Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS §7.7
tics. 129 It is worth noting briefly the factors which have been considered of enduring
significance on this point. One is the very different picture of Jesus'
ministry, both in the order and significance of events (particularly the cleansing
of the Temple and the raising of Lazarus) and the location of Jesus' ministry (predominantly
Jerusalem rather than Galilee). Another is the striking difference in
Jesus' style of speaking (much more discursive and theological, in contrast to the
aphoristic and parabolic style of the Synoptics). As Strauss had already pointed
out, this style is consistent, whether Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, or to the woman
at the well, or to his disciples, and very similar to the style of the Baptist, as indeed
of 1 John. The inference is inescapable that the style is that of the Evangelist
rather than that of Jesus. 130 Probably most important of all, in the Synoptics
Jesus' principal theme is the kingdom of God and he rarely speaks of himself,
whereas in John the kingdom hardly features and the discourses are largely vehicles
for expressing Jesus' self-consciousness and self-proclamation. Had the
striking T am' self-assertions of John been remembered as spoken by Jesus, how
could any Evangelist have ignored them so completely as the Synoptics do? 131
On the whole, then, the position is unchanged: John's Gospel cannot be regarded
as a source for the life and teaching of Jesus of the same order as the Synoptics.
The one major revision required to what we might call the Baur consensus
on the historical value of John's Gospel has been the masterly study by C. H.
Dodd on the subject. 132 Dodd made a strong case for recognizing that both narrative
and discourse material contain good, early tradition. 133 In particular, John's
account of the beginnings of Jesus' ministry probably contains information which
the Synoptics passed over; geographical details provided by John are best explained
as remembered details; and many are persuaded by John's assessment of
the length of Jesus' ministry (three Passovers), the indication of more frequent
visits by Jesus to Jerusalem, and the chronology of the last week of Jesus' life. 134
As for the discourse material, the number of sayings embedded within the discourses,
which have parallels in the Synoptics, is best explained by the fact that
129. Though few are as dismissive as M. Casey, Is John's Gospel True? (London:
Routledge, 1996).
130. Strauss, Life 384-86.
131. For further illustration see my The Evidence for Jesus (London: SCM, 1985) ch. 2.
132. C. H. Dodd, Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: Cambridge
University, 1963).
133.1 summarize the evidence, with some elaboration, in my 'John and the Oral Gospel
Tradition', in H. Wansbrough, ed., Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition (JSNTS 64; Sheffield:
JSOT, 1991) 351-79 (here 355-58).
134. See also F. J. Moloney, 'The Fourth Gospel and the Jesus of History', NTS 46
(2000) 42-58. The references to Passover are John 2.13, 23; 6.4; 11.55; 12.1; 13.1; 18.28, 39;
19.14.
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