Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast
So, if thee is interested in learning the differences between Conservative Quakers and other Quakers, or would like to understand differences between Quakers and other Christians, thee may well be at the right place. On the other hand, the Conservative Quaker perspective is so strikingly unique in contemporary society, that it will be a balm to many seeking spiritual fulfillment. To assist these seekers is the true intent of publishing our podcast.
A good many of the podcast installments will be presented by Henry Jason. Henry is knowledgeable in the Greek of the New Testament and has a fascinating way of tying the meaning of the original words with the writings of early Friends. Listening to him provides a refreshing view of scripture and is an excellent way to learn about original Quaker theology. Henry's podcasts are usually bible classes and so they are often interspersed with discussions, questions and insightful comments by his students.
The music in our podcasts is from Paulette Meier's CDs: Timeless Quaker Wisdom in Plainsong and Wellsprings of Life available at paulettemeier.com.
Find out more about Ohio Yearly Meeting at ohioyearlymeeting.org.
Please Contact us and let us know how we are doing.
Ohio Yearly Meeting's Podcast
Conservative Friends Bible Study of The Gospel of John #1
Henry launches this podcast series of the Gospel of John with a quick overview. What follows is a bulleted list of his introductory comments, then Henry’s comments on verses 1-5 of Chapter 1.
- The Gospel of John was written in Koine Greek, the lingua franca of the time. Koine is a language descendent of Attic Greek, spoken about 300-400 years before.
- Because Henry has extensive training as a speech pathologist and linguist, he often looks at the language of Holy Scripture from a linguistic point of view.
- There is some possible disconnect between the last verses of Chapter 20, and Chapter 21 of John’s Gospel. The multiple, disjointed changes back and forth in pronoun from “I” to “we” in these two chapters seem to indicate either additions, or changes in the text. It is possible Chapter 21 was added some time later.
- Henry goes on to discuss some of the issues concerning the authorship of the five works in the Holy Scriptures attributed to John: the Gospel of John, the three Epistles of John and the Revelation of John. While these five are usually attributed to the same John, it should be noted that the Greek in the Book of Revelation is somewhat rougher in grammar and usage than the Greek of the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John.
- The intended audience for the Gospel was largely Greek-speaking, and thus when Aramaic words are presented, there are translations for those to enable the Greek-speaking audience to understand what is being said.
- There are frequent contrasts presented in the text: light/darkness; truth/deceit; the day of Jahweh/the day of Jesus to name a few.
- There is a realized eschatology in the Gospel so that eternal life and the kingdom of God are not confined to the afterlife, but can be realized in the present, earthly life before physical death.
- The Koine Greek language was written in capital letters, with no punctuation nor spaces between the words.
Verses 1-5
John 1:1 intentionally parallels Genesis 1:1 verse.
The Greek word “logos” is a rich, multi-meaning term with meanings such as these:
- Any kind of verbal utterance: a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, a whole speech or talk. In modern Greek, “logos” has the same meanings.
- Reason/wisdom coming from within. The English word, “logic” has its root in “logos”.
- The noun form is “logos” and the verb and adjective form is “lego”.
The Bible is frequently called “the Word” by many Christians. However, the term, “word” is always and only used in the Holy Scriptures to refer to Christ. Early Friends were adamant about not referring to the words of the Holy Scriptures as “the Word”, but instead only referring to Christ as the Word.
The advice in our introduction is from page 33 of the Ohio Yearly Meeting's Book of Discipline.
A complete list of our podcasts, organized into topics, is available on our website.
To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit ohioyearlymeeting.org.
Those interested in exploring the distinctives of Conservative Friends waiting worship should consider checking out our many Zoom Online Worship opportunities during the week here. All are welcome!
We also have several Zoom study groups. Check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website.
We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes. Contact us through our website.