Fr. Charles on the Johannine Community
This paper will review the community of the Beloved Disciple by examining the history of the Johannine Community, its members, its theology and its likely end. The information contained within this paper was derived from the Gospel according to St. John and the three Epistles attributed to John and Raymond E. Brown book entitled, The Community of the Beloved Disciple.
To begin, it is important to provide some insight into the Johannine community. Research and studies by a number of scholars who have generally accepted that the community began some thirty to 50 years after Jesus' death and continued into the 2nd Century. During this 150 to 180 year timeframe the community went through four distinct phases beginning with its Origins or the pre-Gospel era, The Gospel phase, The Epistles phase, and the final phase called, After the Epistles phase (Brown, pg 165-166). As to where the community was located, Brown believes the group started in or around Palestine and then after conflicts with the Temple Jews, the community moved to Diaspora (Brown pg. 166).
When compared to the other Christian movements of the time, the Johannine community did not start out part the growing mainstream church catholic but instead it was a separate home church community who followed the theological concepts of the Gospel of John which is sometimes referred to as the Fourth Gospel. The Gospel of John was different than the other three Gospels in that the Gospel provided a more historical view of the Johannine community which focused on the interpretation and implementation of the teachings of Jesus within the community. The Gospel saw the Paraclete as its instrumental guide for the community and the interpreter of the words of Jesus.
Also, within the Gospel of John the reader finds the dispute between the Community who believed Jesus was the Messiah and the followers of John the Baptist who believed he was the Messiah. The author of the Gospel challenges this believe by quoting John the Baptist saying "I am not the Messiah", a claim that is not made in the other Three Gospels. The Gospel also uses the words of John the Baptist to support the theology of Jesus' pre-existents, "John testified to him and cried out, saying, ‘This was he of whom I said, 'The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'" (Jn 1:15). It was this Christology that allowed the community to exist alongside the growing mainstream church catholic because it did not challenge their universal beliefs.
Now for a review the four phases of development of the Johannine Community. The pre-Gospel phase covers an approximate period from the year 50 to approximately the year 80 and consisted of Jews who believed in Jesus. Their belief was considered low Christology involving Jesus being given titles that they were familiar with from the Old Testament which included as prophet, Messiah, servant, Son of God. The titles given to Jesus were just titles and in no way reflected his divinity. They supported their beliefs with Scripture; "Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth'" (Jn 1:45). As the Community reflected upon its traditions and teaching it began to evolve into a higher Christology. This was more likely because of the inclusion of a second group of believers into the community.
The second group of Jews who were admitted into the community where those who opposed the Temple, they believed in Jesus, and where instrumental in converting the Samaritans. Their Christology was different than the earlier members because they saw Jesus as divine, believed that Jesus was the Mosaic Messiah, and Jesus was the one who saw God and came from God. Although this high Christology was part of the community it was not necessarily accepted by everyone within or outside the community.
A few words about the Samaritans mentioned above. They were, according to John, already followers of Jesus before they came into the community and evidence to support this can be found in the Fourth Gospel with verses like, "So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his world. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the World'" (Jn 4:40-42). From this theology that Brown wrote, "they brought with them categories for interpreting Jesus that launched the Johannine community toward a theology of descent from above and pre-existence" (Brown pg 38).
Outside the Community the Christology of pre-existents was the catalysis of conflict with the Jews who thought that the Johannine Community was abandoning the concept of monotheism for a new religion that created a second God called Jesus. This Christology, as well as the acceptance of Samaritans, resulted in the group being expelled from the temple which in turn raised tension between the two groups. On one hand the Jews could tolerate fellow Jews who believed in Jesus provided they did not put Jesus on equal ground God but on the other, they could not tolerate Jesus being equal to God. As a result of this conflict between the Johnannine Christians and the Jews, the community saw those who expelled them as "children of the devil" (Brown pg. 165). This expulsion for the Temple gave rise to a new identifier for this second group who entered into the community; the "anti-Temple Jews.
One of the disciples who came to adopt and support the high Christology was the Beloved Disciple. The Beloved Disciple was a follower and member of the group who followed John the Baptist but came to be instrumental in maintaining the communities high Christology. Although there are no definitive findings that would solve the mystery of identifying the person called the Beloved Disciple, there is sufficient research to lead the student to conclude that this person was Lazarus.
