It's about "him."

οὗτος ἦλθεν εἰς μαρτυρίαν ἵνα μαρτυρήσῃ περὶ τοῦ φωτός ἵνα πάντες πιστεύσωσιν δι' αὐτοῦ

Last week week looked at this verse from John 1:7 and the question came up, "Is the αὐτοῦ referring to οὗτος or to φωτός ?" In other words, is John saying that the testimony was so that all might believe through John the Baptist, or through the light?

Grammatically "this one" is masculine while "the light" is neuter and the pronoun seems like it could refer to either one as the form is the same.

I talked to Dr. R. about this and he referred to Barrett who comments that the preposition "dia" shows that "autou" must refer to John because if he was refering to "the light," or "Jesus," he would have used "eis." We believe "in" Jesus, but "through" John. This theological argument seems sound to me and points to the need for clear exegesis. Thanks, Dr. R. for profound insight.

On another note:
I won't be at Seminary today, so I hope some of you check the blog.

peace,
--- marty ---