John 3:16

==== Status as Jesus' words ====
Beginning in John 3:21, the conversation becomes Jesus' monologue.{{sfnm|1a1=Brown|1y=1988|1p=33|2a1=Carson|2y=1991|2pp=198, 203|3a1=Harris|3y=2015|3pp=4, 6|4a1=Lewis|4y=2005|4p=22}} Because ancient Bible copies do not use quotation marks for dialogues,{{sfnm|1a1=Carson|1y=1991|1p=204|2a1=Knuth|2y=1991|2p=172|3a1=Morris|3y=1971|3p=228}} biblical scholars have disputed on where Jesus and Nicodemus' conversation ends.{{sfnm|1a1=Hurtado|1y=2005|1p=363|2a1=Vawter|2y=1968|2p=430}} Speculations that John 3:16 is the personal commentary of an evangelist (traditionally named [[John the Evangelist]]) have arisen,{{sfnm|1a1=Harris|1y=2015|1p=33|2a1=Palmer|2y=1978|2p=45|3a1=Tenney|3y=1995|3p=50}} but it remains controversial.{{sfnm|1a1=Köstenberger|1y=2020|1p=382|2a1=Perkins|2y=1990|2p=956|3a1=Vawter|3y=1968|3p=430}} Pawson said it is unusual for Jesus to speak from the third-person perspective,{{sfn|Pawson|2003|p=881}} or to repeat or expand on what he had said. Jesus never referred to himself as the "[[Only-begotten Son|only begotten Son]]"{{sfn|Pawson|2014|pp=34–35}} but as the "[[Son of man (Christianity)|Son of Man]]".{{sfnm|1a1=Borthwick|1y=2020|1p=21|2a1=Harris|2y=2015|2p=34}} The only begotten son is what the evangelist calls Jesus in [[John 1]].{{sfnm|1a1=Pawson|1y=2014|1p=35|2a1=Morris|2y=1971|2pp=228–229}} Theologian [[Robert E. Van Voorst]] has commented that it is not important to know if John 3:16 is Jesus's words, and that words not spoken by Jesus are no less true than those that are.{{sfn|Voorst|2017|pp=112–113}}