Is John a Genuine Gospel? Combined Sources or Development of Tradition?
Is John a Gospel in the same sense in which Mark, Matt, and Luke are Gospels? According to the majority view, the Synoptic Gospels had their roots in memories of what Jesus actually did and said, even though the material stemming from those memories has undergone selection, theological reflection, narrative embellishment, and simplification in the course of a preaching (and initial writing?) that separated the actual occurrences in the late 20s and the final written composition thirty to seventy years later. Is that description true also of John?
From the 2d to the 18th century that question was answered in the affirmative, with the assumption that John, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, not only supplied the memory of what had happened but also wrote it down. Thus John's Gospel was a surer guide than Mark or Luke, neither of which had been written down by an eyewitness. The differences between John and the Synoptics were explained by supposition that in his old age the apostle read the other Gospels and decided to supplement them with his own, more meditative memories.
In the last two centuries, however, a more critical mind-set recognized that there is in John not the slightest sign that its author intended a supplement, nor has he supplied any key as to how his material could be fitted together with the Synoptic material to which he makes no reference. Accordingly the majority of scholars shifted toward the position that John was not authored by an eyewitness. Initially that perception had the effect of moving the pendulum to the other extreme in relation to historicity: The material in John was now judged to have no historical value (unlike the material in the Synoptic Gospels). Within this approach it was first assumed that for information about Jesus the author of John was entirely dependent on the Synoptics from which he imaginatively reshuffled material into fictional narratives.
1. Choose one book of the New Testament and answer the following questions-
a. Who is the author?
b. What is the date for the original writing?
c. Who was the intended audience (province)?
d. Identify the purpose and primary themes of the book.