This defense
of the accuracy
of the Fourth Gospel in reporting the words
of Jesus is undertaken, in spite
of what must appear to the disinterested student insuperable obstacles, because to these lovers
of the Gospel the alternative seems to be surrendering the authenticity
of some
of the most precious and manifestly true
of Christ's reported words: «I am the
bread of life... I am the light
of the world... I am the good
shepherd... If you continue in my words... you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free... He that drinketh
of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst... I am the resurrection and the
life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live... I am the way, the truth and the
life; no one cometh to the Father but by me»... and many more.
He runs to discourses
of some length, as for example, concerning the new birth, in his conversation with Nicodemus (chapter 3); on the
bread of life after the feeding
of the five thousand (6:22 ff); on the true children
of Abraham (8:31 - 59); on the
shepherd and the sheep (10:1 - 18); and particularly his forceful discourse after eating the Last Supper with his disciples, which include some
of the most highly cherished utterances recorded
of Jesus.