John The Baptist

An analysis that challenges the conventional Christian hierarchy of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth While the Christian tradition has subordinated John the Baptist to Jesus of Nazareth, John himself would likely have disagreed with that ranking. In this eye-opening new book, John the Baptist in History and Theology, Joel Marcus makes a powerful case that John saw himself, not Jesus, as the proclaimer and initiator of the kingdom of God and his own ministry as the center of God's saving action in history. Although the Fourth Gospel has the Baptist saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease," Marcus contends that this and other biblical and extrabiblical evidence reveal a continuing competition between the two men that early Christians sought to muffle. Like Jesus, John was an apocalyptic prophet who looked forward to the imminent end of the world and the establishment of God's rule on earth. Originally a member of the Dead Sea Sect, an apocalyptic community within Judaism, John broke with the group over his growing conviction that he himself was Elijah, the end-time prophet who would inaugurate God's kingdom on earth. Through his ministry of baptism, he ushered all who came to him—Jews and non-Jews alike—into this dawning new age. Jesus began his career as a follower of the Baptist, but, like other successor figures in religious history, he parted ways from his predecessor as he became convinced of his own centrality in God's purposes. Meanwhile John's mass following and apocalyptic message became political threats to Herod Antipas, who had John executed to abort any revolutionary movement. Based on close critical-historical readings of early texts—including the accounts of John in the Gospels and in Josephus's Antiquities—as well as parallels from later religious movements, John the Baptist in History and Theology situates the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism and compares him to other apocalyptic thinkers from ancient and modern times. It concludes with thoughtful reflections on how its revisionist interpretations might be incorporated into the Christian faith.

Examines how and why the authors of the first three Gospels shaped the story of John the Baptist around the story of Jesus. Careful comparison of these foundational texts yields not only the perspectives of the Synoptic authors but also a provisional sketch of the historical figure of the Baptist, which is then placed within the religious, political and economic context of first-century C.E. Judea. Special attention is given to the interface between John and the Qumran community that scholars have proposed ever since the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

John the Baptist as a Rewritten Figure in Luke-Acts compares the Gospel of Luke’s account of John’s ministry with those of Matthew, Mark, and John to make the case for the hypertextual relationship between the synoptic gospels. The book is divided into three parts. Part I situates the Gospel of Luke within the broader context of biblical rewritings and makes the general case that a rewriting strategy can be detected in Luke, while Parts II and III combined offer a more detailed and specific argument for Luke’s refiguring of the public ministry of John the Baptist through the use of omitted, new, adapted, and reserved material. While the "two source hypothesis" typically presupposes the independence of Luke and Matthew in their rewritings of Mark and Q, Chauchot argues that Luke was heavily reliant on Matthew as suggested by the "L/M hypothesis". Approaching the Baptist figure in the synoptic gospels from a literary-critical perspective, Chauchot examines "test cases" of detailed comparative analysis between them to argue that the Gospel of Luke makes thematic changes upon John the Baptist and is best characterized as a highly creative reshaping of Matthew and Mark. Making a contribution to current research in the field of New Testament exegesis, the book is key reading for students, scholars, and clergy interested in New Testament hermeneutics and Gospel writing.

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

John the Baptist is one of the most fascinating and misunderstood characters in the Bible. A prophet of two worlds, he calls out to the Israel of his own generation and to Christian believers of today to heed the most radical demands of conversion and newness of life. Kazmierski reflects on the rich and colorful portrait of John found in the New Testament, and invites readers to respond to John's message and to hear the "voice crying in the wilderness".

For the first time in nearly 50 years, a casual yet informative method to learn about John the Baptist… "Why did each of the four evangelists make John the gateway to the Gospel, the first preacher of Good News? What were the reasons for the early Church's intense interest in a desert hermit whose public ministry lasted two years or less? Why in early Christian tradition was John the Baptist accorded an exalted religious stature, almost equal to that of Mary? The irony is that most modern scholarship on John has missed the true sources of his religious significance…in his links to Christ and to the very earliest beginnings of the Christian religion."—from the Introduction Alexander Burke pieces together the mystery of this well-known disciple of Jesus one chapter at a time, covering John's preaching, arrest and execution, his role in Eastern and Western Christian Tradition, and the many paradoxes surrounding him. An excellent resource for group or individual study, John the Baptist offers questions for reflection at the end of each chapter. Discover a fresh perspective of John the Baptist. Let him rise to the top of the beadroll of Christian heroes where Jesus believed he belonged. Step back and see the beautiful mosaic of mysteries that made up this fascinating saint's life.

The search for the real historical person known as John the Baptist and the traditions that began with him • Explores why John the Baptist is so crucially important to the Freemasons, who were originally known as “St. John’s Men” • Reveals how John and Jesus were equal partners and shared a common spiritual vision to rebuild Israel and overcome corruption in the Temple of Jerusalem • Explains the connections between John as lord of the summer solstice, his mysterious severed head, fertility rites, and ancient Jewish harvest festivals Few Freemasons today understand why the most significant date in the Masonic calendar is June 24th--the Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist and the traditional date for appointing Grand Masters. Nor do many of them know that Masons used to be known as “St. John’s Men” or that John the Baptist was fundamental to the original Masonic philosophy of personal transformation. Starting with the mystery of John in Freemasonry, Tobias Churton searches out the historical Baptist through the gospels and ancient histories, unearthing the real story behind the figure lauded by Jesus’s words “no greater man was ever born of woman.” He investigates John’s links with the Essenes and the Gnostics, links that flourish to this day. Exposing how the apostle Paul challenged John’s following, twisting his message and creating the image of John as “merely” a herald of Jesus, the author shows how Paul may have been behind the executions of both John and Jesus and reveals a precise date for the crucifixion and the astonishing meaning of the phrase “the third day.” He examines the significance of John’s severed head to holy knights, such as the Knights Templar, and of Leonardo’s famous painting of John. Churton also explains connections between John, the summer solstice, fertility rites, and ancient Jewish harvest festivals. Revealing John as a courageous, revolutionary figure as vital to the origins of Christianity as his cousin Jesus himself, Churton shows how John and Jesus, as equal partners, launched a covert spiritual operation to overcome corruption in the Temple of Jerusalem, re-initiate Israel, and resurrect Creation.

For two thousand years John the Baptist has been seen as the one who first predicted the coming of the Messiah and then recognized Jesus as "the Lamb of God" at his baptism in the Jordan River. John the Baptist, however, was not merely the herald of Jesus. He was Jesus. He became a Christos, an anointed one, after his process of God-realization, symbolized by his baptism in the Jordan.He became the very Messiah for whom the Jews had waited so long. But this Redeemer was expected to fulfill a long list of prophesies that had been penned down by ancient prophets. John the Baptist did not correspond to these prophesies. The evangelists, therefore, gave him posthumously a new name and a new identity, one that referred to a character from the Old Testament: Joshua son of Nun, which translated liberally, means Son of God. This book shows how this volatile concept is covertly woven into the fabric of the gospel stories -- for "those who have ears and want to hear." And when we unravel this grand secret, we also find solutions to many other inexplicable Biblical mysteries. The reader will discover the true identity of the enigmatic Manna, which God caused to come from heaven to sustain the Israelites on their forty year trek through the wilderness. The rather unbelievable story of Jonah, who emerged alive and well after three days in the belly of a great fish, will be clarified. And we'll learn why the disciples of Jesus were told to cast their fishing net on the right side of their boats. And much more!Through the ages there has always been a small group of initiated who guarded the secret that John the Baptist was Jesus. This book contains many paintings of old masters such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Correggio, in which this knowledge is secretly expressed.