An Early Date for John’s Gospel?

An Early Date for John’s GospelMost scholars today assume that the Gospel of John was written toward the end of the first century, but is this conclusion really consistent with the internal and external evidence? Also, how reliable is our present copy of John? Have various passages been added or deleted over time? Joining the program to discuss these issues and more is Daniel Wallace, the executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts and author of Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics.

Show Quote:

Daniel Wallace: John says there is, in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, a pool that has five porticos. That implies both the pool and the porticos were standing when the author wrote this.

Shane Rosenthal: So, it seems to me that this is just a really awkward way to describe the area if it’s already been destroyed by the Romans, just as it would be awkward for me to say today that there is this beautiful place in New York called the World Trade Center that has these two amazing twin towers. After 2001, that just sounds really weird, doesn’t it?

Daniel Wallace: You are quite correct and I think that’s a good illustration to use here.

Term to Learn:

“How to Study the Bible”

The study of the Bible must be done with the recognition that Jesus Christ, His life, death, and resurrection, is the key to the understanding of the whole Scripture. In Christ, God’s redeeming love is preeminently revealed, the testimony to which is the heart of Scriptural revelation. This is to say that the Bible alone tells us about a God who loved the world so much that He determined to save it through His Son Jesus. We can learn much about God’s power and greatness by studying the natural world around us because He made it and His glory is reflected in it. But God’s grace, His saving mercy toward a lost world is revealed to us only in the Holy Scriptures. In fact, the knowledge of God as revealed in the Christ of the Scriptures is an absolute necessity for the understanding of God as revealed in the natural order.  (Taken from Derke Bergsma’s Redemption: The Triumph of God’s Great Plan, p. 3)

(This podcast is by White Horse Inn. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)

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