The Gospel from the School of Lazarus: An Inquiry into the Jewish Origin of the Fourth Gospel

The Fourth Gospel is commonly known as the ‘Gospel of John’. Many biblical scholars also consider it to be Hellenistic and anti-Jewish.

Peter van ’t Riet reaches a different insight in this study. He shows that the Fourth Gospel was not written by the apostle John, but by followers of Jesus’ disciple Lazarus. Lazarus plays a central role in this Gospel. Precisely in the middle stands the story of his raising from the dead. He also appears to be the only reasonable candidate for the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’.

The author shows what position the School of Lazarus held among the Jewish movements of the 1st century CE. Important comparisons are made with the views of the Essenes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The book also addresses the great misunderstanding about the “anti-Jewish character” of this Gospel. In almost every respect the author reaches different conclusions from those commonly held in biblical studies and theology.

Dr S.P. (Peter) van ’t Riet studied mathematics and psychology in Amsterdam and worked in higher education. As an independent Bible researcher he wrote several innovative books on the Jewish character of the New Testament, like 'Luke the Jew' and 'Luke versus Matthew' (also for sale at Amazon.com).