1:1-18

In our Life group meeting this week we studied John 1:1-18, The Word Made Flesh, which begins and ends with an affirmation of Jesus’ deity.

At the end of our previous study, I’d given the group the DIG and REFLECT questions from The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups (Zondervan Publishing House, 1988) to guide them in preparing for the study. Here is what I can remember from our discussion of them augmented by comments from my answers to the questions in my personal study of the passage.

DIG:

1. Why does this gospel begin “in the beginning” rather than at Jesus’ birth? This gospel begins “in the beginning” instead of at Jesus’ birth to affirm his being eternal and thus implying his being God.
2. What facts about “the Word” can you find in verses 1-5? Verses 10-18? [Include facts about who or what the Word is and facts about what the Word does.] Facts about the Word in verses 1-5 are: he was in the beginning, he was with God, he was God, all things were made through him, life was in him, and he was the light of men. Facts about the Word in verses 10-18 are: he was in the world, the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him, he came to his own (the Jews), his own did not receive him, to all who received him he gave the right to become children of God, he became flesh, he dwelt among us, we saw his glory, he came from the Father, he was full of grace and truth, he surpassed John the Baptist (according to John the Baptist), we have all received one blessing after another from the fullness of his grace, grace and truth came through him, he has made known God.
3. What is John the Baptist’s role as a witness? John testified about the light (Jesus) so that through him all might believe. Note that the Gospel just refers to John the Baptist as “John,” a clue that the Gospel was written by the other John, John the Apostle.
4. Who or what fails to comprehend the light (verses 5, 10, 11)? Why? The darkness, the world, and the Word’s own people (Israel) failed to comprehend the light. “Comprehend” comes from the KJV; the NIV has “understood” in the text and “overcome” in a footnote.
5. From the image of “receiving” someone (verse 12), how would you explain what faith is about? What is the result of this type of faith? Faith in Jesus is believing in him as the Son of God, and the result of this type of faith is becoming children of God and (20:31) having eternal life.
6. How would someone “full of grace and truth” treat others? In light of that, why are John (verse 15) and Moses (verse 17) given “second-billing”? [My study Bibles note that “grace and truth” echoes the “love and faithfulness” which Moses attributes to God in Exodus 34:6.] Someone “full of grace and truth” would treat others with love. In light of that John the Baptist and Moses are given “second-billing” because they just bore witness to Jesus. I added that they emphasized punishment for disobeying God’s law but Jesus brought grace and truth.
7. From this passage, how can a person come to know God? From this passage, a person can come to know God by believing in Jesus.

REFLECT:

1. How much have you allowed Jesus to “dwell” with you? Are you keeping him at the door? In the living room? Or have you given him the keys? Why? We didn’t share our answers to this question.
2. What strikes you most about Jesus in this passage? Why? We gave different answers to this question. A couple said that what struck them most was that Jesus was made flesh. I said that what struck me most was that he is/was both God and human.

6. Aquinas’s Summa Theologica – Treatise on the Last End

“Aquinas’ assertion of a transcendental end of human activity seems quite radical and revolutionary when we first hear it. Man’s ultimate good, the final end of human activity, says Aquinas, is the God of the Bible, who was revealed to man in the history of the Jewish people and in the life and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth. Universal ethical questions are answered in terms of a particular religious faith, Christianity–a faith based not on the poetic myths or rational speculation of men but on truths believed to be handed down by God Himself through a special revelation.” (Mortimer J. Adler and Seymour Cain, Ethics: The Study of Moral Values, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1962, pages 89-90)

The above comes from Adler and Cain’s introduction to their guide to “Treatise on the Last End” in Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica. Volume 19 of Great Books of the Western World (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952) contains the translation of The Summa Theologica by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. The same translation of it is provided at https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1225-1274,Thomas_Aquinas,_Summa_Theologiae%5B1%5D,_EN.pdf. In “Treatise on the Last End” Aquinas considers five questions: I. Of Man’s Last End (Aquinas identifies man’s last end as happiness); II. Of Those Things in Which Man’s Happiness Consists; III. What Is Happiness?; IV. Of Those Things Required for Happiness; V. Of the Attainment of Happiness.

