Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Introduction to The Gospel of Faith: Written by John, The Disciple Jesus Loved

John the Evangelist, by El Greco
Norma Boeckler will illustrate this book,
so I am inserting what works for now.



Introduction

Those who took the Greek class from Bethany Lutheran Church in 2017 studied the entire Gospel of John in the original text. The students asked for a book based on the lessons learned in English.

The size of books on the Gospel of John can thwart any student. Luther’s and Lenski’s commentaries are excellent in detail, vast in knowledge, but overwhelming in size. The purpose of this book is to introduce pastors and laity to the main themes of the Fourth Gospel and provide insights directly from the Greek text. English-only readers can skip the Greek section below each English part. However, those who want to learn New Testament Greek can start with Paine’s superb textbook and use the Greek portion as a guide. John’s Greek is easy and fun to learn.

The apostates declared war on the Fourth Gospel some time ago, as soon as rationalism emerged from the Pietism of Halle University. The objections from this quarter, disguised as Biblical scholarship, have set aside this wonderful document and made it suspect in any treatment of the mission of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, Savior.

St. John is clearly a Gospel assuming the reader’s knowledge of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Synoptic or seen-together Gospels. Because we already know so much of the basic narrative from the Synoptics, the Fourth Gospel emphasizes the teaching of the Savior and His purpose. This Gospel is attributed to “the disciple Jesus loved,” a modest description from the pen of John, and gives this book the highest possible authority.


St. John has three remarkable characteristics, which set it apart from the New Testament.
1.      The language is simple, basic, and the words repetitive. The best way to learn any new language is to study the Gospel of John in that language. The grammar and vocabulary will become natural by the end of the Gospel. Yale’s famous church historian, Roland Bainton, used this method to learn 20 languages on his own.
2.      The message soars above the rest, so the symbol of this Gospel is the eagle.
3.      Readers cannot escape the feeling that they are eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses to Jesus, as recorded by the Apostle. This is not to disparage the other Gospels in any way, but they are more formal, while this one is more personal.