It’s also worth being explicit (whether in a separate category or within the bounds of something here) about the Gospels not having identical chronology across parallel accounts — and not requiring every statement to be read at face value as a modern historical assertion. Thus, for instance, John’s Gospel doesn’t err if it places Jesus’s crucifixion on the day of preparation before the Passover as it would be “affirming,” or making the theological point, that Jesus is the Passover Lamb.
Of course, that example is controversial (maybe John and the Synoptics were using different calendars), but in general it points to the necessity of reading ancient biography according to its standards and conventions.
Agreed. I think the same point applies to John moving the temple cleansing forward in Jesus’s ministry. The affirmation has to do with Jesus as the reality to which the temple always pointed.
Great stuff, Matt, as always!
It’s also worth being explicit (whether in a separate category or within the bounds of something here) about the Gospels not having identical chronology across parallel accounts — and not requiring every statement to be read at face value as a modern historical assertion. Thus, for instance, John’s Gospel doesn’t err if it places Jesus’s crucifixion on the day of preparation before the Passover as it would be “affirming,” or making the theological point, that Jesus is the Passover Lamb.
Of course, that example is controversial (maybe John and the Synoptics were using different calendars), but in general it points to the necessity of reading ancient biography according to its standards and conventions.
Agreed. I think the same point applies to John moving the temple cleansing forward in Jesus’s ministry. The affirmation has to do with Jesus as the reality to which the temple always pointed.