The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel: An Introduction to John

Chapter 5: Scholarly Approaches to John

95 5 Scholarly approaches to john A pproaches to the Fourth Gospel are often divided into two larger categories: traditional and critical approaches to John. But this simplistic division fails to do justice to astute scholarship on more than one front. While it is largely true that scholarly approaches to John before the nineteenth century were fairly uniform in their appraisals, it cannot be said that they were uncritical. And, while a great number of scholarly approaches to John have developed over the last two centuries, it cannot be said that there is a general consensus about one particular way to approach the Fourth Gospel. This analysis will attempt an overview of the leading theories regarding John’s origin and development, including appraisals of each view. It will become readily apparent how each approach has attempted to address particular aspects of the Johannine riddles, albeit with varying degrees of engagement and success. As all approaches have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, appreciating both sets of features will help us address the Johannine riddles in service to meaningful interpretation of the biblical text. While many more theories of John’s composition could be included, this chapter will limit itself to a dozen leading views regarding John’s origin, character , and development, noting leading scholars who have furthered each of these views. While some approaches will be relevant regardless of who wrote the Gospel of John, some of them rely specifically on what a scholar does with the question of authorship. Put otherwise, if one believes that the Gospel of John represents an independent memory of, and reflection upon, Jesus’ ministry, that will determine the approach one takes. Conversely, if a scholar believes the Fourth Gospel cannot represent an independent tradition with its own perspective on Jesus and his 96 The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel ministry, that posture will require alternative explanations as to how the Johannine tradition came together. A third set of approaches reflects theories developed on the basis of textual features themselves, regardless of who might have written the narrative . Considering the strengths and weaknesses of these theories within each of these categories will then provide a basis for a new synthesis for which I will argue in the following chapter. The Author as the Source of the Johannine Tradition ■ The “traditional view” that John the son of Zebedee was the source of the Johannine tradition fits within the larger rubric of an individuated memory about the ministry of Jesus, which is parallel to the Markan traditions but not dependent on them. This certainly was the second-century view. John the son of Zebedee is not the only person connected with the personal source of John’s material as a firsthand witness, however. Other members of the Twelve have also been proposed for the figure of the Beloved Disciple, as well as other first-generation Christians who might not have been among the Twelve. That being the case, the following four theories represent leading approaches to the origin and development of the Johannine tradition that assume the Beloved Disciple enjoyed a firsthand relationship with Jesus, and that his memory is represented in the Johannine witness. It might be said that whoever the Evangelist might have been, he himself was the tradition! The “Traditional” View—john the Son of Zebedee as the Beloved disciple The traditional view of the Fourth Gospel, held consistently from the second century through the eighteenth century, is built on the view that the Fourth Gospel was written by John the son of Zebedee, who, after the Synoptics were written, produced his own presentation of Jesus’ ministry with its own emphases and content. He also is credited with having written the three Johannine epistles and Revelation, which alone bears the name John within the text. The Muratorian Canon (ca. 170 c.e.), an ancient list of New Testament canonical books, affirms John the son of Zebedee as the author of the Johannine Gospel and epistles as follows:1 When his [that is, John’s] fellow-disciples and bishops urged him, he said: “Fast with me from today for three days, and what will be revealed to each one let us relate to one another.” In the same night it was revealed to Andrew, one of the apostles, that, whilst all were to go over (it), John in his own name should write everything down. . . . What wonder then if John, being thus always true to himself, adduces particular points in his epistles also, where...