Gospel of Glory

Major Themes in Johannine Theology

Bauckham, Richard

• Editorial: Baker Academic
• Año: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781441227089
• Categoría: Theology & Religion
• Categoría: Biblical Studies

Throughout Christian history, the Gospel of John's distinctive way of presenting the life, works, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus have earned it labels such as "the spiritual Gospel" and "the maverick Gospel." It has been seen as the most theological of the four canonical Gospels. In this volume Richard Bauckham, a leading biblical scholar and a bestselling author in the academy, illuminates main theological themes of the Gospel of John. Bauckham provides insightful analysis of key texts, covering topics such as divine and human community, God's glory, the cross and the resurrection, and the sacraments. This work will serve as an ideal supplemental text for professors and students in a course on John or the four Gospels. It will also be of interest to New Testament scholars and theologians.

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“Individualism”

The title of this chapter echoes that of an article that Charles F. D. Moule published in 1962: “The Individualism of the Fourth Gospel.”[1] But, unlike Moule, I have put the word “individualism” in quotation marks. It has become quite a slippery word, and the issues it might evoke for New Testament scholars today are not necessarily those that Moule had in mind. He was not thinking of the contrast between individualist and collectivist cultures that may well occur to us, either because we have become aware of how exceptional the extremely individualistic culture of the modern West is, or because we have been warned not to read modern Western individualism, anachronistically or ethnocentrically, into the New Testament. When Moule referred to the individualism of the Fourth Gospel, he meant that this Gospel lays considerable emphasis on the relationship of the individual believer to Jesus Christ,[2] by contrast with the more corporate understanding of the Christian community to be found in the Pauline literature.[3] As we shall see, Moule was quite correct in claiming that, even though he presented only a small part of the evidence for it. It is remarkable how few scholars writing since Moule have noticed this feature of the Gospel at all,[4] perhaps because the imaginary Johannine community has cast such a spell over Johannine scholarship.[5]

Clarifications and Definitions

Daniel Shanahan remarks that “the term ‘individualism’ opens up a labyrinth of meaning.”[6] There is a large literature—in anthropology, classical studies, medieval and modern history, political philosophy, postmodern philosophy, social psychology, and other disciplines. There is also considerable debate over whether the individualism of the modern West should be evaluated positively or negatively. It is not surprising that the meaning of the term is not entirely stable, and so I want to begin with some clarifications and definitions.

First, I would distinguish between individualism, on the one hand, and individuation or individuality, on the other.[7] Individualism is a cultural variable, but individuality is a feature of all human experience. At least, if ever there was human experience without individuation, it predated the historical record. By individuality, I mean self-awareness, the individual’s awareness of self as a distinguishable entity, not merely in a physical sense but in terms of subjectivity. Human beings in all cultures throughout history have been aware of themselves as distinct subjects of feeling, thinking, decision, and action. After all, it is demonstrable that even nonhuman primates have a degree of self-awareness, evidenced by their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. There is no doubt that first-century people could recognize themselves in mirrors. Perhaps somewhat more controversially, I would say that the self-awareness that is universally characteristic of humans makes introspection and inner dialogue possible.[8]

This universal self-awareness need not imply the strong sense of unique personality that modern individualism entails, nor does it make the individual the sovereign arbiter of his or her destiny in the modern, “I did it my way” sense. Doubtless for many ancient people their personal narrative was more about what happened to them and what God or the gods did to them and for them than it was about personal achievement. It was closely entwined with the narrative of the group to which they belonged, and it distinguished the unique individual more in terms of roles, types, and relationships than in terms of complex personality.[9]

Debates about individualism in ancient Mediterranean societies are sometimes clouded by the mistaken perception that what I have called individuation or individuality is at stake. Usually it is not. On the contrary, individuality is presupposed. The “dyadic personality” that Mediterranean anthropology reveals, according to Bruce Malina,[10] is a case in point. To say that an individual’s self-perception is dependent on, even determined by others’ perception of him or her, presupposes that the individual does have self-perception. Similarly and importantly, to claim that ancient people perceived the self in relational terms, as essentially related to others or to the group, rather than as the autonomous and atomized individuals that modern individualism envisages, presupposes selves that were distinguishable, however closely related. Without individuation there would be, not relationality, but sheer undifferentiated mass.

