Gospel of John, Chapter 1:1

The Gospel of St. John, the beloved disciple, is different from the other three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. By the year 200 A.D; St. John’s Gospel was called the spiritual Gospel because it tells the story of Jesus in a meditative way that differs sharply form the other three Gospels.

St. John’s Gospel was written much later that the synoptic Gospels (eyewitness accounts), and he is the first of the evangelists to incorporate the main philosophical idea of the day into his Gospel. Thus, St. John adopts the notion of the word in Stoic philosophy, and applies it to Christ. In Stoic philosophy, the word signified essential or ultimate reality; and for St. John, this ultimate reality is Christ. He is “the Word” that was “with God,” and “was God” (John 1:1).

Theology is the union of faith and reason. God has given us two great gifts; the gift of faith and the gift of reason; and it is only right that we use reason to understand faith. This is what St. John does at the beginning of his Gospel; he conveys the Christian teaching about Christ in the context of contemporary philosophy. There are other theological terms, not found among the literal words of Christ in the New Testament that is accepted within our Christian tradition as authentic doctrines. Examples of such terms are:

1. Original sin which is used to explain the Biblical story of mankind’s falls from grace.

2. Holy Trinity which explains the New Testament account of the three persons of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Purgatory, a more controversial doctrine as far as some Christian denominations are concerned, which describes the intermediary or Remedial State of preparation before entry into eternal happiness.

St. Paul states that our God is a rational God. The universe that God created operates by cause and effect which reinforces the idea of God’s rationality. We are created as rational beings in the image of God. Everything in the Bible and in the universe has to make sense to be consistent with the providence of God. So, don’t be afraid to use the gift of reason to understand the scriptures. Theology, as St. Anslem says, is faith seeking understanding; and this implies using reason to understand revelation. That is why St. John says at the beginning of his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Fr. Hugh Duffy

* * DO NOT MISS TOMORROW’S BLOG * *