Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels
1. What are some of the major differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels? Briefly describe a few events and teachings in Jesus’ life that are not found in the Gospel of John.
2. How does John’s use of the Greek term logos connect Jesus with the creation account of Genesis 1 as well as the Greek principle of cosmic Reason?
3. Why did the writer of the Gospel of John compile a “Book of Signs”? briefly describe one of those signs and its meaning.
4. Identify the leaders of the Jerusalem church and the missionaries who first helped carry “the new way” into the larger world beyond the Jewish capital.
5. In recording the events of Pentecost how does Luke emphasize role of the Holy Spirit and that Christianity is a religion for all peoples? According to the author of Luke, what ancient Hebrew prophecy is fulfilled by the Spirit’s coming upon the first disciples?
6. Summarize the results of Paul’s three missionary journeys into Gentile territories. What series of events led to Paul’s arrest in Caesarea and Rome?
7. Briefly describe Paul’s transformation from a zealous Pharisee to Christianity’s first great missionary. How does the account of his conversion in Acts ch. 9 differ from his own accounts in Gal. 1:15 and I Cor. 9:1 and 15:8-9?
8. How many authentic letters of Paul are there? How many disputed and/or pseudonymous letters of Paul’s exist and what generally distinguishes the authentic letters from the disputed/pseudonymous letters.
-Word count must be at least 1,250 words for total assignment.
-Must be in APA style including in-text citation (author’s last name, year) and references.
-Must include at least 3 scholarly sources 1 being the textbook.
-Textbook: Harris, S. L. (2014). The New Testament: A Student’s Introduction (8th ed.). Dubuque: McGraw-Hill Education.
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Gospel of John
Question 1
The first difference is the length of the ministry of Jesus in the public. John suggests that the ministry of Jesus lasted about three to four years whereas the other books suggest that the gospel was only a year long. They also only describe the final journey of Jesus to Jerusalem whereas John suggests that Jesus made several journeys between Jerusalem and Galilee. The second difference is the inclusion of material in the Gospel of John that is not included in the other books. Such material includes the ministry of Jesus when he was in Galilee. The visits by Jesus to Jerusalem before the Week of the Passion are also discussed by John but such information is missing in the other books. There are several teachings of Jesus that are found in the other books but not found in the book of John. The first teaching is the Institution of the Last Supper. In the latter, the institution is discussed on several occasions whereas this is ignored or omitted altogether by John.
(1,330 words)