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The Gospel of John: a Roman Legal and Rhetorical Perspective

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The Gospel of John: a Roman Legal and Rhetorical Perspective THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: A ROMAN LEGAL AND RHETORICAL PERSPECTIVE By Beth M. Sheppard .ý A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Biblical Studiesat the University of Sheffield. September,1999 Summary The Gospel of John: A Roman Legal and Rhetorical Perspective Beth M. Sheppard This thesis representsan experiment in which the Fourth Gospel is analysedfor functional similarities with the preceptsof the classical rhetorical handbooksand illuminated at points by referenceto Roman law. After exploring the possibility of an Ephesianprovenance, the feasibility of examining the Gospel against the backdrop of the classical forensic rhetoric that pervadedsuch a cosmopolitan milieu is arguedin the introduction. Further, the use of legal themesand motifs within the Fourth Gospel are amongstfeatures that make the Gospel a favourable subject for such an analysis. Functional correspondencesbetween the structure of the Gospel and that of ancient legal speechesare designateda primary interest. Subsequentchapters, analogous to structural elementsof a legal speech,include examination of John 1:1-15 as a prologue and 1:16-18 as an ipsius causaestatement of the case. The witness motif, signs, Scriptural allusions, and logical argumentsin 1:19- 12:50 representthe type of evidence presentin the probatio or proof portions of forensic orations. The farewell discourses(13-17) may be akin to a digressionwhile the presentationof proof is resumedat the point of Jesus' arrest. Verses20: 30-21: 25 conform to conventions for perorations. In addition, Roman laws and procedures involving women as witnessesand the distribution of inheritancesilluminate various pericopes. The conclusion shows that there is some support for the hypothesisthat the Gospel was crafted in a way that reflects the modes and structure of forensic argumentationin Greco-Romanculture. The implications of such a structure would be threefold: 1) the Gospel has been carefully and intentionally composed2) the distinctivenessof the Fourth Gospel comparedto the Synoptics may be due to similarities with forensic rhetoric 3) the Gospel may be read from the perspectiveof a Roman legal context. CONTENTS ' '= '6 I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................1 THE EXPERIMENT ..................................................................1 THE APPLICABILITY OF CLASSICAL RHETORIC TO LITERATURE 11 ........................................ CLASSICAL RHETORIC AND THE FOURTH GOSPEL....24 THE SCOPE OF THE EXPERIMENT 33 ................................... II. CHAPTER ONE--THE PROLOGUE OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL AND THE EXORDIUM 36 ............................................ THE CONVENTIONS OF SPEECHPROLOGUES 41 ............. CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR AND QUESTIONS OF AUTHORITY 44 ........................................................... OBTAINING THE GOOD WILL OF THE JUDGE 47 .............. LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE ORATION 51 ........................................................ SUMMARY 70 ........................................................................... III. CHAPTER TWO--THE PUBLIC MINISTRY AND THE PROBATIO 72 ............................................................................... CLASSICAL RHETORIC AND THE TYPES OF PROOF.. 72 .. PROOF IN NARRATIVE FORM 75 .......................................... PROOF IN THE PUBLIC MINISTRY 79 ................................... SUMMARY 127 ......................................................................... IV. CHAPTER THREE--THE FAREWELL DISCOURSES AS DIGRESSION & THE PARACLETE AS ADVOCATE..... 129 ASPECTS OF THE FAREWELL DISCOURSES 133 ................ THE PARACLETE AS ADVOCATE 137 .................................. SUMMARY 159 ........................................................................ V. CHAPTER FOUR--PROOF CONTINUED 161 ............................ PROBATIO CONTINUED 18:1-20: 29 164 ................................ SUMMARY 180 ........................................................................ VI. CHAPTER FIVE--CLOSING STATEMENT & EPILOGUE 182 ... VII. CONCLUSION--THE EXPERIMENT: RESULTS & IMPLICATIONS 197 ....................................................................... APPENDIX--ROMAN INHERITANCE LAW & JOHN 3: 18 200 ....... BIBLIOGRAPHY 205 ........................................................................... Introduction The Experiment The topic of this dissertation, a Roman legal and rhetorical perspectiveon the Gospelof John is an attempt to meet the challengesissued by two current scholars. The first challenge was presentedby Richard J. Cassidywho observedin his 1992 work, John'sGospel in New Perspective, "...John's Gospel has traditionally not been approachedwith a particular sensitivity for its Roman context."' Cassidyissues a clear call for supplementingexisting studiesand researchwith "...new materials and perspectivesderived from considering featuresof the Gospel that relate extraordinarily well to significant elementsin Roman rule at the end of the first Christian century and the beginning of the secondcentury. "2 With such an appeal in mind, a consciousattempt has been made in this analysis of the Fourth Gospel to focus on those aspectsof the text which exhibit a Roman context and/or would resonatewith Roman conceptsin the minds of readerswithin the Roman empire. The position that undergirdsthis study, that the Gospel in its final form was in all probability intended for an audiencelarger than one comprised merely of Jewish Christians who were thrown out of the synagogue,3 is demonstrableon two fronts4 First, there is the author's consciousconsideration of translating Aramaic phrases into Greek, the language the Eastern the Roman common of portion of empire.5 tRichardJ. CassidyJohn's Gospel in New Perl ective(Maryknoll, NY: OrbisBooks, 1992),1. 2Ibid., 1-2. 3John 9: 22,12: 42,16: 2,. For the theory of the synagogueexpulsion see J. Louis Martyn, Hist= and Theology in the FourthGospel (NY and Evanston: Harper and Row, 1968). Judith Lieu, by contrast, assertsthat John's Gospel does not reflect a community's separationfrom the synagogue. She focuses on verse 18:20 in which Jesusdescribes teaching in both synagogueand temple as evidencecountering the idea that there is a negative view of the synagoguein the text. She also observes that since "synagogue" is not a word that occurs frequently in the Fourth Gospel, there is not necessarilya pre-occupation on the part of the community with an expulsion. She does not, however, provide an adequateexplanation concerning why synagogueexpulsions are something to which the Gospel text alludes three times. Judith M, Lieu, "Temple and Synagoguein John," New Testament Studies 45.1 (January, 1999): 62. 4Whileacknowledging the probabilityof earlierrecessions of the Gospel,in this studyI focus on its final form. SForexample John 1:41,42 and 4:25 2 Second,John alludes to a Gentile mission. For instance,he includes in his text some foreigners (Greeks) who wished to seeJesus (12: 20). By their inclusion John informs his readersthat the opportunity to follow Jesusextends beyond Jewish boundaries. Even the Samaritansin identifying Jesusas Saviour of the World (4:42), and Jesushimself, who reminds his listeners that he has sheepwho are "not of this (the Jewish) fold" (10: 16), evidencean author who is concernedabout a Gentile mission. Martin Hengel has recognisedthe Jewish background of the author. This backgroundis illustrated by the author's knowledge of halachic regulations,Jewish theology, festival customs,and the geographyof Palestine.6 Nevertheless,Hengel points out that, All in all, the referencesto the mission to the Gentiles are certainly not less, but more varied in John than in the Synoptic Gospels. The Johannine School and its head can therefore no longer be placed in a predominantly Jewish context, even if the founder of the school himself was a Jewish Christian from Palestine. He is in Gentile-Christian 7 working a milieu ... Therefore, with the author's consciousnessof a Gentile mission and careful translation of Aramaic words, the non-Jewishreader/hearer8 in the first century Roman empire might feel permitted to participate in the story line. 6Martin Hengel, The JohannineQuestion (London & Philadelphia: SCM Press/Trinity Press International, 1989), 110-113. There are many studiesthat examinethe Jewishinfluences on the Fourth Gospel. For instance,A. E. Harvey, Jesuson Trial: A Study in the Fourth Gospel (London: SPCK Press, 1976), emphasisesknowledge of Jewishlegal proceduressuch as "Justice at the Gate" proceduresand a "Jewish mentality" on the part of the author (15). Harvey does, though, comment that the author is "betwixt and between" the Jewishand Roman legal worlds (128) and that the Gospel was intendedfor a mixed Jewish and Gentile audience(129). Other studiesfocus on other aspectsof Jewishinfluence on the Gospel. For example, in a recent book J. Duncan M. Derrett examines allusionsto the Hebrew Scripturesin the passionnarrative in The Victim: The JohanninePassion Narrative Re-examinedShipston-on-Stour, UK: Peter Drinkwater, 1993. 7Hengel, 123. RaymondE. Brown, while maintainingthat the Johanninecommunity may have originated with Jewish Christians,asserts that by the time of the Gospel's composition it included Gentiles. RaymondE. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (NY & Mahwah, NY: Paulist Press, 1979) 55-58. On the characteristicsof ancient schoolsand the Johanninecommunity's conformity with them seeR. Alan Culpepper,The JohannineSchool SBL
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