In 1935 fragments of the oldest papyrus manuscript of a gospel, written around A.D. 130, were published. They contained verses of the gospel of John. The papyrus came from Egypt; it has been given the identification number of P52 by scholars. The importance of P52 is that it shows that by the early second century A.D. John's gospel was known in Egypt and therefore was obviously written long enough before A.D. 130 to allow copies to be made and circulated around churches.

Some present views on John's gospel

We may now summarize some present views on John's gospel:

(i) It preserves authentic traditions and evidence of Palestine and its religious life during the time of the ministry of Jesus.

(ii) It may not be dependent on any other gospel but rather may represent a valuable independent source of tradition about Jesus Christ, as well as drawing on common Church traditions.

(iii) If it is not dependent on the other gospels, there is no reason to maintain that it must have been written later than the others. However, while so much discussion continues on this gospel, the date of its writing has to be left open; we can only say that it was written some time during the second half of the first century A.D. but not necessarily later than the other gospels.

(iv) Although it has a strong, authentic Jewish background, it also has a very distinctive universal message. Jesus Christ is not only the one who brings light to his people but the bringer of light to the whole world (8:12). The writer knew how to communicate with those who were not Palestinian Jews. He explains Aramaic words, which indicates that his readers were not expected to understand them and were therefore Greek-speaking. The Greek in which the gospel is written is individualistic and clear but behind it is the thinking of a Jew whose mother tongue was Aramaic and whose thinking was influenced by the Old Testament. It seems most likely that the gospel was first intended for Hellenistic Jewish converts of the Dispersion, probably living in Asia Minor.

§