<P> As noted by New Testament scholar Obrey M. Hendricks, Jr.: "Although its scathing portrayal of the Jews has opened John to charges of anti-Semitism, a careful reading reveals' the Jews' to be a class designation, not a religious or ethnic grouping; rather than denoting adherents to Judaism in general, the term primarily refers to the hereditary Temple religious authorities ." In later centuries, John was used to support anti-Semitic polemics, but the author of the gospel regarded himself as a Jew, championed Jesus and his followers as Jews, and probably wrote for a largely Jewish community . </P> <P> Rudolf Bultmann, in a seminal work published in 1941, argued that John's sources were a hypothetical "Signs Gospel" listing Christ's miracles, a revelation discourse, and a passion narrative . Bultmann's work, combined with that of other scholars (the work of Raymond E. Brown was particularly influential in the English - speaking world), led to a scholarly consensus in the second half of the 20th century that the Gospel of John was independent of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, known as the "Synoptic Gospels ." This agreement broke down in the last decade of the century, and there are now many scholars who believe that John did know the Synoptics, especially Mark, while the hypothesis of a "signs" source has been increasingly undermined . </P> <P> But theories of either complete independence or complete dependence on the Synoptics are largely rejected in current scholarship: on the one hand, elements such as distinctive Johannine language, the lengthy discourses, and the prologue on the Logos, are clearly unique to John; on the other, John clearly shares a multitude of episodes with the other three . </P> <P> The most important sources used by the evangelist were the Jewish scriptures (the Tanakh, more or less identical with the Christian Old Testament), probably in the Greek translation . John quotes from them directly, references important figures from them, and uses narratives from them as the basis for several of the discourses . But the author was also familiar with non-Jewish sources: the Logos of the prologue (the Word that is with God from the beginning of creation) derives from both the Jewish concept of Lady Wisdom and from the Greek philosophers, while John 6 alludes not only to the exodus but also to Greco - Roman mystery cults, while John 4 alludes to Samaritan messianic beliefs . </P>

When did the book of john take place