Holy Grail Search Party: Gospel of John

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ HOLY GRAIL SEARCH PARTY is a religious text discussion group—like a Bible study gone rogue—where we can engage in theological exegesis using whatever critical approaches suit us. Looking at sacred texts from various traditions, we’ll attempt to decode them for symbolic meaning and spiritual/psychological insight (putting aside religious dogma, cultural preconceptions, and absurd literalism). We may also explore secondary texts from various interpretive disciplines. Newcomers always welcome! ⭑ ⭑ ⭑

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This week we’ll continue our discussion on the GOSPEL OF JOHN. Come with any themes or passages you wish to discuss. We’ll begin with looking at 3:14, a passage alluding to Moses in Numbers of an image of a snake on a pole, here prefiguring the crucifixion (thanks to David for bringing this up). Here’s some additional context: https://www.bibleref.com/John/3/John-3-14.html#:~:text=John%203%3A14%2C%20NLT%3A,Man%20must%20be%20lifted%20up%2C%22

Also, we’re going to do secondary, optional readings of THE IDEA OF THE HOLY by Rudolph Otto. For next week: chapters 1. The Rational and the Non-Rational, and 2.’Numen’ and the ‘Numinous’ (just eight pages total). Free PDF: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22259/page/n7/mode/2up

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RESOURCES

The Idea of the Holy by Rudolph Otto
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22259/page/n7/mode/2up

John Chapter Summary
https://biblesummary.info/john

Bible Project: John 1-12 Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-2e9mMf7E8

Holy Bible Audio Book
https://archive.org/details/HolyBible_KJV

The Bible Project on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/jointhebibleproject

Bible Gateway (searchable Bible database from various translations)
https://www.biblegateway.com/

RECOMMENDED BIBLE EDITIONS

The English Bible, King James Version: The New Testament (Norton)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26807160-the-english-bible-king-james-version

The New Testament, translated by Richmond Lattimore
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12249.The_New_Testament

*Any translation is fine since we can coordinate with chapter-verse designations—the Norton is great for annotations, Lattimore for precision