John for Readers of Mark? A Response to Richard Bauckham’s Proposal

Abstract

This article is a response to Richard Bauckham’s second contribution to the influential volume The Gospels for All Christians, in which he proposes that the Fourth Gospel was not written specifically for the Johannine community but for Christians in general. Following a general summary of his argument, the response focuses largely on Bauckham’s exegesis of Jn 11.2, which, he claims, was unequivocally directed to readers who knew Mark’s Gospel but who had no knowledge of distinctively Johannine traditions. In the main section, Bauckham’s argument is summarized under five points, each of which is answered by detailed comment. This investigation finds that his interpretation of 11.2, which is the single basis upon which his whole case is constructed, is flawed.