Conservative Friends Bible Study of The Gospel of John #2

John 1:1-5Henry begins a verse-by-verse commentary on the Greek of the Gospel of John, pointing out significant Greek meanings as he moves from verse to verse.   Verse 1The Greek word “pros” (often translated “with”, as in John 1:1-2) and is often translated as “. . .  and the word was with God.” However, this Greek word “pros” means “to”, “by” (as in location), or “before” (as in the vicinity or presence of God”). As a result, it might be more correctly translated as, “In the beginning was this word, and the word was by (in the presence of) God, and God was the word.”Verse 2In the Greek of Jesus’ time, the use of the male noun classes usually included both male and female, unless the context of the noun demanded it be interpreted as referring only to males. Henry warns that it is important not to apply our popularly-held 21st century predilection of insisting that the male noun class always excludes women. For the Greeks, they were usually inclusive and included both men and women. Verse 3In the phrase, “In him was life . . . .” the Greek word for life is “zoe”, and (especially in John’s Gospel) is better understood as “eternal life”/”kingdom of God”/”kingdom of heaven”.  Verses 4-5The phrase “. . . the light of men” is a very good example that in the Greek mind, “anthropon” (“men”) was clearly understood as inclusively including both men and women.The Greek word “scotia” (translated “darkness”) in the phrase, “. . . the darkness has not understood it” would be more accurately translated as “ignorance”. In addition, the Greek word, “katalaben” often translated as “understood” would more correctly be translated as. ”overcome”/”fiercely grasped”/”taken it down” as a more accurate meaning. Thus giving a rendering of “ . . . ignorance has not overcome it [the light]/taken it [the light] down”.  The advice in our introduction is from page 32 of the Ohio Yearly Meeting's Book of Discipline.A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Henry launches this podcast series of the Gospel of John with a quick overview. What follows is a bulleted list of his introductory comments, then Henry’s comments on verses 1-5 of Chapter 1.   The Gospel of John was written in Koine Greek, the lingua franca of the time. Koine is a language descendent of Attic Greek, spoken about 300-400 years before. Because Henry has extensive training as a speech pathologist and linguist, he often looks at the language of Holy Scripture from a linguistic point of view. There is some possible disconnect between the last verses of Chapter 20, and Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel. The multiple, disjointed changes back and forth in pronoun from “I” to “we” in these two chapters seem to indicate either additions, or changes in the text. It is possible Chapter 21 was added some time later.  Henry goes on to discuss some of the issues concerning the authorship of the five works in the Holy Scriptures attributed to John: the Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John and the Revelation of John. While these five are usually attributed to the same John, it should be noted that the Greek in the Book of Revelation is somewhat rougher in grammar and usage than the Greek of the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John.  The intended audience for the Gospel was largely Greek-speaking, and thus when Aramaic words are presented, there are translations for those to enable the Greek-speaking audience to understand what is being said. There are frequent contrasts presented in the text: light/darkness; truth/deceit; the day of Jahweh/the day of Jesus to name a few. There is a realized eschatology in the Gospel so that eternal life and the kingdom of God are not confined to the afterlife, but can be realized in the present, earthly life before physical death. The Koine Greek language was written in capital letters, with no punctuation nor spaces between the words. Verses 1-5John 1:1 intentionally parallels Genesis 1:1 verse. The Greek word “logos” is a rich, multi-meaning term with meanings such as these:Any kind of verbal utterance: a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, a whole speech or talk. In modern Greek, “logos” has the same meanings. Reason/wisdom coming from within.  The English word, “logic” has its root in “logos”.The noun form is “logos” and the verb and adjective form is “lego”.  The Bible is frequently called “the Word” by many Christians. However, the term, “word” is always and only used in the Holy Scriptures to refer to Christ. Early Friends were adamant about not referring to the words of the Holy Scriptures as “the Word”, but instead only referring to Christ as the Word.  The advice in our introduction is from page 33 of the Ohio Yearly Meeting's Book of Discipline.A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Show notes #14: 3rd Epistle of JohnVerses 1, 3, 4, 8In these verses the Greek word, “alethea”, (which appears frequently in all of John’s writings) should instead be printed, “Truth” since it is not one truth out of many, but is instead synonymous with Christ Jesus. In addition, early Quakers also saw this word “alethea” as not just a truth, but as in John 14:6, a clear synonymous reference to Christ Jesus as the Truth. Verses 9-10It is somewhat difficult to ascertain from this epistle exactly what was happening in John’s congregation regarding the challenge Diotrophes was presenting. Regardless, John says that he will deal with the issue when he is physically present with them. Henry goes on to discuss some of the issues concerning the authorship of the five works attributed to John: the Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John and the Revelation of John. While these five are usually attributed to the same John, it should be noted that the Greek in the Book of Revelation is somewhat rougher in grammar and usage than the Greek of the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John. Regarding the Book of Revelation, it is known that there was a Roman penal colony on the Island of Patmos, the place from which John indicates he has written the revelation he has been given. (Rev. 1:9)Regarding the Gospel of John, Henry discusses some possible disconnect between the last verses of Chapter 20, and Chapter 21. It is possible Chapter 21 was added some time later. Henry plans to discuss these issues in his upcoming study of the Gospel of John. Verses 11-14 Verse 11: Righteousness should always be the role of the Christian. Verse 12: the use of the word, “Truth” (since it is synonymous to Christ Himself) should, once again, be capitalized.               