Gospel of John (CBS)

GOSPEL OF JOHN INSTRUCTOR:To be assigned

The Gospel of John is the fourth Gospel in the Bible, and has a different focus than the three Synoptic Gospels. This course uses the Gospel of John to provide students with an understanding of the core tenets of Christianity. The Gospel will be taught in four thematic units over the course of ten weeks.

You will need access to a Bible with the Gospel of John to complete this course. I recommend the AMP, ASV, KJV, or NKJV versions for students in this course. There is also a Logos 21 translation of John; which is fairly small, easy to read, and freely available. A physical copy of the Bible allows for studying offline, and deeper examination of context, but I understand that people may be unable to access a physical copy. Virtual copies of most versions are available at biblegateway.com. If you have not studied the Bible before, I recommend using the online Geneva Study Bible linked to in the Resources section, because it will explain the verses you are reading.

Each week there will be a specific reading from John that directly relates to the week's lesson. After reading the assigned verses, students are expected to expand upon the topic in a well developed composition. There will be a study guide of between 20 and 60 free response questions for each unit, due prior to the unit test. Questions will be similar to the test questions, and may even appear on the unit test. Coursework has been designed to enhance student understanding of presented material, and completing it will only serve to increase scores on the tests and final exam. Most of the lessons will drawn directly from the concise edition of Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible. I've posted a link in the Resources section to both editions and the Geneva Study Bible, to allow for you to use it as a resource when studying.

Students will be graded for demonstrating understanding of the information being presented. I have two methods of assessment. My primary method is sets of free response questions given at the end of each unit on Moodle. Four of these sets will be unit tests, with the fifth being a cumulative final exam. Each question is worth one point and I am looking for answers that address the question in a well developed response.

Anyone is welcome to follow along and read all the course material. Students are expected to be independent and willing to learn and listen with an open mind. You will also need to be proficient in the English language to succeed in this class.

Course Schedule/Information/Materials
The course is expected to last ten weeks and has been divided into the following units. Materials and information for each week can be found on the page linked next to the corresponding week.

The Prologue

 * Week 1: Audience, Logos, Pre Existence of Jesus, Trinity, the Word

The Book of Signs

 * Week 2: Gradual Revelation of Jesus


 * Week 3: Replacement of institutions, reaction to Jesus
 * Week 4: Replacement of Old Testament feasts, life and light
 * Week 5: Lazarus

The Book of Glory

 * Week 6: The Last Supper
 * Week 7: Jesus's Final Hours
 * Week 8: Resurrection

The Epilogue

 * Week 9: Meeting the Disciples and the Call to Service

Review and Final Exam

 * Week 10: Review for Final Exam

Resources

 * Book of John - Article on the Gospel of John
 * Geneva Study Bible. - Annotated version of the Bible
 * Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible - The six volume edition
 * Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible - The one volume edition
 * Just, Rev. Felix SJ, PhD. Outlines of the Fourth Gospel - Various outlines demonstrating the divisions and main concepts of the Gospel
 * Roberts, Michael D. "The idea of truth as the revelation of covenant faithfulness in the Gospel of John". University of South Africa, July 2003. - Preface to a doctoral dissertation on the Gospel of John.