The Gospel
Screenplay by John
Starring:
Jesus as Himself
Miriam as the Virgin Mary
Lazarus as the Beloved Disciple
Narration by Ben Witherington III
Running time ~45 minutes
Video courtesy of Baylor TV
(Note: this is a lecture about Lazarus as the author of the fourth Gospel given by Ben Witherington III. If you can free up the time to watch it all it is very engaging. I was inspired to post this after reading comments at MetaCatholic.)
March 15, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Was Lazarus the Beloved Disciple?
I blogged about this the other day, but I think I wasn’t straight forward enough. Also, I’ve found a blog about it by the same person. Ben Witherington III elaborates on Lazarus as the Beloved Disciple and I’ve found his arguments ext…
March 18, 2008 at 6:45 pm
TheDiscipleWhomJesusLoved.com cites the Bible evidence that proves that John could not have been the beloved disciple. Regardless of whether or not one concludes that the Biblical evidence is sufficient to prove that the one who “Jesus loved” was Lazarus, the facts in the plain text of scripture prove that whoever this unnamed “other disciple” was he was not John.
Unlike the case that Ben Witherington presents, this study does not rely on NON-Bible sources — it cites nothing but the scriptures, the primary source where Biblical questions are concerned.
The truth is there is not a single verse in scripture that would justify teaching the idea that John was the one whom “Jesus loved” and yet most simply assume that this man-made tradition cannot be wrong and then interpret scripture to fit this idea. But if one will heed Ps. 118:8 then the NON-BIBLE sources on which this man-made error is based will give way to the facts stated in scripture which prove that NO MATTER WHO this anonymous author was he most certainly was not John.
It is right to show reverence for the word of God and therefore one should not be presenting an idea as if it were Biblical if they cannot cite even one verse that would justify teaching that idea. Sadly however, the lure of following the crowd can lead us to promote the hand-me-down ideas that we’ve been taught AS IF THEY WERE BIBLICAL even though we haven’t searched the scriptures to see if these things are so.
March 18, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I almost linked to your website but was saving it for a future post. I’ve read everything that you propose and find it equally compelling, and more in depth if I remember correctly. I was going to purchase the book from Amazon but then I noticed that it was available freely on your site and promptly read the whole thing. I still may purchase the book to lend out, but haven’t decided yet. Thanks for stopping by and posting your thoughts