Signs Gospel

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The Signs Gospel is a hypothetical source text for the Gospel of John, according to source criticism (see also Q document).

Rudolf Bultmann hypothesized the Signs gospel for the first time in 1941. He suggested that the author of John depended in part on an oral miracles tradition or manuscript account of Christ's miracles that was independent of, and not used by, the synoptic gospels. This hypothetical "Signs Gospel" is alleged to have been circulating before 70. Its traces can be seen in the remnants of a numbering system associated with some of the miracles that appear in the Gospel of John: all of the miracles that are mentioned only by John occur in the presence of John; the "signs" or semeia (the expression is uniquely John's) are unusually dramatic; and they are accomplished in order to call forth faith. These miracles are different both from the rest of the "signs" in John, and from the miracles in the synoptic gospels, which occur as a result of faith. Bultmann's conclusion that John was reinterpreting an early Hellenistic tradition of Jesus as a wonder-worker, a "magician" within the Hellenistic world-view, was so controversial that heresy proceedings were instituted against him and his writings.

It is now widely agreed that the Gospel of John draws upon a tradition of Miracles of Jesus which are substantially independent of the three synoptic gospels. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus refuses to give any sign that he is the messiah, which is known as the Messianic Secret, for example Mark 8:11-12. In the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke, only the Sign of Jonah will be given (Matthew 12:38-39,16:1-4, Luke 11:29-30). The Gospel of John on the other hand has Jesus providing many signs, such as 2:11 and 2:18-19 and 12:37.

According to the Complete Gospels, the Signs Gospel can be reconstructed as follows:

John the Baptist (1:6-7,19-49)
Water into wine (2:1-11)
Official's son healed (2:12a,4:46b-54)
Catch of 153 fish (21:1-14)
Feeding 5000 (6:1-14)
Walking on water (6:15-25)
Raising of Lazarus (11:1-45)
Blind man given sight (9:1-8)
Healing at the Pool of Bethesda (5:2-9)
Plot to kill Jesus (11:47-53)
Temple incident (2:14-19)
Jewish rejection (12:37-40)
Mary anoints Jesus (12:1-8)
Entering Jerusalem (12:12-15)
Arrest (18:1-11)
Before the High Priest (18:12-27)
Before Pilate (18:28-19:16a)
Crucifixion (19:16b-37)
Joseph of Arimathea (19:38-42)
Empty tomb (20:1-10)
Do not hold on to me (20:11-18)
Great Commission (20:19-22)
Conclusion (20:30-31ab)

[edit] References

Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple Paulist Press, 1979
Miller, Robert J. Editor The Complete Gospels Polebridge Press 1994 ISBN 0-06-065587-9