Mortimer J. Adler and various co-authors provide guides to six parts of Summa Theologica in The Great Ideas Program (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959-63), which I’ll give links to my reviews of them below. Here I’ll summarize briefly the first four sections of Adler and Cain’s guide to “Treatise on the Last End” in volume 8 of The Great Ideas Program (Ethics: The Study of Moral Law) and present and comment on the questions which they ask in the fifth section of their guide. Section I describes the structure of Summa Theologica. Section II explains how Aquinas follows Aristotle and how he departs from him. Section III summarizes Questions I to III of “Treatise of the Last End.” Section IV summarizes Questions IV and V of “Treatise of the Last End.”

These are the questions asked in Section V and for some of them Adler and Cain’s elaboration of them and/or my comments on them:

• How does Aquinas’ view on happiness compare with Epictetus’?
• Is Aquinas’ evaluation of contemplation in conformity with Biblical faith? Adler and Cain open their elaboration of the question by stating and asking, “In most cases it is easy to see how such a principle as ‘Render to each his due’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is relevant to everyday life. But how does the idea of the beatific vision serve in guiding human conduct?” (page 101)
• What is the mode of apprehension of the beatific vision? Adler and Cain ask, “Would you say that, in Aquinas’ view, the beatific view is like the apprehension that follows a step-by-step rational demonstration of truth–as in mathematics?” and “Or is the beatific vision more like immediate experience or intuitive apprehension than rational knowledge in the common sense?” (page 102)
• Is love of neighbor prior or consequential to love of God? Adler and Cain state, “Aquinas says that love of neighbor ‘results from perfect love of God” and ask, “Is this the actual process in human experience, or do men come to know and love God through knowing and loving God?” and “Can love of God and love of neighbor be separated in the Christian faith?” (pages 102-03)
• Is man necessitated, or free, to choose happiness, according to Aquinas? Adler and Cain open their discussion of this question with, “In the Prologue to this reading, Aquinas says that man has free choice and controls his own action. However, throughout the reading he speaks of a ‘natural desire’ for happiness, and at one point he says that the will ‘is ordered of natural necessity to the last end.’ Is Aquinas guilty of contradiction here, or may both moral freedom and natural necessity be present at the same time?” (page 103)

The Great Ideas Program includes five readings from Summa Theologica besides “Treatise on the Last End.” The first four are reviewed at:

• https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2017/04/14/thomas-aquinass-summa-theologica/. It considers part of “Treatise on Law.”
• https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2018/06/22/6-aquinas-summa-theologica/. It shows how Aquinas synthesized Greek thought and Christian revelation.
• https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2023/03/06/6-aquinass-summa-theologica/. It considers Aquinass’ treatment of natural law in “Treatise on Law.”
• https://opentheism.wordpress.com/2023/03/06/7-aquinass-summa-theologica/. It considers Aquinas’s treatment of human law in “Treatise on Law.”
  I’ll review the fifth when I work through volume 10, Philosophy.

A sketch of Aquinas’s life and a description of the structure of Summa Theologica appear in the second and the third of the readings listed. My opinion of Summa Theologica appears in the first of the readings listed. To it I’ll add here on “The Treatise of the Last End” that to me it seems to be more an expression of Aristotle’s thought with a few Scriptures thrown in than a mix of Aristotle’s and Biblical thought.

Introduction to John

Yesterday evening the Life group that meets at Leonora’s and my home began a study of the Gospel of John by considering what its author says about himself and about the purpose of the book in John 21:20, 24-25, 30-31. Below are the passages, the questions that I asked about them, and what I remember of how we answered them.

[John 21:29, 24-25 NIV] 20 Then Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them [Jesus and Peter]…. 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

How does verse 20 describe the writer? Verse 20 describes the writer as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Other passages in the Gospel of John which refer to the disciple whom Jesus loved are: 13:21-30, Jesus’ prediction of his betrayal by Judas Iscariot; 19:25-27, Jesus’ commitment of the care of Mary to that disciple; 20:1-10, the discovery that the tomb which Jesus had been buried in was empty; 21:1-14, a miraculous catch of fish . A comparison of them and their parallels in the other Gospels indicates that the phrase refers to John, the son of Zebedee, who isn’t referred to by name in the Gospel of John, and this identification is supported by tradition. [Except for the opening sentence, I contributed the preceding. I also gave the group a sheet summarizing the life of John, a copy of which follows this report on the meeting.]

