THANK you first to Johnston McKay for his account of the life and work of Andrew Morton (Herald Obituary, January 18). Interested in the idea that the order of events and comment in the Gospel of John needed rearranged, suggesting two independent authors at work, I write as a lover of the Gospel accounts, ancient Greek being one of my major subjects at University.
There is of course a range of conclusions open to the textual critic when an ancient book appears to have more than one style and vocabulary represented. Two most commonly adopted are that 1), an editor has worked on it; or 2), that a single author's ideas and vocabulary changed over years, and according to the subjects of a series of passages. The latter is a highly probable reason for diversity in the letters attributed to the apostle Paul, since it would be natural to expect developing understanding of his themes as he matured in preaching and amassed experience over years. Any language user's word-bank and ideas are affected by others with whom he has dialogue. The letters thus inevitably show changes in style and vocabulary as appropriate to differing subjects, and even in comment on Paul's abiding themes over time.
It has been shown in 16th century English studies that computer-assisted comparison of lexis and style produces several authors for Shakespeare's 57 plays, whereas common sense suggests that one person of outstanding ability could well be the master-hand, developing over his creative life, even if some passages were left to assistants to fill in. The best test of this in reading a Gospel account is how satisfactory the book is when read as a whole.
Mr Morton and Professor GHC McGregor thought there was good reason to rearrange the order of several passages, but I put it to readers that John's Gospel is just what we could expect of a man who lived through the events described, and rehearsed them in many different ways to audiences to grip the attention of various communities in Israel, Samaria and Ephesus. It has been noted by G Beasley Murray in his commentary (1999), that each of the miracles John selects to illustrate his themes cries out to be preached as a unit, with setting and comment as we have it. While John surprises us from page to page with original thought and insight, the striking simplicity of style (so different from the cultured Greek of Luke), or the detail that yields the ring of truth, that is to be expected from a Galilean fisherman who learned on the job, meeting all sorts of people, and engaging with them to tell of His Lord.
Thank you, Andrew Morton and GHC McGregor, for prompting a reread of a remarkable and rewarding book.
Martin Archibald,
49 Kinpurnie Road, Oldhall, Paisley.
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