Synopsis "The Gospel According to John: The Beginning (in English)"
No other book in the Bible can be compared to the Fourth Gospel, and no other introduction is comparable to the dramatic and magnificent poem with which it commences. It is written in the simplest language possible, and the vocabulary used in the Proem consists of only fourteen key words. Of these, only two, Word and Only Begotten, require further interpretation. In the Authorized Version, only seven words out of the 308 used, have more than two syllables, and any thoughtful reader of John's era would have been able to read and comprehend the text with ease.At the same time, the Prologue to this Gospel is the most difficult introduction to any book in the Scriptures, and a true understanding of this poem requires a verse-by-verse, word-by-word, analysis. Like all of John's writings, the introduction to the Fourth Gospel is propaedentic, that is to say itinstructs us beforehand, as a parent instructs a child. The thrust of the text, however, is primarily theological, rather than biographical or historical, although these elements are also present. It is above all an interpretation of the figure of Christ, and, as such, goes far beyond anything found in the Synoptic Gospels.