What does verse 24 tell us about the writer besides that he was the writer? Verse 24 tells us that the writer testified or witnessed the things that he wrote about in the Gospel of John. This confirms that he was one of the twelve apostles.

What information does verse 25 add? Verse 25 adds that Jesus did many things besides those described in the Gospel of John. This tells us that the writer didn’t intend the Gospel of John to be a complete biography of Jesus.

[John 20:30-31 NIV] 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In verse 30 what does Jesus call the miracles recorded in the Gospel of John, and what does this designation indicate about them? Jesus calls the miracles recorded in the Gospel of John “signs,” and this designation emphasizes their significance rather than their being marvellous. They are: 1. changing water into wine, 2:1-11; 2. healing an official’s son, 4:43-54; 3. healing an invalid at the pool called Bethesda, 5:1-15; 4. feeding the 5,000, 6:1-14; 5. walking on water, 6:16-21; 6. healing a man born blind, 9:1-12; 7. raising Lazarus from the dead, 1:1-44; and 8. a miraculous catch of fish, 21:1-14 [I contributed this list] The other Gospels record numerous other miracles that Jesus performed.

What does verse 31 give as the purpose of the Gospel of John’s recording these miracles? Verse 31 says that the purpose of the Gospel of John’s recording these miracles was that its readers would believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God and thus that they would receive eternal life. “Messiah” means “the anointed one” and was used by the Jews in Jesus’ time to refer to an end-time king anointed and empowered by God to rescue them from their enemies and establish His righteous kingdom, and “the Son of God” refers to God’s “one and only Son” of John 3:16 [I contributed these definitions.]

John the Apostle

John the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman, and Salome, possibly a sister of Mary (the mother of Jesus), and the brother of another apostle, James. He, James, and Peter formed an informal group of three among the apostles. Jesus allowed them to be present at three particular occasions in his public ministry: the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Tradition identifies him with the disciple whom Jesus loved, who alone among the apostles remained near Jesus at the crucifixion and to whom Jesus committed the care of Mary.
After Jesus’ ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, John took a prominent part with Peter in the founding and guidance of the Church. He was present with Peter at the healing of the lame man at Solomon’s Porch in the Temple, he was thrown into prison with Peter, and he went with Peter to visit the new believers in Samaria. In Galatians Paul describes John, Peter, and James the brother of Jesus as “pillars” of the church and refers to their recognizing his preaching of a gospel free from Jewish Law to the Gentiles.
According to tradition John and the other apostles remained in Judea until the persecution of Christians under Herod Agrippa I (reigned 41-44 AD) led to the scattering of Christians. Also according to tradition John went to Ephesus after the passing of Mary. According to Irenaeus John wrote his Gospel, his three letters, and Revelation at Ephesus and died there. According to Tertullian John was plunged into boiling oil from which he miraculously escaped unharmed. The Church Fathers testify that John outlived the other apostles and was the only one of them to die of natural causes.
John is traditionally held to be the author of the Gospel of John, the three epistles bearing his name, and the book of Revelation. Although modern critical scholars disagree with that tradition, I agree with it.

The following passages in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Acts, and Galatians refer to John by name.
Jesus Calls the Disciples Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20 (cf. Luke 5:2-11; John 1:35-42)
Jesus Heals Many Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34 (cf. Luke 4:38-41)
Jesus Appoints the Twelve Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:12-16
Jesus Heals Jairus’ Daughter Mark 5:22-43; Luke 8:40-56 (cf. Matthew 9:18-26)
The Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13 (cf. Luke 9:28-36)
Not Against Us Is For Us Mark 9:38-41 (cf. Luke 9:49-50)
Samaritans Reject Jesus Luke 9:51-56
Request of James and John Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-45
Signs of the End Times Mark 13:1-37 (cf. Matthew 24:1-51; Luke 21:5-36)
Preparation for the Passover Luke 22:7-13 (cf. Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16)
In Gethsemane Mark 14:32-42 (cf. Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:40-46)
In the Upper Room Acts 1:12-14
The Lame Beggar Healed Acts 3-4 (John named seven times)
Visit to a City of Samaria Acts 8:14-25
James Martyred Acts 12:1-4
A Pillar of the Church Galatians 2:1-10

Postscript to Introduction

I plan to use the DIG and REFLECTION questions given in The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups (Zondervan Publishing House, 1988) as a basis for our Life group study of the Gospel of John. My doing so means that we’ll also use its outline of the Gospel (see below). We’ll usually do a topic from the outline in an evening, but sometimes we’ll do more than one topic in an evening.

