Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus

Paul N. Anderson is Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University. He is a founding member of the 'John, Jesus, and History' Consultation at the National Society of Biblical Literature meetings.

"...Anderson has offered an interesting volume which includes many valuable insights and a welcome challenge to the critical consensus in John-Synoptic studies. At many points, the book rightly exposes the manner in which much critical scholarship can become so entrenched in its own orthodoxy that it fails to consider other alternatives that are on the table...this volume makes a positive contribution to the areas of John-Synoptic studies and should be read by all those interested in joining the dialogue." —Michael J. Kruger, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, March 2008

• Preface Part I Modern Foundations for the Critical Investigation of John, Jesus, and History A. The Story of John's Historical Marginalization 1) The Traditional View and its Advocates-From Papias to Schleiermacher; 2) Modern Challenges and Advances-From Brettschneider to Bultmann; 3) Critiques of Modern Hypotheses-From Lightfoot to Carson; 4) The Transcendence of Modernism-From Brown to Staley B. Findings as Beginnings-Recent Approaches to the Fourth Gospel 1) The "Traditional" View: John's Apostolic Authorship; 2) The "Critical" View: John's Employment of Alien (non-Johannine) Sources; 3) Markan-Dependence Theory; 4) Midrashic-Development Approaches; 5) Historicized Drama Hypotheses 6) Multiple Editions of John; 7) The History of the Johannine Situation. C. A New Synthesis Advanced Part II John, Jesus, and History-The Relevance of the Investigation A. Planks in Platform A: The De-Historicizing of John-Strengths and Weaknesses 1) John's Differences with the Synoptics; 2) Synoptic Omissions in John; 3) Johannine Omissions in the Synoptics; 4) The Johannine Jesus Speaks and Acts in the Mode of the Evangelist; 5) The Johannine Material is Rendered in Response to the History of the Johannine Situation; 6) The Johannine Evangelist Spiritualizes and Theologizes According to His Purposes B. Planks in Platform B: The De-Johannification of Jesus-Strengths and Weaknesses 1) John's Similarities with the Synoptics-Especially Mark; 2) John's Composition: Diachronic or Synchronic?; 3) The Lateness of John Diminishes Historical Validity; 4) Criteria for Determining Historicity; 5) The History of Religions Background of John; 6) Emerging Portraits of Jesus Conclusion Part III John and the Synoptics-From Inferiority to Interfluentiality A. Approaches to the Problem 1) John as Derivative From the Synoptics; 2) John as Independent of the Synoptics; 3) The Posteriority of John; 4) The Priority of John; 5) An Autonomous-Yet-Not-Disconnected Tradition B. John's Relation to Mark: Interfluential, Augmentive, and Corrective 1) John and Mark: An "Interfluential Set of Relationships" during the Oral Stages of their Respective Traditions; 2) John's Augmentation of Mark; 3) John's Correcting of Mark? C. John's Influence upon Luke: Formative, "Orderly," and Theological 1) John's Formative Influence Upon Luke; 2) Does John Provide a Basis for Luke's "Orderly" Account?; 3) Did the Johannine Tradition Contribute to Luke's Theology?; 4) Acts 4:19-20-A First-Century Clue to Johannine Authorship? D. Contacts Between John and Q? 1) The "Bolt out of the Johannine Blue"-Johannine Influence upon Q; 2) Johannine Motifs Appearing in Q; 3) Johannine Narratives Appearing in Q E. John's Relation to Matthew: Reinforcing, Dialectical, and Corrective 1) Matthean and Johannine Sectors of Christianity: Reinforcing Each Other's Missions and Tasks; 2) Dialectical Relations Between Johannine Christianity and Intramural Centralizing Tendencies; 3) The Finalized Gospel of John: A Corrective to Rising Institutionalism in the Late First-Century Church Conclusion Part IV Jesus in Bi-Optic Perspective-Contributions to the Jesus Quest from Synoptic and Johannine Sources A. Synoptic Contributions to the Quest for the Jesus of History 1) Jesus' teachings about the Kingdom of God in parables; 2) Jesus' use of short, pithy sayings illustrating the wisdom and way of the Kingdom; 3) Jesus' healing and exorcizing ministries and his sending out his disciples to do the same; 4) Jesus' confronting of religious authorities and cleansing the Temple as prophetic challenging of purity laws restricting access to God; 5) Jesus' dining with "sinners" and healing on the Sabbath as provocations toward renewal; 6) Jesus' extolling the love of God and love for others as fulfillments of the Law; 7) Jesus' death and appearances as narrated in post-resurrection consciousness B. Johannine Contributions to the Quest for the Jesus of History 1) Jesus' relationship with John the Baptizer in declaring the prolific availability of purification; 2) Jesus' early cleansing of the Temple as an inaugural prophetic sign designed to get the attention of religious authorities and others regarding his message; 3) Jesus' ministry over more than one year, allowing the movement to build momentum; 4) Jesus' public ministry beginning in settings other than the home of Simon Peter's mother-in-law and vicinities; 5) Jesus' going to and from Jerusalem, like most observant Jews, and performing signs in the south as well as the north; 6) Jesus' last supper being a common meal rather than a Passover meal 7) Jesus' teaching about the life of the Spirit and unmediated access to God's leading and love Part V Modern Foundations Reconsidered- Implications for the Critical Investigation of John, Jesus, and History A. John's Tradition-Rooted in History but Developed Theologically B. Johannine Contributions to the Study of Jesus-Unexamined Possibilities