The third group to join the community during this time period was the Gentiles. Evidence of their presence within the community can be found in the Fourth Gospel. For example, the author of the Fourth Gospel had to take time to explain familiar Jewish terms such as Messiah and Rabbi to the reader thus pointing to the fact that this group was not familiar with Jewish terminology (Brown, pg 55). Brown points out that the acceptance of the Gentiles would not pose a problem for the community since they had accepted the Samaritans and the acceptance of the Gentiles into the community was all part of following the words of John the Baptist, "I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel" (Jn 1:32).
Even with the inclusion of these groups, the community lived as a close family mostly because the members understood what Jesus demanded of his followers; "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:34-35). This was an important concept of the Fourth Gospel and the expectation for the members of the Community to live by.
The next phase of the growth and development of the Johannine Community lasted approximately 10 years from around the year 90, after the Gospel was written to around the year 100. During this phase in the Community moved from its location in or near Palestine to Diaspora where they could continue God's plan for salvation by converting the Jewish Greeks. After all, the Jews of Palestine rejected the call for conversion so, the community moved on to spread the Gospel message.
During this time period Brown classifies three outside groups who did not believe in Jesus; the world, the Jews, and those who followed John the Baptist (Brown, pg. 62). Also, after examining the Fourth Gospel, it can be said that John identified three Christian groups who did believed in Jesus. They are the Crypto-Christians, The Jewish Christian Churches of Inadequate Faith, and The Christians of the Apostolic Church.
The World was the group who saw the light of Christ but rejects the light of Christ. This is another theme of the Fourth Gospel, the conflict between light and darkness. The light is Christ and the darkness is the world ruled over by the Prince of Darkness. John saw anyone who professed Jesus as Lord but lived in the world as not real followers of Jesus but were evil.
The Jews of the synagogues did not believe in Jesus and any Jew who did believe was expelled from the synagogue. They also had members of the Community put to death for believing in Jesus because the Jews felt that the members rejected God.
The followers of John the Baptist was discussed earlier but to reiterate, they rejected Jesus as the Messiah in favor of John the Baptist being the Messiah. Although they did not hate Jesus, the just misunderstood him (Brown, pg 168).
The Crypto-Christians were Christian Jews who remained with the Temple afraid to profess the divinity of Jesus. John saw these Christians as having little courage to openly accept Jesus' divinity because it meant the sacrifice of losing their membership within the Temple. However, it is likely that John still held out hope that they would see the light and publically profess their faith.
Those Jewish Christian Churches of Inadequate Faith were those Jewish who were either expelled from the synagogues or left on their own but did not belong to the Johannine Community. John had contempt for them because he saw their outward professions of Jesus but in reality how they lived their lives did not meet the community standards. John saw this group as non-believers even though they saw themselves as Christians.
The Christians of the Apostolic Churches were a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles who belonged to churches founded by Peter, Andrew, Thomas and other apostles. Some of the traits of the group included maintaining a high Christology believing in the pre-existence of Jesus and his coming from God. Although John did not believe they understood Jesus or have a full understanding and appreciation of the Paraclete, he still hoped for unity between the two communities (Brown, pg. 169). It was the members of this group worshiping in Churches founded by the apostles that eventually come together to form what Brown calls the "Great Church" (Brown pg. 83).
Around the year 100 and for approximately 10 years after the Gospel was written the Community began to experience internal strife. It was during this time that the Second and Third Epistle were written addressing issues creating the community's internal turmoil. The First Epistle was written to assure the reader of the importance of remaining true to the truth and to avoid the darkness and teaching of the devil and anti-Christ. For John those who did not remain faithful to the community's theology were teaching falsely and where the anti-Christ.
During this period Brown describes three aspects of the Johannine Community; the geographic location, the Johannine school, and the division between the author of the Epistle and the secessionists (Brown p. 97).
The Johannine Community was not in one central location, but rather, they were home churches located in different cities or villages existing along with the Apostolic Churches, synagogues, and quite possibility followers John the Baptist. The Johannine School eventually developed a church structure in an effort of preserving the memory and works of the Beloved Disciple who had died and to "bear witness" to his memory (Brown pg. 101). Out of this structure came the presbyter who would have been responsible for the administration of the church.
The division between the author and the secessionists covered three important points; Christology, ethics, and pneumatology (Brown pg. 109). The author's arguments against the false teaching for abandoning high Christology can be found in several parts of the Epistle. For example, the author writes; "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (Jn 4:6). Another challenge was written by the author saying; "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son" (Jn 2:22).
