JOHN THE BELOVED DSCIPLE'

AUTHOR: POSSIBLY JOHN.THE BELOVED DISCIPLE. IRENAEUS (180) STATES THAT THE GOSPEL WAS GIVEN BY JOHN AT EPHESUS. THIS TRADITION IS REPEATED BY CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA (C. 200). THE MURATORIAN CANON (C. 180-200) PROVIDES A LEGEND IN WHICH JOHN IS THE AUTHOR OF THIS GOSPEL.
 RECOGNITION AS CANON.: IRENAEUS ATTESTS TO THE GOSPEL'S RECOGNITION AS CANON (180).
BACKGROUND OF THOUGHT: BOTH ARAMAIC    (THE (ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF JESUS).
HELLENISTIC INFLUNCES ARE PRESENT IN THE GOSPEL, ALSO USED IN TO THE IDEAS OF BUDDING GNOSTICISM. (DUALISTIC THINKING COUPLED WITH INITIATION INTO SECRET TEACHINNGS THAT BRING ENLIGHTENMENT). JOHN HAS BOTH JEWISH (OT).
 REFERENTS ( JESUS IS THE MESSIAH) AS WELL AS DUALISTIC CATGORIES ( DARKNESS AND LIGHT), YET INSISTS ON THE CORPOREAL MANIFESTATION OF THE WORD IN FLESH.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SYNOPTICS AND JOHN.
 MATTHEW AND LUKE STRESS THE ROLE OF GOD IN THE ADVENT OF JESUS; JOHN STRESSES ETERNAL STATUS OF CHRIST ( MARK SIMPLY DIVES INTO THE MINSTRY OF JESUS).
IN JOHN, JESUS STEPS OUT ONTO THE STAGE OF THE COSMOS AS THE INBREAKING MYSTERY OF GOD! JOHN FEATURES A DISTINCT VOCABULARY: LIFE, LIGHT, DARKNESS, TRUE, WORLD, FATHER (64 TIMES IN SYNOPTICS AND 120 IN JOHN), KNOWING SEEING, THE JEWS, AMEN-amen, I AM.
LESS STRESSON:KINGDOM, REPENT, APOSTLES, SCRIBES, PHARISEES, TAX COLLECTORS, ADULTERY, DEMON, AND INHERIT.
 WHAT VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES MEAN: POSSIBLE MOTIVE OF THR WRITER- TO INSPIRE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TRANSCENDENT YET IMMINENT LOGOS-WORD.
 EMPHASIS OF ENCOUNTERS IN JOHN VS. SYNOPTICS.
 IN SYNOPTICS, JESUS IS A RABBI WHO ARGUES OVER SABBATH, FASTING , DIVORCE-ALL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE TORAH. IN JOHN, DEBATE IS OVER WHO HE IS.
SYNOPTICS FOCUS ON THE MESSIANIC SECRET (ESPECIALY MARK). JOHN HAS ONLY MYSTERY-SECRET BEING REVEALED. YET, THOSE AROUND HIM DO NOT UNDERSTAND HIM. SYNOPTICS FOCUS ON PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM. JOHN FOCUSES ON JESUS AS THE INBREAKING OF THE KINGDOM, THE WORD BREAKING IN. REGARDING THEOLOGY PROPER, SYNOPTICS FOCUS ON WORDS ABOUT GOD. JOHN LINKS THE WORDS OF JESUS WITH HIS PERSON-THE WORD. " I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH , AND THE LIFE." JOHN IS NOT SO CONCERNED WITH CHRONOLOGY
 AS WITH THE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF THE  COMPRESSED THEME (CHAPTER 0NE) WHICH IS LIKE A PEBBLE CAST INTO A POND, RIPPLING OUT. FURTHER, JESUS GEOGRAPHICAL MOVEMENTS IN JOHN ARE MUCH DIFFERENT THAN IN THE FIRST THREE GOSPELS. SYNOPTICS FOCUS ON THE BULK OF JESUS TIME IN GALILEE; JOHN FOCUSES ON TIME IN JUDEA.
AS PREVIOUS STATED, JOHN ADRESSES MOST PROBABLY HELLENISTIC JEWS WHO FACE CONTROVERSY. HIS TEXT IS FOR BELIEVERS AND IS INTENDED TO DRAW THEM INTO EVER-CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHRIST. THUS, CLOSENESS MAY BE CALLED"MYSTICAL UNION."
A MYSTICAL RELATIOSHIP IS AN UNMEDIATED EXPERIENCE OF SOMETHING DISTINCT FROM THE SELF IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT SEEMS TO BE ASIFI AM EXPERIENCING MYSELF. WITH REGARD TO EXPERIENCE OF SELF IN RELATIONSIP WITH THE COSMOS THIS CALLED MYISTCAL ENLIGHTENMENT; WITH REGARD TO RELATIONSHIP. WITH ANOTHER  BEING.  IT IS CALLED MYSTICAL UNION.
JOHN TREATS UNION WITH THE COSMOS AS A PRELUDE TO UNION WITH THE CREATOR. JOHN WRITES OF A MYSTICAL PATH AS A CONTINUATION OF THE PROCESS OF CONVERSION, BAPTISM, EUCHRIST, TO MYSTICAL ENIGHTENMENT-
KNOWING IN THE HEBRAIC SENSE.
 THUS JOHN RECEIVED THE TITLE" THEOLOGOS" OR DIVINE=THEOLOGIAN. THIS IS ONE WHO NOT ONLY KNEW ABOUT GOD, BUT ALSO KNEW GOD.
EVELYN UNDERHILL, RESPECTED ANGLICAN LAY THEOLOGIAN, WRITES OF THE MYSTICAL PROCESS OF ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL AS PURGATION ILLUMINATION, AND UNION. TO STUDY JOHN IS TO ENGAGE A PERSONAL SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. WE MUST AVOID PRECONCEIVED ANSWERS AND SIMPLY LET THE TEXT UNFOLD THE
BACKGROUND IS INDEED GOD OF ISRAEL- THAT IS THE POINT! " IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE SAME WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD LOGOS-WORD, SAYING, SPEECH, REASON, PLAN. LOGOS WILL MAKE SOME THINK OF GOD'S WORD BY WHICH CREATION HAPPENED. OTHERS WILL SEE STOIC TEACHING OF THE LINK BETWEEN WILL AND CONCRETE CREATION. OTHERS WILL REFLECT ON WISDOM AS UNDERSTOOD BY JEWS. CF. WISDOM OF SOLOMON 7-9
AS "LOGOS" (WORD) IS INDISSOLUBLE RELATED TO GOD, IS THE ONLY LINK BETWEEN  GOD AND MAN. BY THIS WE FIND OUR PLACE IN THE COSMIC ORDER. JOHN FULLY UNDERSTANDS  HOW THE DARKNESS UNDERSTANDS THE LIGHT. THE BAPTIST POINTS FORWARD TOWARD ONE YET TO COME. END OF PART ONE.