2.1 The Prologue In John Flashcards
How is Johns prologue different from the other Gospels?
- Mark: proclaims “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, Son of God”
- Matthew: gives genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham
- Luke: states purpose of writing Gospel to give an “orderly account” for Theophilus and goes on to set Jesus’s birth within a historical context
Hookers viewpoint of the prologue in John
“John in contrast offers us a solid theology!”
Browns view on the prologue in John
It’s an early Christian hymn which was adapted to serve as an introduction to the Gospel narrative
Robinsons view of the prologue in John
A later addition by the author to help the early Church understand more about Jesus as a person
Barretts view on the prologue in John
The prologue is part of an original text and of a unique style, as a Chris to logical hymn, speaking of Jesus’s divine nature
How is The Word or Logos important?
It is central to understanding the nature and person of Jesus (Logos meaning ‘reason’ or ‘plan’)
The nature of Jesus in Johns Prologue
- story of Jesus based on God in creation, its incarnation, rejection, and final victory over darkness
- word was gods creative power
- logos used to describe universal force of reason
- philo describing orderly nature of creation to Logos of god
Conclusions from the nature of Jesus in Johns prologue
Using the Greek idea of “divine reason”, it introduces Jesus as God to the readers and linking it with the Jewish notion of the Logos, Jesus divine nature is revealed to humanity
Qualities of Jesus
- giver of life
- source of light
- God and Jesus are one
- Eternal and incarnate
- creator
- son of god
What is described when it is mentioned how The Word was made flesh?
- it challenged readers to think about who Jesus is
- means God becomes fully human, with flesh and blood, and able to feel all human emotions
- more than appearance, Christ is the “word incarnate”
- author uses same Greek word for “become flesh” for appearance of John the Baptist
- “made his dwelling among us” links to Tabernacle in OT
What is described about life, light and darkness?
- logos is a creative force behind the world; the giver of life
- logos is source of life and light for humanity, which darkness cannot extinguish
- John the Baptist described as a “witness to the light”
- darkness of the world linked to those who rejected Jesus, and did not vercome the light
What do those who believed in the light/Logos be given?
Given the right to be children of God
What does it mean to become a child of God
- not through birth/blood, it is through God’s grace
- john offers contrast between flesh and spirit, humans must have a spirit in order to live an eternal life
- theme of being born is developed in story of Nicodemus
- it is a gift from God and there were to be no differences between the Jews and the Gentiles who became Christians
What is Law, Grace and Truth?
- Law: finding fulfilment in Jesus (Jesus is revelation from God)
- Grace: from Greek word charts, meaning “Gods favour” (kindness from god that is undeserved)
- truth: meaning reality, like how reality that the Law was a gift from God and a preparation from the Gosepl
What is the influence/importance of Judaism in the Prologue?
- Dodd: gods word would be identified with the Torah, which was his grace and truth
- scholars suggested that the prologue is a MIDRASH on genesis 1:1-5 and Exodus 33
- author sets a prologue within context of salvation history of Jewish people, as references to the creation and Moses are made
What is Stoicism?
The Logos was god and seeds of divine Logos found in minds of humanity
Leads to how there is a special relationship between divine Logos and humankind, so they would become children of God
What are the differences between Stoicism and the ideas in Johns prologue?
- the logos became human and would be rejected by his own (1:11)
- those who believe would become children of God by authority of the Logos
- Logos could become flesh and the glory of God would be seen through his suffering and death
Why did the Stoics reject the idea of God becoming Human?
The logos was a rational principle rather than a living being. They also helped the reader to understand who Jesus was rather than endorsing the philosophy
What is platonic philosophy?
Taught that the physical world was always changing but there was also a ‘real changeless world’, leading to belief in contrast between spirit and flesh, echoing in John
The themes of pre-existent logos and light and darkness are found. Why do scholars reject this idea of it being a gnostic gospel?
- Christian Gnosticism did not develop until the mid-second century.
- gnostics believed that salvation came from “knowledge” and Jesus was the only revealer of knowledge, not the “word made flesh”
- the concept of logos and light and darkness are also found in Jewish writings
Why do some claim that the fourth gospel was written to refute Gnosticism?
- the focus on ‘the word made flesh’
- the lack of emphasis on the superiority of the spirit world
Is the influence Jewish or Greek? (Browns argument)
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls challenged the theory that the ideas found in the prologue had to derive from the Greek philosophies. The scrolls made use of abstract ideas such as light and darkness
Is the influence Jewish or Greek? (Dodds argument)
When writing about the Logos in “the interpretation of the fourth gospel” (1953), it says that John explores the themes in great depth so it would appeal to both a Jewish and a Greek audience. But he noted that it is “…through which he may lead them to the historical actuality of its history, rooted as it is in the Jewish tradition”>
Is the influence Jewish or Greek? (John marsh’s argument)
The author used every ‘tool’ at his disposal - the Old Testament, rabbinic writings, stoic ideas - to help him express his belief that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Logos had come in flesh as the saviour
How does the prologue offer different christology in the synoptic gospels?
- the birth accounts in the Synoptics emphasise Jesus as the messiah or of the line of David. Jesus is seen as part of history and his humanity is emphasised.
- the prologue, in contrast, emphasises things such as Jesus’ pre-existence and the incarnation
What else does the prologue stress over?
Jesus is not just the messiah but Jesus is god. The gospel both starts and ends with the declaration that Jesus is god. When Jesus appears to Thomas, Thomas proclaims: “My Lord and my God” (20:28). For Brown, this is the highest christological title
How does the trinity link to understanding Jesus?
- it can be argued that the prologue introduces the concept of the trinity but the term is not used
- the prologue has served as a major source of the Church’s doctrine of the triune god. In it the mystery of the trinity is revealed. God the father is made known through god the son and god the Holy Spirit.
- in the early church, there was the belief that Jesus was born human but became the son of god at baptism, and the father existed before the son and then created the son, so Jesus is not god
How does the law link to understanding Jesus?
- an example of replacement theology (all that was previously revealed and experienced in Israel’s relationship has been fulfilled, as the word became flesh in Jesus)
- the new covenant replaced the mosaic covenant
- the impact was seen in the early Christian community
How does belief link to understanding Jesus?
- contributed to the debate among Christian’s about the nature of belief
- believing transforms people into children of god
- martin Buber: “i-you” relationship rather than “i-it”
What is the impact on “believing” as a personal encounter in Christianity?
- martin Luther (leader of Protestant reformation) argued that faith was the only way to salvation; resulting in the development of Protestantism
- now, evangelical Christian’s focus on the personal encounter with Christ, bringing people to faith rather than belief in the creeds
- for most Christian’s, “believing in his name” is not a rejection of the creeds or teachings of the church but how one comes to a faith
