Rowan Williams on John Gospel and Holy Week 09 Lectures

Paul writes – earlier in the year Archbishop Rowan Williams, without notes, delivered a lecture introducing John’s Gospel. He spoke about John in terms of our relationship with God. You can find an edited version of the transcript here. Excerpts below:

 

“….St John's Gospel has had a very strange time during the 20th Century. At almost any time between 100 years ago and 50 years ago, the story that you would have heard from a lot of scholars about the fourth gospel would have gone something like this:

 

"St John's Gospel is clearly written in the second century. It's not by an eye witness. It is a piece of textual composition with quite a complicated history where an early level of very, very speculative and rather unorthodox theology has been uneasily married to a later editor's work smoothing it all out. It was very, very popular with Gnostic heretics in the second century and the mainstream church took quite a long time to accept it in its full integrity. As a source for history, it's very unreliable and it presents us with a highly complex theology whose relationship with the Synoptic gospels and with St Paul is pretty difficult to work out."

 

Now one of the interesting things about the last half century or so is that more or less every element in that scholarly consensus has been questioned at best and demolished at worst…”

 

You can download the complete talk by right clicking here. Rowan also delivered three fascinating “Holy Week” talks around the theme of 'Growing in Prayer: what the saints tell us about the spiritual journey' over 3 consecutive evenings beginning on 6^th April 09. You can listen to (or download Mp3’s) these talks here.

 

Rowan also has a chapter on John’s gospel (‘Anglican Approaches to St. John’s Gospel’) in the newly published The Gospel of John and Christian Theology edited by Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser.

Comments

[A D Hunt]

The essay on Anglican approaches to St. John's Gospel is also in his "Anglican Identities" which is great to have, especially for his essays on Hooker.

[Paul Fromont]

Thanks Anthony. I'd forgotten the essay was in "Anglican Identities". I assume it's the same essay - originally a 2003 lecture titled: " Anglican's on the Fourth Gospel".

Also, I agree wholeheartedly with you regards chapters 2 and 3 in "Anglican Identities". The chapters on Hooker are outstanding. For me, they alone are worth the price of the book.

p.s. Love your series on beer.

http://theophiliacs.com/2009/01/20/beer-i/

Happy Easter

[A D Hunt]

Well thanks! I haven't decided if Beligians or Germans are next.

[Paul Fromont]

Belgians mate :-)

[A D Hunt]

But then I'd have to end with German's, and that would be so anti-climactic. I suppose I could dedicate the final post to the micro-brew revival. I'll think on it.

[adhunt]

btw, I did Belgians

http://theophiliacs.com/2009/07/17/beer-iii-belgians-or-the-champagnes-of-beers/

[Paul Fromont]

Cheers Anthony. Thanks for your two comments and for your review of my favourite beers - the Belgians, and in particular, the "Abbey beers".