atl Be COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN THE REY. WILLIAM BRUCE sfo4ad C0, The Missionary Society of the New Church 28, BLOOMSBURY WAYPREFACE, Ti gope ofthe beloved pate Has 0 much a charter af ts coe, tht ii gene tet. separately by thn who take a synoptia view of tho gmp {a writing bis goepl, John is supposed to have bad two ojela in vow -=to soon some past of tho Ler life wnd teaching ‘whieh the ote evangelinta ind cmted; and to counteract the {ntenn f Gnesi, which had even then beg to inf ths hur andthe tendency of which was, to subetiate the Visionary cedinent of tnetiora An forthe acta) Incarnation of tho Heard Word? There sno weason to doubt that tho gospel, ray havo bad a special an wll at & gene uke to performs fd thatthe Divine andthe hasan purpoe in wet i may av coined, sine evry good intention, Lika every ood ant every pore it fom above. Such an opinion is only ehjetonable ofr abi aiuto the gual « mec uma suhorsip, of reduces the inspiration of Serptre to the aupe fntendingtnenco of the Holy Spit Atha isa point of ‘eat importance and an tho present Commentary proses on hak a iro wy Sart i rine sin a Sateatar reenact Sis hae es Sipe peste ken acest ee ae emir Sarena¥ PRERACE, the principle that the Seriptases are divinely inspite, | have ‘reated of this subject in an introductory hapten. My object Tiere is to eonidar the relation which John's gospel as tothe thes, in aefeense to the Lon, to the elute, ad to anan in Die eptitaal character, ‘The Wont of God, considared a a series of scoesive sev tions, reflects the charter, and i indesd a history, of the Tnuman race, a5 they Lived ed aoted under the avert dispen sations of tho church, to which ¢hese revelstions werw aude, ‘As there isan analogy betwoen the history of te roe aud hab of the individual, theo dipensations, which marke the great epochs of sans epiitual history, aro analagovs to tho succesive states of luman life, fom ite beginning othe come lotion of regeneration. ‘The Okd Testament describes those Sales which precede, ard aro proparatory to, the astual com. rmencoment of tho regenemte life. The period froin Adam to Oris, in the history of the rao, is analogous ta the peri of man's lif, fom the time of hia fet, wo tho kine of his second, bigth; fiom the time he is bom in the image of the fist dai, ‘who was made a living soul, to the kine he is born in the image of the second Adam, who wae made «quickening Spit? The s0epel,thorefore, which contain the history of the Lani’ Iie, from his bith to hie ascension, and cut deseibe the entite proces of his loriation, also inckade the period, and describe the proves, of man's regeneration, as the elle and inne ofthe Lani's work While the New ‘Testament has thus a distinct liracter in relition to the Old, ite several parte have a distinct charscter in rolation to each other. Astuming Wnt the existance of four gospels, cach containing « history of the Lord's lif, is uot of nnn bat of God, we may consludo that this originated in a purpose worthy of Divine wislom, We cannot, tharafore, eon 2 Para dev ao ti bythe son i wk he tc try 88, i PREFACE, ve sistently with thir Divine anthorship zegnnd the gospels simply te repetitions, aometimes with perplexing variations, nor even 5 supploments, one of another. “True, every gosps) contains towashing that isnot to bo found in the other; ead Jolin’ ie ‘ot the lust eonapesos iu this respect. To his goepel we ove ‘the Lonts dicouse with Nicodemus on the now histh; with the woran of Samasia on the living watar, and with the Jews on the bread of life; with Martha on the rsurootion; with his ciples on his oneness with the Father; and hi sublime payer thatthe Father would perfect in him the work of Clute fication, at the erowaing act of Reoonelition. ‘To it also we ave indsbted for the xeon of some of th Lord's beneoent works; as, the cure of the izpotent man at the pool of Beth. eda; the git of sight to one bora blind the raising of Lazarus from the dead; atl Ube washing of His ditiple eet. But there se alan some particulars in which John's gospel dirs fran the hers in its character ae wall as in ite contents, ‘The other cevangelists relate mora of the pli, he relates roe of the privat, lip and teaching of our Zord; nearly one balf of his gospel being oecupiod with the record of transtctions tha tok place in the presonco of tho disciples only, most of thom of the profoundest nature and of the deopest import. It is admittod ‘yy al commentators that Jobe goypel is more spiritual in ite durscter than the there; that conoentraee our aitenion ‘more fully upon the single parson of tho Lond; and that it givas more ofthe Lore dootrine than of his history ‘What bss boen remarked reapoting the diatintiveehurntars ‘ofthe tro moct eminent of the Lon’ apostes—that John was Glover of Jeet, and that Bete: wae a lover of Christ, may bo ‘ui ofthe four evangelist. John's gospel is moro the history of Josue; the others aro more the history of Christ John ‘resnts tho Tord tows mor in his persona, the others more in i Mssianie, charactor; ho prosnts Him moro in His character of Jesus the Savion, th others more in is character of Christ