Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the "synoptic gospels") are written primarily for prostelization to non-Christian communities or communities very early in their adoption of Christian principles. There are passages in Matthew, in particular, which only makes sense to a Jew who'd been paying attention in the synagogue.
John is writing for a different kind of church, almost a generation after the other gospels, and he's addressing Christian beliefs he doesn't much like. ("A heretic is someone who disagrees with you on a subject neither of you know anything about." Bierce) The relationship between Christian communities and the general Judaic population has changed. And oh yeah, Jews-as-a-whole make convenient villains for John, who might have been more selective in which particular people he wanted to blame.
Of course, he wasn't writing after the Holocaust. He wasn't writing after thousands of years of Christians oppressing Jews. But it is sad to think that John's words were taken as excuse for so much hatred since then.
Whether Holy Scripture is inspired to be free from doctrinal error or not, I can't help but think that the Lord, looking down, watching John write, could be heard by the angels to mutter, "Oh, dear. No..."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-09-21 09:17 pm (UTC)John is writing for a different kind of church, almost a generation after the other gospels, and he's addressing Christian beliefs he doesn't much like. ("A heretic is someone who disagrees with you on a subject neither of you know anything about." Bierce) The relationship between Christian communities and the general Judaic population has changed. And oh yeah, Jews-as-a-whole make convenient villains for John, who might have been more selective in which particular people he wanted to blame.
Of course, he wasn't writing after the Holocaust. He wasn't writing after thousands of years of Christians oppressing Jews. But it is sad to think that John's words were taken as excuse for so much hatred since then.
Whether Holy Scripture is inspired to be free from doctrinal error or not, I can't help but think that the Lord, looking down, watching John write, could be heard by the angels to mutter, "Oh, dear. No..."