The Prologue of St. John's Gospel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4063154 |
|---|---|
| Authors | M De Jonge, C K Barrett (0000-0003-4862-7032) |
| Year | 1974 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 64 |
| Publication date | 1974-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Vigiliae Christianae (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0042-6032 • E-ISSN: 1570-0720 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1583605 |
| OpenAlex | W2323762232 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Most of my distinguished predecessors in this lectureship have chosen to speak on some great theme in or concerning the Bible. This is undoubtedly a proper course to adopt; I propose however to follow the alternative of directing your attention to one passage in the Bible, and attempting to make some contribution to our understanding of it. No one will complain that the passage, the first eighteen verses of the Fourth Gospel, is unworthy of concentrated study. From the time when, with what looks like an odd reluctance, the gospel emerged into public use in the second century these verses, more even than the rest of this much studied book, have been at the centre of exegetical and theological debate. Irenaeus of Lyons made substantial use of them in his polemic against the Gnostics, though he was well aware of the fact that the same Gnostics were able to use the same verses for their own purposes; and precisely the same situation is neatly illustrated by Clement of Alexandria’s Extracts from (the Gnostic) Theodotus. Clement and the Valentinians alike draw heavily on the Prologue to establish their positions. Augustine in a very famous passage in the Confessions (7.9.1f.) puts his finger on the spot when he points out, perhaps not quite accurately, that much of the Prologue is to be found in Platonic writings, but adds, ‘But that the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, I did not read there... those books do not have it’. Augustine has long been followed in finding in verse 14, The Word became flesh, the centre and climax of the Prologue; we shall see reason at least to question this view―it may be that Augustine was thinking as an
Art · Biblical studies · Gospel · Literature · Prologue · Theology · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · History · Philosophy · Theology and Canon Law Studies
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,1 |
| Citation span | 1974 - 2012 (39) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |