’ expense, the desire to show that Jesus was the Messiah, and the desire to convince Christians that their religious belief and practice must be rooted in Jesus. Such theological purposes have impelled the evangelist to emphasize motifs that were not so clear in the synoptic account of Jesus’ ministry, e.g., the explicit emphasis on his divinity.

The polemic between synagogue and church produced bitter and harsh invective, especially regarding the hostility toward Jesus of the authorities – Pharisees and Sadducees – who are combined and referred to frequently as “the Jews” (see the note on ⇒ John 1:19). These opponents are even described in ⇒ John 8:44 as springing from their father the devil, whose conduct they imitate in opposing God by rejecting Jesus, whom God has sent. On the other hand, the author of this gospel seems to take pains to show that women are not inferior to men in the Christian community: the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4) is presented as a prototype of a missionary (⇒ John 4:4-42), and the first witness of the resurrection is a woman (⇒ John 20:11-18).

The final editing of the gospel and arrangement in its present form probably dates from between A.D. 90 and 100. Traditionally, Ephesus has been favored as the place of composition, though many support a location in Syria, perhaps the city of Antioch, while some have suggested other places, including Alexandria.

The principal divisions of the Gospel according to John are the following:

I. Prologue (⇒ John 1:1-18)

II. The Book of Signs (⇒ John 1:19-⇒ 12:50)

III. The Book of Glory (John l⇒ 3:1-⇒ 20:31)

IV. Epilogue: The Resurrection Appearance in Galilee (⇒ John 21:1-25)

Index 

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

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