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Biblical scholars see parallels between the opening of John's gospel
and the first chapter of Genesis (1st book of the Bible). This begins with the creation of the
universe or cosmos "In the beginning" when God says "Let
there be light." It must
surely be a wonder that the early poet that expressed this got it 'so right'
The cosmology of the "Big Bang" also shows that the cosmos began
with an explosion of light, that is, of light photons. John introduces the figure of Jesus and
his theology in terms of the originating light of creation. At the same time he continues on, both
from the position of Paul in the Acts
of the Apostles and the position of Luke the writer of Acts who has continued to develop
the theology of the three previous gospels.
Paul saw that faith in 'the way' of Jesus Christ, took Judaism
into a kind of 'quantum leap', that is, onto a new level of social
organisation. In John's opening
chapter there is again an echo of the 'minimisation of law' as put
forward by James, (in Acts). There
is a reference to 'blood' c/f observance of the fifth commandment 'thou
shalt not kill', then
"flesh" c/f the sixth commandment 'thou shalt not commit
adultery' and then 'the will of a man' c/f (loosely) observance of the
seventh commandment 'thou shalt not steal' (e.g. through the
imposition of unjust business practices).
Mark, the first gospel writer who historically, came after the
initial impact of Paul, collected the stories and teaching of Jesus. One assumes this was done within in the
framework of church leadership. His initial structure was further developed
by the gospel
writers to follow.
Throughout the gospels and Acts Jesus was described as a 'Nazarene' which, in popular
parlance, meant 'a community builder.'
In the first three gospels there is an attempt to put together the
'nuts and bolts' of the construction of a Christian society as originally
set up by Jesus. To illustrate,
Mark puts forward the definitions of a society based upon Law and a
society based upon Order. Then,
Matthew sets out a detailed description of the construction of a society that is based
upon Law. In a similar way Luke
sets out the construction of a society that is based upon Order. After this Luke develops in Acts a theology which enables a
community to draw these two differing types of societies together. Luke does this by his descriptions of
the problems, theology and direction that was
taken in the early years of the emerging church.
How does Luke do this? In Acts
Luke demonstrates that a type of living authority in fact can exist in a
cross section of society. So the church, while still basing itself on
authorisation, can move beyond the legalistic structures of Judaism. Luke then demonstrates that a 'living
voice' can counter the 'loud voice' of the totalitarianism into which a
place-based society can lapse. The 'living voice' or 'living word' introduced by
Luke also exists in a cross section of society. He shows how a whole range of people can provide
support to an individual just as a whole range of people provided support
to the Apostle Paul. They did this
within their own realm of authority and with their own voice as Paul
endeavoured to take the gospel further afield
towards Rome.
John picks up on the theology of 'the Living Authority' and 'the
Living Voice' as introduced by Luke in his Acts of the Apostles.
He shows how these "things" were to be found within the
historical person of Jesus. And, they continue on in a pervading presence
of the Cosmic Christ. John introduces
a reader to the sense of a Cosmic Christ.
"Living Authority" and the "Living Word" also
continue on within the nucleus of the disciples of Jesus as they gather
and as they re-enact the fusion of time and place that are to be
identified with him.
John the gospel writer is also dealing with the aim of Acts which is an attempt to sort
out how two differing types of
societies can be brought together 'under the one roof'.' In the Section B of John's gospel
(c/f Reality Search) the writer
is addressing in
particular the Gentile converts to Christianity. He demonstrates to them
in particular that there is a Living Authority within the person of
Jesus. He shows the qualities of such authority. In Section C of the gospel the writer
addresses in particular and often harshly, the Jewish converts to
Christianity. He shows how 'the
Living voice or Word' is identified with Jesus. He shows what the
qualities of 'the Living Word' are.
It is the two factors of the 'Living Authority' and the
'Living Word' which enable the followers of Jesus to identify with him in
turn and further his presence into the world and into the future.
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