1:1-18 The Word Became Flesh
1:19-34 – John the Baptist Denies Being the Christ (1:19-28) & Jesus the Lamb of God (1:29-34)
1:35-50 – Jesus’ First Disciples (1:35-42) & Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael (1:43-51)
2:1-11 Jesus Changes Water to Wine
2:12-25 Jesus Clears the Temple
3:1-21 Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
3:22-36 John the Baptist’s Testimony About Jesus
4:1-26 Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
4:27-42 – The Disciples Rejoin Jesus (4:27-38) & Many Samaritans Believe (4:39-42)
4:43-54 Jesus Heals the Official’s Son
5:1-15 The Healing at the Pool
5:16-30 Life Through the Son
5:31-47 Testimonies About Jesus
6:1-15 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
6:16-24 Jesus Walks on the Water
6:25-59 Jesus the Bread of Life
6:60-71 Many Disciples Desert Jesus
7:1-13 Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles
7:14-24 Jesus Teaches at the Feast
7:25-44 Is Jesus the Christ?
7:45-52 Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders
7:53-8:11 Woman Caught in Adultery
8:12-30 The Validity of Jesus’ Testimony
8:31-41 The Children of Abraham
9:1-12 Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9:13-34 The Pharisees Investigate the Healing
9:35-41 Spiritual Blindness
10:1-21 The Shepherd and His Flock
10:22-42 The Unbelief of the Jews
11:1-16 The Death of Lazarus
11:17-44 – Jesus Comforts the Sisters (11:17-37) & Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead (11:38-44)
11:45-57 The Plot to Kill Jesus
12:1-11 Jesus Anointed at Bethlehem
12:12-19 The Triumphal Entry
12:20-36 Jesus Predicts His Death
12:37-50 The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief
13:1-17 Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
13:18-30 Jesus Predicts His Betrayal
13:31-38 Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
14:1-14 – Jesus Comforts the Disciples (14:1-4) & Jesus the Way to the Father (14:5-14)
14:15-31 Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15:1-16:4 – The Vine and the Branches (15:1-17) & The World Hates the Disciples (15:18-16:4)
16:5-16 The Work of the Holy Spirit
16:17-33 The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
17:1-26 – Jesus Prays for Himself (17:1-5) & Jesus Prays for His Disciples (17:6-19) & Jesus Prays for All Believers (17:21-26)
18:1-14 – Jesus Arrested (18:1-11) & Jesus Taken to Annas (18:12-14)
18:15-27 – Peter’s First Denial (18:15-18) & The High Priest Questions Jesus (18:19-24) & Peter’s Second and Third Denials (18:25-27)
18:28-40 Jesus Before Pilate
19:1-16a Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified
19:16b-37 – The Crucifixion (16b-27) & The Death of Jesus (16:28-37)
19:38-42 The Burial of Jesus
20:1-9 The Empty Tomb
20:10-18 Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
20:19-31 – Jesus Appears to His Disciples (20:19-23) & Jesus Appears to Thomas (19:24-31)
21:1-14 Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish
21:15-25 Jesus Reinstates Peter

In my personal study I plan to answer the questions after reading only the text and then to consult the notes on the passage in NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011) and ESV Study Bible (Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 2008) and the comments on it in the commentaries on the Gospel of John by D. A. Carson (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1991) and Leon Morris (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995).