Individualism is usefully understood by contrast with its opposite: collectivism. A minimal definition is that in an individualist society the goals of the individual take precedence over the goals of the group, whereas in a collectivist society the goals of the society take precedence over the goals of the individual.[11] But it is very important to note that societies are not simply individualistic or collectivist; rather, they are located on a spectrum, making them more or less individualistic, more or less collectivist. Moreover, within any society there will be some people who are more individualistic, some more collectivist. These variables mean that the mix and the pattern of individualism and collectivism in any historical society cannot be predicted through the dogmatic imposition of a model but must be allowed to emerge from detailed study of the historical evidence.

With regard to first-century Greco-Roman society, including Jewish Palestine—although ideally one would want to be more specific than that—I work with a very general hypothesis: as societies go, it was a relatively collectivist one, certainly much more so than our own; but, whereas social goals and norms were powerful, they were not irresistible by the individual. We can observe them being resisted especially in two kinds of ways. First, there is the selfish individual who breaks with the conventions and expectations of the group in order to pursue personal gain.[12] Such behavior was strongly disapproved but certainly occurred, as in the case of the prodigal son in the parable. But, second, individuals could break with group norms and responsibilities for reasons of religious or philosophical conviction. It seems to me that it is with figures such as the Cynics or the desert fathers that Malina’s model is insufficiently flexible to deal adequately.

The Johannine Evidence

Aphoristic Sayings about the Individual’s Relationship with Jesus

As far as I know, the evidence in the Gospel of John for a strong emphasis on the individual’s relationship with Jesus has never been adequately assembled or assessed. I offer two main types of evidence, of which the first is aphoristic sayings about the individual’s relationship with Jesus. I have analyzed this material in table 1.1, where I list sixty-seven sayings in five different grammatical forms. I call them aphoristic sayings because they conform to these fixed literary forms and because the majority of them, though they suit their context, could also be lifted out of their contexts and would make sense as stand-alone aphorisms. In the case of double sayings like the first example in table 1.1 (“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life”), I have counted such a double saying as two sayings. If one counted only one saying in such cases, then the total number of sayings would fall, but would still be more than fifty. For the sake of comparison I have also listed the quite numerous examples in the Johannine letters.

In most cases these sayings are quite explicitly about the individual’s relationship with Jesus, but in a few cases the relationship with Jesus is only implicit. Nevertheless, we clearly have here a type of saying, prolific in the Gospel, whose specific function is to speak of the individual’s relationship with Jesus. (It is unfortunate that some recent translations, such as the NRSV, turn many of these sayings into plural form. This has the laudable purpose of avoiding gendered language, but it obscures a notable feature of the Gospel.)

To appreciate the significance of these sayings, consider, for example, the justly famous 3:16 (justly famous because it admirably summarizes this Gospel’s narrative of salvation): “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John could have said “so that all who believe in him should not perish. . . .” Indeed, following the reference to the world (“God so loved the world”) and preceding further references to the world in the following verse (God sent the Son “so that the world may be saved by him”), one might expect the plural rather than the singular form. But instead, even in this rather universalistic context, John’s choice of the singular highlights believing in Jesus as the act of each individual. It is as though every individual stands alone before Jesus and must make his or her own act of faith—or of disbelief, as the case may be.

Many of these sayings are about “the one who believes” in Jesus, or use expressions broadly equivalent, such as “to come to” Jesus, “to drink from the water” Jesus gives, “to eat” the bread of life or the flesh of Jesus, “to look” to Jesus, “to accept” Jesus’s testimony, “to enter the sheepfold through” Jesus the gate. Most of these sayings refer to eternal life as the consequence of believing in Jesus. Such sayings function to invite unbelievers to put faith in Jesus, and it is therefore not surprising that there are concentrations of them in Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus in chapter 3, in the Bread of Life Discourse in chapter 6, and in the summary of Jesus’s message in the closing verses of chapter 12. In chapters 14–15, on the other hand, where Jesus addresses the disciples, the aphoristic sayings lay more emphasis on loving Jesus and keeping his commandments.

Of course, statements in the Gospel about people’s relationship to Jesus are not limited to these aphoristic sayings. We find, for example, statements in the second person plural, addressed by Jesus to the crowds or the Jewish authorities or the disciples, the last especially in chapters 13–16. Jesus also talks about his disciples and future believers, in the third person plural, in his prayer to the Father in chapter 17. He pronounces a blessing on those who do not see and yet believe (20:29). This material is not insignificant, but in formal terms it is quite varied. Nothing like a standard aphoristic form is employed. Beside the second person plural and third person plural statements of many kinds, the third person singular aphoristic sayings stand out as dominant. Readers or hearers are simply not allowed to forget that response to Jesus has to be individual to be real.

