Jesus explains particularly that he has been provided with the authority to give life and the authority to judge and these authorities are most traits of God the Father himself. Although not as important to a Jewish person, the previous logos with omniscience and omnipresence will actually plea to a Greek reader (Smalley, 1998), and also being understood by a Jewish person
Such a belief has put forward a number of interesting questions, because according to John (20:30-31), in order to obtain an eternal life one needs to have a firm believe on the fact that Christ is the son of God. The question here arises, that what should be believed by the people about Christ if they want a gift of life? Or should the people consider Jesus as their God to get a gift of eternal life? The answers to all these questions are obvious implications of one's eternal fate (Wilson, 2006)
9, which resembles Tertullian's (and Hippolytus's) use of the Johannine prologue as the paradigmatic expression of the economy of the Trinity." (Barnes 239) Omerod also feels that the Augustinian explication of this passage, as well as the rest of the Gospel is fundamental to understanding it
"It is also generally agreed that the beginning and end of the gospel stand out in some way; and so, for this and other reasons, the beginning and end are frequently referred to respectively as the prologue and epilogue." (Brodie 21) However Brodie, as do other scholars, see this as perhaps a connective literary contrivance that attempts to bring together the Old and the New Testaments
The first two words, translated "In the beginning," are identical, while the fourth word in the nominative case in each identifies the divine being. (Celsor 3) Translation and transliteration may have created more of a difference in the texts than is actually present in current version and this plus cultural variances has often plagued the minds of biblical scholars
"The Word became flesh" does not mean that the nature of God was changed into flesh, but that flesh was taken up by the Word into the unity of this Person.(Dunn 71) Pitkin also points out that the doctrine of Calvin is highly influenced by this particular passage and gospel as well, "Rather, the epistle and the Gospel focus on knowledge of Christ and of God through Christ's mediation, presenting this as saving knowledge that overcomes the world
)." (Kuehn 577) Perrin, and Duling also agree with this melodic assessment, "This imagery extends even to individual parts of the gospel
(Brodie 134) While this passage may at first appear to create some disunity from the whole of the work, its poetry is certainly part and parcel of the inspiration of the evangelical message that John attempts to put forward. While there is certainly evidence of some tradition hymn and a redaction by the author (Kysar 164) there is the creation of lasting imagery that is essential to understanding the message here: My own view is that the passage is composed of four interlocking human images with an expansion of the last of those images, followed by an explicitly theological image… I mean to suggest that we understand genre only after the structure and unity or disunity of the passage is considered
God may be seen as speaking his Word in and through these actions. (O'Leary 168) This phenomenological approach opens up a different understanding of Jesus from the and create a more intimate and personal relationship with God that will later take form in Christ's redemptive approach to the salvation of mankind
I do not think it is stretching things too far to suggest that Augustine is making connections between his exploration in the interior realm with fundamental Christian religious experience, mediated through Scriptures. We are to "seek his face evermore" (Ormerod 777) One of the earliest supporters of this prologue was Pope Leo the Great (440-461 CE), whose own personal prose style has been called rhythmic and poetic in itself had great respect for the prologue: Leo stated his belief in the unchanging divine nature in Jesus after the Incarnation a number of times… In one instance, quite explicitly, he offered an explanation of the Johannine prologue to support this
5) * See Appendix I for an original manuscript page John 1 The gospel itself in broken up by most scholars into five main section, The Introduction, which contains the prologue (above) and the testimony of John to Jesus; The Book of Signs; Farewell Discourses and Prayer for the Church; the Passion Narrative; and the Epilogue: The Appearance of Jesus in Galilee. (Perrin and Duling 347) Perrin and Duling further comment on the nature of the hymn as true prologue: The hymn itself presents features foreign to the gospel -- in the gospel after the prologue Jesus is never called the Logos nor is the phrase grace and truth found -- but its presentation of Jesus as the preexistent redeemer who manifested his glory in the world matches exactly the major aspects of the gospel's presentation of Jesus
" (Brodie 21) However Brodie, as do other scholars, see this as perhaps a connective literary contrivance that attempts to bring together the Old and the New Testaments. "It is connected, obviously, to the question of the relationship between the two testaments, and it raises a difficult problem: how can a steadfast God, having solemnly established what seems to be a permanent covenant, inaugurate an order that is quite new?" (Brodie 243) This broad question is certainly of paramount concern to biblical and Talmudic Scholars (Pitkin 96) and perhaps it was John's intention to answer just such a question through a more creative understanding of the process
The punishment for following Christ in the Johannine community was persecution and being excommunicated from the community -- the people are, however, cautioned against not following Christ (the light) because then, they risk stumbling and failing to attain salvation (11: 35). Discipleship, therefore, is profiled as being of the domain of light (Kilgour, 2000)
This is because his actions -- telling everyone that it was Jesus, the Prophet (9: 17) and the Man of God (9: 33) who had healed him- convinced the Pharisees that he indeed was a disciple of Christ. Secondly, a true disciple ought to demonstrate faith in Christ and to recognize His true identity -- the man placed his faith in Jesus for both physical and spiritual healing; he recognizes him as 'the prophet' and the 'Son of God' (9: 17, 33) (Merwe, 2003)
Thirdly, a true disciple must be willing to bear the cost of discipleship, in this case, persecution (9: 22). Members of the Johannine community are reminded that they stand to face rejection for proclaiming Jesus' name; true discipleship, however, is about bearing witness to Christ and facing persecution, while still having faith that God will deliver you (Painter, 2015)