Sure, that would be my first point. John was written later than the synoptic gospels and it's pretty different from them in content as well as form. The most obvious example is the "I am" statements, e.g. "I am the vine," which are all over the place in John but don't occur at all in the synoptics. It seems reasonable (to me) to conclude that the statements put in Jesus' mouth in John are more reflective of what the early church had come to believe about Jesus than of what Jesus actually historically said.
Putting that aside, though, I think a standard pluralist interpretation fo this verse would question what was meant by "me." I don't think it's an accident that John, the only gospel where Christ claims to be The Way, is also the only gospel that identifies the historical character of Jesus with ho logos, The Word, the animating principle of the universe. So when it says that Christ is the way, the truth and the life, is it saying that the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth is the only way to God? Or is it talking about the logos, the cosmic Christ, the aspect of God that seeks reconciliation between humanity and divinity? This is all a bit abstract and "woo-woo" new age-y, but heck, so is the gospel of John.
And even if that interpretation is rejected, I think I read the context of this verse differently from you. The context of this passage is not Jesus arguing that "I am the way for all people in all times"; this is a specific response to a specific question asked by one of his followers, asking about his followers' path.
Or, to reduce this all to a simpler answer: there is still a difference between saying that Christ is the way and saying that Christianity is the way.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Can you explain this to me?
Date: 2005-06-09 08:07 am (UTC)Putting that aside, though, I think a standard pluralist interpretation fo this verse would question what was meant by "me." I don't think it's an accident that John, the only gospel where Christ claims to be The Way, is also the only gospel that identifies the historical character of Jesus with ho logos, The Word, the animating principle of the universe. So when it says that Christ is the way, the truth and the life, is it saying that the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth is the only way to God? Or is it talking about the logos, the cosmic Christ, the aspect of God that seeks reconciliation between humanity and divinity? This is all a bit abstract and "woo-woo" new age-y, but heck, so is the gospel of John.
And even if that interpretation is rejected, I think I read the context of this verse differently from you. The context of this passage is not Jesus arguing that "I am the way for all people in all times"; this is a specific response to a specific question asked by one of his followers, asking about his followers' path.
Or, to reduce this all to a simpler answer: there is still a difference between saying that Christ is the way and saying that Christianity is the way.