THE JOHANNINE COMMUNITY, THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, AND THE TRADITIONS BEHIND JOHN’S RESURRECTION NARRATIVE

What sources informed the resurrection narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of John? Some scholars argue that the author of John used the Synoptic Gospels along with oral traditions as sources, but others maintain that John used only independent traditions to write his resurrection story. This paper argues that John did not use the Synoptics for this narrative because the reconstructed history of the Johannine community provides an adequate basis for postulating independent traditions which succeed at explaining both the similarities and differences between John and the Synoptics. While it does not claim to prove that the author was unaware of the Synoptics, it maintains that the evidence for the use of those Gospels in addition to tradition is too weak, whereas independent traditions alone can account for the material.