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The Uniqueness of John

Raws li cov early church fathers, John was the last gospel to be written. Txawm li cas los, it differs completely from the others in its overall presentation and content, focussing much more on private conversations and only relating a few selected miracles. Most of these are unique to John, reinforcing the view that it was not available when Matthew, Mark or Luke were written.

The wide divergence from the other gospels might seem strange, but for the following:

• As the writer comments (John 21:25), the combined materials of all the gospels represent only a very small portion of Jesus’ total ministry; so there is no particular reason why John should use the same examples.
• It explicitly claims to be personal recollections of the disciple who was closest to Jesus at the last supper (John 21:20). Other factors identify him as John, uas nrog Petus thiab Yakaunpaus tsim ib lub voj voog sab hauv ntawm cov thwj tim (c.f. Kos 5:37, 9:2, 14:33); yog li ntawd nws tau tshwj xeeb zoo muab tso rau tshaj tawm hom kev sib tham uas nws concentrates.
• Lub hom phiaj tseem ceeb ntawm Yauhas yog piav qhia tias Yexus yog leej twg tiag tiag thiab kev ntseeg ntawm Nws tus kheej li cas coj tau txoj sia nyob mus ib txhis (John 20:31). Qhov no tau cuam tshuam rau kev xaiv thiab kev nthuav qhia ntawm cov khoom.

Txawm hais tias qhov kev sib txawv no tsis muaj lub hauv paus rau hais tias John embellished ua ntej cov nyiaj, Cov kws tshawb fawb tau siv los tawm tsam nws qhov tseeb los ntawm kev thov tias ntau ntawm nws cov tswv yim theological tsis tau tsim kom txog rau thaum xyoo thib ob.. Qhov kev tsis pom zoo tam sim no tau raug lees paub los ntawm kev tshawb pom cov nqe lus hauv Dead Sea Scrolls uas qhia tau hais tias cov ntsiab lus no muaj tseeb tam sim no thaum lub sijhawm Tswv Yexus. (Txawm hais tias lawv tsis muaj cov ntaub ntawv uas John zoo li tau theej).

Cov lus nug Synoptic

Ntawm qhov tod tes, ntawv nyeem ntawm Matthew, Malakaus thiab Lukas qhia ntau yam zoo sib xws, tsis tsuas yog nyob rau hauv cov ntsiab lus tab sis txawm cov lus siv, hais tias nws yog feem ntau pom zoo lawv tau kos raws li cov khoom siv, hais lus los yog sau: yog li peb cov no feem ntau hu ua 'synoptic’ txoj moo zoo.

Kev xav tau txawv, txawm yog, raws li qhov xwm ntawm qhov kev sib txheeb. Hauv seem ntawm nplooj ntawv no peb yuav tshuaj xyuas qhov kev thov uas lawv tau tsim thiab ua rau ib leeg ua haujlwm. Tom qab ntawd peb mam li mus xav txog cov lus qhia uas peb txoj moo zoo tau rub los ntawm ib qho chaw qub lossis qhov chaw, suav nrog txoj kev xav ntawm cov ntaub ntawv ploj hu ua Q’.

Ua Cov Kws Sau Ntawv Synoptic Hais Ib Leeg Ua Haujlwm?

Lukas qhia txog nws txoj moo zoo hais tias:

'Muaj coob tus tau ua tiav los sau txog tej yam uas tau ua tiav hauv peb, ib yam li lawv tau muab rau peb los ntawm cov uas los ntawm thawj zaug ua tim khawv thiab cov tub qhe ntawm txoj lus.’ Yog li ntawd, txij li thaum kuv tus kheej tau ua tib zoo tshawb xyuas txhua yam txij thaum pib, zoo nkaus li zoo rau kuv los sau ib tus as-qhauj rau koj, zoo tshaj plaws Theophilus, yog li ntawd koj thiaj yuav paub tseeb txog tej yam uas koj tau qhia.’

Txawm li cas los, Txawm hais tias Lukas tau qhib siab lees paub tias muaj lwm cov ntaub ntawv ntawm Yexus’ lub neej, nws tsis hais meej txog txoj moo zoo ntawm Malakaus lossis Matthew. Qhov tseeb, txawm qhov zoo sib xws, tsis muaj leej twg hais ncaj qha rau hauv txoj moo zoo rau lwm tus.

Yuav Mark Ua Qhov Chaw?

Vim Mark yog qhov luv tshaj ntawm txoj moo zoo, thiab feem ntau ntawm nws cov khoom kuj muaj nyob rau hauv Mathais thiab Lukas, feem ntau tau hais tias Mark tau sau ua ntej thiab ob qho tib si siv Mark ua qhov chaw. Muaj ob qhov kev tawm tsam loj rau qhov kev xav no, txawm yog:

1. Raws li tau sau tseg rau lwm qhov, ob lub early church fathers, Papias thiab Irenaus, hais tias Mathais txoj moo zoo ua ntej Malakaus thiab tau sau thawj zaug hauv Aramaic lossis Hebrew (txawm tias tsis muaj daim ntawv theej ntawm qhov qub version tam sim no muaj sia nyob). Skeptics txo lawv cov lus tim khawv li 'kev tsis ncaj ncees'; tab sis ntawm keeb kwm keeb kwm lawv qhov ze rau qhov tseem ceeb txhais tau tias lawv cov pov thawj yuav tsum tau ua tiag tiag.
2. Txawm tias nws kim heev zoo sib xws, muaj qhov txawv txawv ntawm Mark thiab lwm txoj moo zoo. Qee nqe lus tshwm hauv Mathais thiab Lukas, tab sis tsis yog hauv Mark. Kuj tseem muaj qhov xav tsis thoob ntawm cov khoom pom hauv Mark (e.g. Kos 6:45-8:26; nicknamed the ‘great omission’, because it’s so hard to explain why Luke would knowingly have excluded it from his gospel). Thiab, although most of the material in Mark also appears in Matthew, even here there are unexpected omissions, such as Mk 4:26-9, 7:31-7 thiab 8:22-6, as well as textual differences. Qhov tseeb, as may be noted, some of the material from these passages appears in neither.

Further Complications

Striking differences between Matthew and Luke make it highly improbable that either had seen the other’s gospel at the time of writing. Piv txwv, the two nativity accounts almost seem to contradict one another in places.

Seem to? They do!

Had either been aware of the other’s work, it is unlikely that no attempt would have been made to harmonise the two.

Matthew and Luke both contain many parables, ntxiv rau cov account ntawm qee qhov txuj ci tseem ceeb, uas tsis tshwm nyob rau hauv lwm yam. Tab sis qhov twg cov khoom yog ib txwm rau ob leeg, Nws yog feem ntau kuj pom nyob rau hauv Mark; uas txhais tau hais tias qhov zoo sib xws yog vim cov ntaub ntawv hauv qab uas tag nrho peb tus kws sau ntawv tau nkag mus, es tsis yog rau ib qho kev luam ntawm lwm tus.

Hauv luv, Txawm li cas los xij ib txoj kev sim tsim kom muaj kev vam khom ntawm ib txoj moo zoo rau lwm qhov muaj teeb meem. Muaj nqes uas tshwm hauv Malakaus thiab Lukas (tab sis tsis yog Matthew), Matthew thiab Lukas (tab sis tsis yog Mark) thiab Mathais thiab Malakaus (tab sis tsis yog Lukas).

Yog li ntawd, feem coob ntawm cov kws tshawb fawb tam sim no nyiam qhov kev pom tias tag nrho peb txoj moo zoo yog raws li cov peev txheej dhau los.

Rov qab mus rau lub ntsiab lus tseem ceeb.