Should the Gospel of John be used in Jesus Research?

In choosing sources for historical Jesus research, most scholars choose to focus on the Synoptic Gospels (the books of Mark, Matthew and Luke). Sometimes, the focus is narrowed even further to include primarily the alleged source of Jesus’ sayings found only in edited passages in Matthew and Luke. Many leading scholars judge the Gospel of John to be defined by creative theological reflections, which may be determinative for Christian faith but that are far removed from Jesus’ time and culture. Archaeologists, not influenced by theological claims, have observed that the Gospel of John knows about Jewish life in ways far superior to the Synoptics. Thanks to research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars now agree that John is much more Jewish than was formerly thought. This presentation examines whether the book of John should be dismissed from Jesus research, and whether or not it preserves any reliable history about Jesus’ life and thought. This was part of the Texts and Contexts DVD.