<P> In John's gospel, Jesus and his disciples go to Judea early in Jesus' ministry before John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed by Herod . He leads a ministry of baptism larger than John's own . The Jesus Seminar rated this account as black, containing no historically accurate information . According to the biblical historians at the Jesus Seminar, John likely had a larger presence in the public mind than Jesus . </P> <P> Although not commonly understood as Gnostic, many scholars, including Bultmann, have forcefully argued that the Gospel of John has elements in common with Gnosticism . Christian Gnosticism did not fully develop until the mid-2nd century, and so 2nd - century Proto - Orthodox Christians concentrated much effort in examining and refuting it . To say John's gospel contained elements of Gnosticism is to assume that Gnosticism had developed to a level that required the author to respond to it . Bultmann, for example, argued that the opening theme of the Gospel of John, the pre-existing Logos, was actually a Gnostic theme . Other scholars, e.g. Raymond E. Brown have argued that the pre-existing Logos theme arises from the more ancient Jewish writings in the eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs, and was fully developed as a theme in Hellenistic Judaism by Philo Judaeus . </P> <P> Comparisons to Gnosticism are based not in what the author says, but in the language he uses to say it, notably, use of the concepts of Logos and Light . Other scholars, e.g. Raymond E. Brown, have argued that the ancient Jewish Qumran community also used the concept of Light versus Darkness . The arguments of Bultmann and his school were seriously compromised by the mid-20th - century discoveries of the Nag Hammadi library of genuine Gnostic writings (which are dissimilar to the Gospel of John) as well as the Qumran library of Jewish writings (which are often similar to the Gospel of John). </P> <P> Gnostics read John but interpreted it differently from the way non-Gnostics did . Gnosticism taught that salvation came from gnosis, secret knowledge, and Gnostics did not see Jesus as a savior but a revealer of knowledge . Barnabas Lindars asserts that the gospel teaches that salvation can only be achieved through revealed wisdom, specifically belief in (literally belief into) Jesus . </P>

Where does the gospel of john take place