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"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, con
cerning the word of life -- the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it ...." I John 1:1-2 (RSV)

"After his resurrection the disciples saw the living Christ, whom they knew to have died, with the eyes of faith (oculata fide)." Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III, 55, 2 ad 1, as quoted in D. M. Stanley, Jesus in Gethsemane (New York, Paulist Press 1980).

Monday, September 2, 2013

Newbigin - Gospel of John

Bishop James Edward Lesslie Newbigin (8 December 1909 – 30 January 1998)  was a Church of Scotland missionary.   Newbigin's book, The Light Has Come,  teaches the Gospel of John chapter by chapter, but in it Newbigin also teaches you how to think.   He changed my way of thinking by illustrating from the stories of Jesus' opponents that  people have presuppositions which are tough to change.   Only God can change a person. Nobody comes to Jesus unless the heavenly Father draws him.  But conversely, anyone who comes to Jesus 'he will in no wise cast out.'  Jn. 6:37  That is, the gospel is for everyone.   Newbigin compares the worldview of those 'who loved darkness rather than light' to the worldview of the followers of Jesus, the light of the world.   Newbigin respects G John as the  inspired word of God, but he is not a fundamentalist.  One of the sources which he relies upon for his insights is the late Fr. Raymond Brown (1928-1998), who for years was a top Johannine scholar.  Two large subjects that I plan to study further after reading this great book:  1) Jesus and the temple and  2) the  'Lamb of God'  which we see at the beginning and at the end of G John. 

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