“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the assurance of things unseen” (Heb 11:1). Hebrews 11:1 does not provide a formal definition of faith. But, as far as descriptions of faith go, one cannot do much better. Expressed in formal terms, faith is an act whereby person A trusts person B regarding some […]
The Trinity and the Gospel of John
Brandon Smith’s most recent book, The Trinity in the Canon: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Proposal (B&H Academic), offers fifteen chapters on a variety of topics related to the Trinity and the Bible written by a gifted group of biblical scholars and theologians. I was delighted to contribute the chapter on the Gospel of John. […]
Four paragraphs on perichoresis (in the Gospel of John)
1. In order to follow John’s testimony regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ, we must attend to the ways he describes Jesus’ oneness with the Father along with the ways John describes the natural kinship relation that grounds their oneness. These two ways of speaking about Jesus correspond to the two ways John […]
Notes on the Father-Son relation in the Gospel of John
Jesus is “one” with the God he calls “Father” (Jn 10:30). According to John’s testimony, Jesus’ relation to his Father—his eternal divine origin from the Father (Jn 1:14, 18) and his eternal divine orientation toward the Father (Jn 1:1-2)—provides the most comprehensive framework for understanding Jesus’ person and work (Jn 16:28). 1. Right from the […]
How John says Jesus is “God”
At the heart of John’s trinitarian Christology is the claim that Jesus is “God.” The following is an attempt to summarize what John intends by this claim and how he communicates it. 1. Both the prologue and the Gospel in its entirety are structured around statements regarding the deity of the second person of the […]
Why does John call Jesus “the Word” (Jn 1:1)?
Students of John’s Gospel have long pondered the question: Why does John call Jesus “the Word” in his prologue? Given the prologue’s resonance with discussions of Wisdom in the Old Testament (e.g., Job 28; Proverbs 8) and within ancient Judaism (e.g., Wisdom 7, which bears multiple similarities to John 1:1-18), the obvious title for the […]