Henry mentions that it is remarkable these short, pithy epistles have been saved and kept to illuminate us today. Following the discussion of the two short Epistles of John there is a short discussion of the epistles of George Fox, 410 of which have been printed. Some of Fox’s epistles have not yet been published. Finishing the podcast, Henry briefly revisits 1 John 5:21, “Dear friends, keep yourselves from idols.” It is Henry’s opinion that John was not so much telling them to avoid actual idols in the Roman panoply of pagan idols, as that John was encouraging the congregation to keep away from anything in their lives they might make an idol, and thus become more important than Christ. Henry wonders if, perhaps, those in 1 John who are reported having left the congregation may have created idols of their own imaginations instead of trying to really seek Truth/Christ.    The advice in our introduction is from page 30 of the Ohio Yearly Meeting's Book of Discipline.A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our beliefs regarding true repentance and Christ as the Eternal Foundation, from ‘A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends' (1913). True repentance involves a transformation of one’s whole way of thinking and conducting oneself leading to holiness and humility. We strive to be faithful to the teachings of the gospel as believed and taught by George Fox and early Friends. We consider our principles and beliefs to be those of Primitive Christianity Revived, that is, those of the earliest Christians.Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) discuss pages 30-31 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdf A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our basic beliefs concerning the meaning and nature of true salvation, from ‘A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). Our belief is that the Spirit of Christ is inwardly revealed as a light that first convicts us of our sinfulness and then leads us to an emancipation from sinning, if obeyed. A growth in obedience produces a growth in grace, righteousness and knowledge of Christ which leads to an ultimate state of spiritual maturity, traditionally called ‘perfection’.Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) discuss pages 29-30 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our testimony regarding ‘plain speech’ and ‘plain dress’, from ‘A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). In this session we explain the meaning and use of what is called ‘plain speech’. Likewise the wearing of ‘plain dress’. Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting  (Conservative) discuss pages 27-29 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our testimony regarding judicial oaths and our beliefs regarding the Bible, from 'A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). Friends object to the double standard set up by the taking of judicial oaths; if we speak, we must speak truthfully at all times. We accept the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures of Truth but do not accept labelling them as ‘The Word of God’. The Word of God is that living, eternal Spirit of Christ that inspired the writers of the Scriptures. The Spirit is the primary rule of faith and the Bible is secondary to but in agreement with it. Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting  (Conservative) discuss pages 24-27 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our testimony against war and for peace, from ‘A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). As Quaker pacifists, our testimony is not only against war but also against the spirit of war. A follower of Christ is one whose profession and life conforms to the example of Christ. He commands us to love our enemies. Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting  (Conservative) discuss pages 23-24 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our beliefs regarding observing the Lord’s Supper, from 'A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). Christ did not command His disciples to institute any new outward rite or ritual. Rather, the real communion between Christ and His church is only maintained by a real participation in His divine nature through faith and obedience.Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting  (Conservative) discuss pages 22-23 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].

Our beliefs regarding true baptism as being spiritual, as an ‘immersion’ into the Divine, not into physical water, from ‘A Brief Synopsis of the Principles and Testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends’ (1913). Recording of the Zoom session where Henry Jason and Conrad Lindes of Ohio Yearly Meeting  (Conservative) discuss pages 19-22 from ohioyearlymeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OYMBriefSynopsis-for-web.pdfA complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org. Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website, or email us at [email protected].