The following videos introduce the Gospel of John: how it compares to the Synoptic Gospels, how it is structured, and how the themes introduced in the beginning overlap and build toward their climax in the passion narrative. John's high Christology is introduced against the spectrum of early Christian views, with particular attention to the docetic heresy evidenced in the gnostic gospels. John shares some tendencies with these gnostic texts, but we can see in his prologue that he remains squarely in the developing orthodox teaching that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Use the links to the right to access pdf files of the slides shown in class. Two formats are available: 1 slide per page and three slides per page.
The videos often have a bit more information, and a few more slides, than I show in our class or include in the slide files above. That's because they were made for classes in the Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries at Santa Clara University. At the bottom of the page, I provide links to the video pages for those courses, in case you're interested in learning more about the New Testament.
The videos below are thumbnails; to enlarge the view, click the play button and select at the bottom of the frame either "YouTube" (to watch the video on YouTube, which in some cases will be clearer) or the full-screen icon ().
1
A Comparison of John and the Synoptics This video traces some of the differences of structure, detail and emphasis between John's gospel and the synoptic tradition, even allowing for some intriguing similarities between John and Mark. It introduces the unique signs source, or semeia quelle, behind John's gospel.
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2
Structure, Signs & Symbolism in John This video introduces the structure of the Gospel of John, focusing on the first half of the gospel—the Prologue and the "Book of Signs" (John 1:1–12:50). John's technique of signaling themes central to the gospel in his Prologue, and then layering these themes in the signs and discourses that follow, is explored as a narrative technique that builds to the revelation of the true nature of the Word made flesh—an identity that will be made manifest in the glorification of the cross.
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3
The Book of Glory This video explores the Book of Glory in John's Gospel, probing how specific passages echo the themes that John introduced in the prologue and developed in the seven signs of the first half of the gospel. Special attention is paid to the resonance of the first of those signs—the turning of water to wine at Cana—with unique features of John's crucifixion scene.
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4
Context & Christology in John's Gospel This video takes the themes we identified in the Book of Signs and Book and Glory and imagines the pastoral context and issues that might have given rise to these emphases. It then explores the somewhat unique Christology of John's gospel, noting characteristic titles John uses for Jesus and Jesus' habit of speaking of his own identify in "I am" sayings.
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5
Christologies in the Early Church This video traces a spectrum of early Christian beliefs in who Christ was—a topic we call "Christology." It defines the two ends of that spectrum as "low" and "high" Christology, and offers examples of early Christian beliefs at both ends, placing the canonical gospels and a few other gospels along that spectrum. It discusses the fact that John's gospel demonstrates such a high Christology that it almost didn't make it into the canon when those discussions occurred in the second century, but demonstrates in a brief comparison of John and the gnostic Gospel of Thomas why John's Christology was judged more orthodox.
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6
The Canon & the Apocrypha This video defines the terms "canon" and "apocrypha," and explains why, when, and by what criteria the Church settled on its official list. It explores how the decision to limit the official canon to four gospels was the product of theological debates over the nature of Christ and decisions about what teachings were true, early and edifying.
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7
Gnostic Gospels & Theological Themes This video introduces the great manuscript discoveries of the last 120 years that revealed the literature of the various gnostic groups. It explores some of the central issues at stake in gnostic traditions, and explains how these are adaptations of the same neoplatonic philosophical concepts that the orthodox church embraced.
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For additional videos about the gospels, see the "Lecture Videos" pages associated with my courses at Santa Clara University on The Synoptic Gospels and The New Testament.
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