5. Epictetus’s Discourses – Book I

“Epictetus’ Discourses … is one of the most enjoyable pieces of writing in the history of Western philosophy, conveying the teaching and personality of a very remarkable man. For Epictetus, a man who began life as a slave and was lame and weak in body, was himself the best example of the philosophy he was trying to teach. When he asserted man’s capacity to transcend external adversities and attain inner tranquillity, he spoke with the air of personal experience. In the dialogues that are recreated for us by his pupil Flavius Arrian, he comes through to us as a friendly, direct man with pithy expressions and evocative examples chosen from the everyday events and things of life.” Mortimer J. Adler and Seymour Cain, Ethics: The Study of Moral Values, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1962, page 71-72).

Volume 12 of Great Books of the Western World (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952) contains Epictetus’s Discourses, and Adler and Cain provide a guide to Book I of it in volume 8 of The Great Ideas Program (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1959-63). Here I’ll summarize the first four sections of their guide and present and comment on the questions which they ask in the fifth section of the guide.

Section I considers Stoicism and how its basic teachings are appear in Discourses. Stoicism was “an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge; the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain” (Google’s dictionary).

Section II explains how the main distinction upon which Epictetus’s teaching rests is the distinction between the inner (that which is one’s one, including the faculties of reason and of will) and the outer (that which is not your own, including your body). Recognizing and accepting this is essential in achieving a self-sufficiency with respect to others. Attaining that self-sufficiency involves a long and arduous course of self-discipline.

Section III opens by asserting, “Man is self-sufficient in relation to other men, in Epictetus’s view, but he is not alone; human will and purpose are not the only will and purpose in the universe. There is God, and there is Providence” (page 78). Further on it observes, “Through inner awareness of his rational capacity, man realizes his kinship with God. Through an understanding of the universe, man realizes that the world is ordered by Divine Providence” (page 79). In the section Adler and Cain elaborate on how Epictetus develops these ideas.

Section IV explains that moral judgments require more than reason. They also involve the specific application of basic notions to specific cases. However “moral improvement is not attained by [just] reading the books of Chrysippus, says Epictetus, but by disciplining our desires and assertions, our impulses to pursue and to avoid, our assesnt or suspension of assent” (page 81). Chrysippus was a Stoic philosopher who using the work of Zeno (see above) compiled what would come to be known as the basis of Stoicism.

These are the questions asked in Section V and for some of them my comments on them and/or on Adler and Cain’s elaboration of them:

• Is calmness or “peace of mind” the highest good? Adler and Cain say that to answer the question “we must look back through the reading and see whether Epictetus is interested primarily in calming people’s minds, or in bringing men to right action and disposition, or in accomplishing the latter through the former” (page 82).In Chapter 4 Epictetus says, “Now if virtue promises good fortune and tranquillity and happiness, certainly also the progress toward each of these things.” To me this indicates that Epictetus’s primary interest is bringing people to right action (the second choice), which will also bring progress toward calming people’s minds (and good fortune and happiness).
• What does Epictetus mean by equating the “right” with the “natural”? In Chapter 11 Epictetus argues that what is right and natural is not what most people do and feel but what is consistent with reason (and, at least in the example given, affection).
• Is the will the sole cause of all our actions and feelings? Adler and Cain open their response to this question by observing, “Epictetus says that our actions, emotional moods, desires, and eversions are all determined by our will alone” (page 83). They go on to consider if it is only the outer behaviour or if it is also the inner thought that Epictetus thinks can be controlled, if a person’s biological and psychological constitution limit his freedom of choice, action, and disposition, and if Providence is a limiting factor on the freedom of the will.
• Is it possible for a human being to be immune from influence by physical or mental pain? Adler and Cain open by observing that a large part of Epictetus’s teachings assume that the body is not an essential part of the self and thus pains to the body do not affect the self. They go on to note that Epictetus’s examples are mostly of pains which are over in a short time and question whether his counsel would have been useful to people of our time who have had to spend long periods of time in concentration camps.
• What is the role of social and political life in Epictetus’ ethics? Adler and Cain open by observing that Epictetus lists family and those whom we live with in society as things not in our power but on the other hand argues for family affection. They close by asking, “What are the main principles of the conduct which Epictetus enjoins in our relations to other men? How would he counsel us to act with regard to social injustice?” (Page 86)
• Is Epictetus’ emphasis on individual character destructive of the universality of his ethical principles?