Yet again, the author challenges the secessionists view of denying the humanness of Jesus writing; "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God" (Jn 4:1-2).
The conflict of ethics centered on the secessionists viewing themselves as being sinless and not having to follow the Commandments because of their relationship with God. John adds one more conflict to this list, brotherly love. John challenges the secessionists beliefs by implying that we are not free from sin but rather we are free from the guilt of sin. The author writes; "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (Jn 1:8). To challenge reinforce the need to follow the commandments, the author writes; "Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him', but does not obey his commandments, is a liar and in such a person the truth does not exist" (Jn 2:4). As for brotherly love, John sees the failure of the secessionists to follow the Ten Commandments as leading to a failure in their ability to have brotherly love which was totally against the theme of the Fourth Gospel (Brown pg. 131). However, although John challenges the potential loss of brotherly love that would include one's enemies, he does not practice this in his own life. This is demonstrated by his showing contempt for those who do not follow his theology or adhere to his Christology.
The final contention was over pneumatology, the study of interaction between the Spirit and man. Although John is silent on much of this conflict, his belief and that of the community, remained steadfast that the Holy Spirit was sent to reveal and interrupt the words of Jesus and that he and the community were the ones that received the Paraclete. The presbyter reinforces this in his Epistle writing; "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for it I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you but I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned" (Jn 16:7-11).
In the fourth and final phase of the Johannine Community and after the Epistles were written the community began to move in two directions. This time period started in the late 1st century and continued during early 2nd century. Three significant events occurred within the community. First, the Community members faithful to the teachings of John were absorbed into the Great Church Catholic. Secondly, those who were secessionists move into the world of Gnosticism and third, the Fourth Gospel was accepted as Orthodoxy.
The movement into the Great Church Catholic may have come about because the Johannine Community maintained its high Christology of pre-existence, had a well defined understanding of the role of the Paraclete, and because of its acceptance of the presbyter-bishop concept. Mostly likely the absorption of the community into the Great Church Catholic may have been a natural course of events because the two communities accepted each other's Christology and together they could combat the world's evils.
It was the three Epistles that clarified and supported the Fourth Gospel that compelled the Great Church Catholic to accept the Gospel as orthodox. However, the acceptance did not come easy and it was only through the efforts Irenaeus did the Fourth Gospel become accepted as orthodoxy (Brown pg.147).
The Christology of pre-existence has been discussed earlier and for the purpose of this paper needs no further discussion. The concept of the role of presbyter-bishop having the authority to interpret the words of Jesus was somewhat difficult for the Community to accept as they were absorbed in the Great Church Catholic. However, once again and because of the influence and leadership of Irenaeus, a compromise was arrived at that won over the Community. The compromise was in the statement; "the human authority became the visible sign of the divine authority" and that the role of the Paraclete was not superseded by the presbyter-bishop model (Brown 158-159).
One remaining point about the Fourth Gospel and the three Epistles are the women mentioned in the writings and their roles. First, women were apostles as proven by the Samaritan women who met Jesus and brought her community to accept Jesus, after all, isn't an apostle someone who brings others to Christ? Secondly, women functioned in a variety of additional roles including that of deaconess. The Gospel makes a brief mention of this but the lack of detail does not preclude the fact that women served in as an ordained ministers. Thirdly, it was a Mary Magdalene that Jesus first appeared and it was Mary Magdalene who announced the resurrection of Jesus. Again, like the Samaritan women, Mary Magdalene can be seen as an apostle. Fourth were the sisters Mary and Martha who were given roles as heroines in the life and the revelation of the resurrection of Jesus. And finally the question to be asked is; what about the role of the mother of Jesus? Her role came at the beginning of Jesus' ministry then she exits only to reappear at the foot of the Cross with the Beloved Disciple at the end of Jesus life. In John her role was minimized to illustrate that Jesus embraced the whole world as his family.
In conclusion, the Johannine community was not a sect but a community that adhered strictly to the teaching contained within the Fourth Gospel and to defend these teachings, the authors wrote the Three Epistles. Like all communities, this community started with a few faithful, grew and expanded, had its conflicts and had it's challenged, ending with the members who remained faithful to the high Christology being absorbed into the Great Church Catholic. Those who did not remain faithful went the way of the Gnostics which eventually faded away over time having little or no relevance to the growth and development of the Great Church Catholic.
