Forgiving and Retaining Sin: a Study of the Text and Context of John 20:23

Abstract John 20:23 is a perplexing. text. While it records a statement of Jesus to his disciples on the first Easter evening, its interpretation has tended to divide his disciples through the Church's history. A proper understanding of the saying has been made more difficult because of methodological flaws of many interpreters. This paper hopes to overcome this problem by examining these flaws and offering a new interpretation of the text in light of its context in the Gospel of John.