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Name:

Stephen T. Adair
Student ID Number:
2060329784
Email Address:
adair.steve@gmail.com
Course Name:
The Gospel of John
Course Number:
NT 634 ISR103
Assignment Number:
Assignment 5
Audio Number:
N/A
Project Number:
N/A
Date of seminar (if applicable):
N/A
Course instructor for seminar (if applicable):
Location of seminar (if applicable):
N/A
**The Module Number, Audio Number (if applicable), and Project Number (if
applicable) must be accurate in order to process the lesson and record the grade. The
correct information is stated in the Course Study Guide.
--------------------------------------------------------------Study Guide Code/Date/Version
found on the first page of the Study Guide:
20090910
Degree Program:
MA in Biblical Studies
Address:
PO Box 2132
City:
Mossel Bay
State:
Western Cape
Zip:
6500
Country:
South Africa
Telephone:
+27 44 690 5133
--------------------End of Coversheet-------------------PLEASE TYPE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS LESSON SUBMISSION AS
THEY APPEAR IN YOUR STUDY GUIDE HERE

REFLECTION PAPER (No points assigned but required. Pass/Fail)


Complete Assignments 1-4 before you begin Assignment 5. In a reflection
of ca. 500-750 words, answer the question if, and if yes, how your
understanding of John has changed after this course and how your view of
this Gospel can become relevant for your ministry context.

INTRODUCTION
This paper is a reflection of my experience arising through the study of the Gospel of John.
New insights into the Gospel are highlighted together with new questions that were raised
through the course of the study program. Finally, thoughts on how the study may influence
future ministry are shared.

NEW INSIGHTS
The study of the Gospel of John has been a very informative course, giving a new opportunity
to explore one of the seminal works of the New Testament.
Exploring the use of logos in the Johannine prologue brought several new insights to the
passage, particularly through the works of Dodd 1, Phillips2 and Ronning3, providing a very
good understanding, not only of the prologue, but of the Gospel message as a whole.
Phillips work was interesting. I was initially very sceptical about reader-response techniques
(even Phillips himself appears to express some doubts himself in his conclusion he says
even though we have attempted to use a sequential reading of the text, there are times when

Dodd, C. H., Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Cambridge University Press, 1953.
Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume 294 of Library
of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006.
3
Ronning, J., The Jewish Targums and Johns Logos Theology, Hendrickson Pub., 2010.
2

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this seemed to be a rather superficial process 4), however, I found myself agreeing with much
of his final conclusion; viz. that John employed the term Logos as a means of making the
Gospel message amenable to those outside the Christian community by employing a term that
resonated well with several different schools of philosophical and religious thinking,
including the Jews, the Greeks and the Gnostics.
A major insight was the fact that most scholars appear to look for an influence upon John
which may be shown to show a precedent for associated Logos with the incarnation. All
authors appear to fall short of establishing this link. It was noted that whilst John does employ
similarities with respect to the Logos with several schools of religious and philosophical
thought, he also expresses some clear distinctions. It should be noted that similarity is not the
same as dependency. Whilst John may have borrowed the language of the Logos, he also
redefines the term, associating it with the real person Jesus Christ, His divinity and His eternal
existence.
One factor that no-one appears to address adequately is the influence of Jesus Christ himself
on John. John spent three years intimately involved with Jesus, observing His ministry and
witnessing first hand His miracles. For me at least, this would have had much more impact
upon his thinking than any amount of Greek, Roman or Jewish religious or philosophical
thought.
A re-look at the re-instatement of Peter in John 21 and at the use of the love language
provided an opportunity to subject the passage to much deeper academic rigour, allowing me
to re-confirm earlier ideas and gain much more confidence in my understanding of the
account.

Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume 294 of Library
of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006, p224.
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NEW QUESTIONS
One question that was raised in my mind during this study was the question of whether
Johannine studies have reached a saturation point. There is simply so much research
concerning the Fourth Gospel that most research seems to concern itself not with an analysis
of the Fourth Gospel per se, but with an analysis of other research of the Fourth Gospel.
Phillips work is a bit of fresh air, as he at least seeks to address the text of the Gospel directly,
rather than the view of a previous researcher. However, Phillips work itself is at times rather
laboured and long winded.

MINISTRY IMPLICATIONS
Study of the Fourth Gospel has served to raise once again the profile of the book in my mind,
and certainly has prompted clear thoughts on teaching opportunities from the text. In fact, I
am currently running a support group for drug addicts in recovery, and have been taking the
weekly inspiration word from the Gospel of John. The people in the group appear to really
appreciate the lessons found in this book, and one member has taken on responsibility to
study the book himself and bring the inspirational word himself once in a while.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dodd, C. H., Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Cambridge University Press,


1953.
Phillips, P. M., The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel: A Sequential Reading, Volume
294 of Library of New Testament studies, T & T Clark, Continuum International
Publishing Group, 2006.
Ronning, J., The Jewish Targums and Johns Logos Theology, Hendrickson Pub.,
2010.

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