8. Are the Witnesses Honest? (2)

(4) The Gospel of John - John's Gospel

 

• The author is most likely the apostle John, brother of James and son of Zebedee. The gospel is probably written in the 80-90 AD period.[1]
• He was an eyewitness to Jesus life, referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” It is traditionally assumed that he wrote the gospel in Ephesus at an older age.
• Together with his brother James and Peter, he was part of Jesus’ inner circle, making him a privileged witness to some unique events (including the transfiguration) and special teachings of Jesus.
• John (and his brother James) is not mentioned by name in the gospel.
• John the Baptist is referred to merely as “John” in the document, indicating that there was no confusion with any other John (John the apostle, i.e. the author).
• The book is intended primarily to teach (already converted) Christians to better understand Jesus’ teaching and mature in their faith. Right from the start Jesus is declared to be God (John 1:1-4). The divine character of Jesus remains a main theme throughout.
• The book only lists seven (eight) miracles, called signs, selected by the author to demonstrate the divine nature of Jesus, The author also mentions that Jesus did many more signs which are not mentioned (John 20:30-31).
• The author seems to assume that the readers are familiar with the other gospel accounts – therefore he is not repeating that information again – this points to a later dating of this gospel than the synoptic gospels.
• However this book also contains lively, and correct in every detail, eyewitness descriptions of Jerusalem in the present tense (as especially John 5:2).  Also mentioned is the fact that it has “taken forty-six years to build this temple” (John 2:20) suggesting that this document (or at least part of it) was written before 65-70 AD (destruction of Jerusalem and all these locations).
• The oldest papyrus fragment of some verses of John 18 is the Ryland papyrus, dated back to around 125-130 AD.
• John 7:53-8:1-11 (the account of the adulterous woman) is not believed to have been in the original gospel as it is not in the earlier codices (Codex Sinaiticus).

Comparing the Four Gospels