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Table 1.1 Sixty-Seven Aphoristic Sayings about the Individual’s Relationship with Jesus

Type 1. “The one who . . .” (ho + participle) (37 sayings)

Examples:

The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath. (3:36)

The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him/her, and reveal myself to him/her. (14:21b)

John 3:18a; 3:18b; 3:21; 3:33; 3:36a; 3:36b; 5:23b; 5:24; 6:35a; 6:35b; 6:37b; 6:45; 6:47; 6:54; 6:56; 6:57; 6:58; 7:37–38; 8:12; 8:47; 11:25; 12:25a; 12:25b; 12:35; 12:44; 12:45; 12:48; 13:10; 13:20a; 13:20b; 14:9; 14:12; 14:21a; 14:21b; 14:24; 15:5; 15:23

(1 John 2:4; 2:6; 2:9; 2:10; 2:11; 3:7; 3:10c; 3:14b; 3:24; 4:6a; 4:8; 4:16c; 4:18b; 4:21b; 5:10a; 5:10b; 5:12a; 5:12b; 2 John 9b; 3 John 11a; 11b)

Type 2. “If anyone . . .” (ean tis . . .) (14 sayings)

Examples:

If anyone keeps my word, he/she will never see death. (8:51)

If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him/her. (12:47)

John 3:3; 3:5; 6:51; 7:17; 7:37; 8:51–52; 10:9; 11:9; 11:10; 12:26a; 12:26b; 12:47; 14:23; 15:6

(1 John 2:11)

Type 3. “Everyone who . . .” (pas ho + participle) (12 sayings)

Examples:

Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I shall raise him/her up at the last day. (6:40)

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. (18:37)

John 3:15; 3:16; 3:20; 4:13; 6:37a; 6:40; 8:34; 11:26; 12:46; 15:2a; 15:2b; 18:37

(1 John 3:4; 3:6a; 3:6b; 3:8; 3:9; 3:10b; 3:15; 4:7; 5:1a; 5:1b; 5:4; 2 John 9a)

Type 4. “Whoever . . .” (hos an . . .) (1 saying)

John 4:14

(1 John 3:17; 4:15; cf. 1 John 4:6b: hos)

Type 5. “No one . . .” (oudeis . . .) (3 sayings)

John 6:44; 6:65; 14:6

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John could have created similar aphoristic sayings in the third person plural—“those who believe in me . . .”; “all those who keep my words . . .”—but he actually does so only once. This exception is a prominent as well as singular one because it occurs in the prologue: “To as many as [hosoi] received him, he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name” (1:12). The explanation for this exception lies most likely in the fact that the aphoristic sayings in the rest of the Gospel have a paraenetic function: they invite belief or love or obedience. The prologue, on the other hand, is not inviting but narrating. It tells the story of the Word’s procurement of salvation and views the faith of believers in Jesus as a historic fact, not as possibility for the present or the future. The plural is therefore more appropriate.

There are some aphoristic sayings about the individual’s relationship to Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Here are three examples from Mark: “Whoever does the will of God, that one is my brother and sister and mother” (3:35); “If anyone wishes to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (8:34); “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words . . . , the Son of Man will be ashamed of him/her when he comes in the glory of his Father” (8:38). There are not many of these, and they do not use the characteristic Johannine language of believing in Jesus, loving Jesus, having eternal life, and so forth, but they show perhaps that, as in other cases, something characteristic of the words of Jesus in John has a starting point in the traditional sayings of Jesus.

We may now consider the significance of these sayings in the context of a relatively collectivist society. They do not, of course, preclude groups of people becoming believers in Jesus (e.g., the siblings Lazarus, Martha, and Mary), but they do seem to insist that each individual must make a personal response in faith to Jesus, and they allow the possibility of an individual making that step of faith alone (e.g., the formerly blind man in chap. 9).

Bruce Malina discusses conversion in the case of people becoming disciples of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. Since the Synoptics lay considerable emphasis on the fact that conversion may mean breaking completely with the extended family in-group, Malina needs to explain how making such a break is possible for persons whose self-awareness is ...

Índice

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Endorsements
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• 1. “Individualism”
• 2. Divine and Human Community
• 3. Glory
• 4. Cross, Resurrection, and Exaltation
• 5. Sacraments?
• 6. Dualisms
• 7. Dimensions of Meaning in the Gospel’s First Week
• 8. The Johannine Jesus and the Synoptic Jesus
• Bibliography
• Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Sources
• Index of Modern Authors
• Index of Subjects
• Notes
• Back Cover