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Download Thesis CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO THE GOSPEL: INCIPIENT GNOSTICISM AND JOHANNINE TEACHING ON THE RESURRECTION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF THEOLOGY BY NICHOLAS WOODS The opinions expressed in this thesis do not necessarily reflect those of the South African Theological Seminary. CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO THE GOSPEL: INCIPIENT GNOSTICISM AND JOHANNINE TEACHING ON THE RESURRECTION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF THEOLOGY BY NICHOLAS WOODS Supervisor: DR. BILL DOMERIS ii DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and has not previously, in its entirety, or in part been submitted to any university for degree purposes. Nicholas Woods____________________________ South African Theological Seminary (SATS), February, 2011 iii Copyright © February 2011 Nicholas Woods iv I am extremely grateful to the Lord for granting me this opportunity to reflect on His Word and for His direction and to Dr. Bill Domeris, my supervisor, who guided and helped me through this project. To my mother and father whose support has been unending, and to all those who taught me to choose and not give up on life, I dedicate this paper and pray for God‘s continuous direction in their lives. v ABSTRACT Within the past generation, a new school of scholars has arisen who view the texts discovered at Nag Hammadi as equal to or even superior to the traditional canonical materials. They view several of these texts and particularly, The Gospel of Thomas, as containing independent traditions that form the earliest layers in the development of Christianity. As the pool of texts used to illustrate the historical Jesus continues to broaden and increase, Incipient Gnosticism is being seen more and more as the source of Jesus‘ teaching. As this continues to happen, key traditional doctrines such as the future, bodily resurrection of believers are reinterpreted or done away with altogether. This study looks carefully at the Gnostic and Incipient Gnostic view of the resurrection and compares it to the view given in The Gospel of John. The view of the resurrection in The Gospel of John is used as a test case against the Gnostic or Incipient Gnostic perspective. Furthermore, the study analyzes the various new texts that have been identified as the earliest sources of Jesus‘ teaching. Once each of these sources has been critically analyzed, a determination has to be made as to whether they make a contribution or are a substantial influence as to what Jesus taught on the resurrection. Finally, the study attempts to find a plausible solution to the problem of what is the true background of John‘s Gospel. This study concludes that the answer lies not in the Nag Hammadi literature, but rather, in the documents of Qumran and in the broader Jewish context. The problem of a Gnostic or Incipient Gnostic background to Jesus‘ teaching is re-examined in light of the parallels between the Palestinian Qumran materials and The Gospel According to John. Consequently, different conclusions are then reached as far as the background of John‘s Gospel is concerned. The study concludes that given a Palestinian background to The Gospel of John, Jesus‘ teaching on the resurrection appears to be both futuristic and corporeal. vi LIST OF KEY TERMS Note: Definitions of the relevant key terms are taken, except where otherwise indicated, from C. Evans, Fabricating Jesus 2006, pp. 246-247 and B. Witherington, The Gospel Code 2004, pp.178-184. Agrapha-Independent sayings of Jesus that are not written in the New Testament. Ascetism-The teaching that spirituality is attained through renunciation of physical pleasure and personal desires. Ascetism often assumes that the physical body is evil and is ultimately the cause of sin. New Testament Apocrypha-Texts from the New Testament era that are not accepted as Scripture. Canon-Literally means ―standard‖ or ―rule.‖ The term is most closely associated with a collection of books that the church has recognized as the written Word of God or Scripture and that functions as the rule or standard of faith and practice. Canonical Gospels-The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament. Christology-The theological study of and doctrines related to who Jesus is and what he accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. Codex (pl. codices)-An ancient type of book produced by folding a stack of papyrus sheets or vellum binding. Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS)-The collection of approximately eight hundred and fifty Jewish manuscripts. They are mostly fragmentary. They were discovered by shepherds in 1947 in caves near the shore of The Dead Sea. These scrolls represent all the Old Testament texts except the Book of Esther. The scrolls also contain non-biblical texts, including vii commentaries and paraphrases of Old Testament books, as well as liturgical and eschatological works. Docetism-An ancient view that was seen as a heresy in the early church, that Jesus only seemed or appeared (dokew) to have a body. Ebionites-An ancient form of Jewish Christianity that tended to enhance the status of the law and minimize the divine nature of Jesus. Eschatology-Popularly known as the study of the end times. Eschatology seeks to understand the ultimate direction or purpose of history as it moves towards the future. Essenes-A sect within ancient Judaism that zealously contended for Jewish faith and life, and seems to have viewed themselves as the true Israel. They are probably connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Extracanonical Gospels-Texts outside of the New Testament that relate stories about or sayings of Jesus. Gnosticism-An early Greek religious movement that was particularly influential in the second century church. The word Gnosticism comes from the Greek term ―gnosis,‖ meaning ―knowledge.‖ Gnostics believed that their followers had gained a special kind of spiritual enlightenment, through which they had attained a secret or higher level of knowledge not available to the uninitiated. Gnostics also tended to emphasize the spiritual realm over the material. Heresy-Any teaching rejected by the Christian community as contrary to Scripture and to orthodox doctrine. The Gospel of Thomas (GTh)-An esoteric writing purporting to record the secret or hidden teachings of Jesus to Thomas and to his other disciples. It contains 114 saying and is written in a non-narrative framework. viii Johannine Tradition-The texts of the New Testament that are related to the Apostle John. They are the Gospel of John, 1-3 John, and The Book of Revelation. Logia-A collection of sayings attributed to Jesus. Nag Hammadi-A town in Egypt where thirteen leather-bound books, including some of the Gnostic Gospels, dating from about A.D. 250-380, were found at the end of 1945. Orthodoxy-Literally means ―right praise‖ or ―straight thinking‖ as opposed to heresy. Being orthodox implies being characterized by consistency in belief and worship with Christian faith. Oxyrhynchus (Oxy.)-An archaeological site in Egypt. It was first discovered at the end of the nineteenth century, where thousands of papyri and fragments, mostly Greek, have been found. Papyrus (Pap.)-A tall, aquatic reed that grows in the Nile Delta of Egypt and was made into a writing material of the same name. The earliest NT Greek manuscripts were written on papyrus. Paranomasia-Verbal play involving the sounds of words. This is the tool that was used by the author of the Gospel of Thomas where words are used and arranged as an organizing or poetic device. The recognition of this device has helped Perrin place GTh in a Syrian context (Perrin 2002:49). Punning-Punning involves the correlation of words in which a certain word or group of words fits in with an established context. These words also give rise to a separate frame of reference or meaning (Perrin 2002:51). Q-A hypothetical document consisting of a collection of Jesus‘ sayings. ―Q‖ is an abbreviation of the German word Quelle, ―source.‖ Q accounts for the sayings of Jesus that are common to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but are not found in Mark (approximately 230 verses). ix LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.2 Comparison of the Greek, Syriac, and Coptic texts of The Gospel of Thomas...................................................................................................................82 x CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………...………….vi LIST OF KEY TERMS……………………………………………………………………….vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES…………………………………………………………..x ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………….…......……xvii-xviii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….…….1 1.1 Background.………………………………………………………………………….…….1 1.1.1 The Problem………………………………………………………..…..…...…………..5 1.1.2 Problem Statement……………………………………………………………..…….…5 1.2 THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS OF THE STUDY………………......………….…….5 1.3 THE IMPORTANCE PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY…………….6 1.3.1 The Hypothesis of the Study……………….……………………………….………….6 1.3.2 Academic Purpose……………………………………………………………………..7 1.3.3 Personal Motivation…………………………………………………………………….7 1.3.4 Significance………………………………………………………..………..………..…8 1.4 OBJECTIVES AND AIMS OF THE STUDY……………..………………….……..…9 1.5 THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (DUAL APPROACH)……………..…….……8 1.6 DELIMITATION OF EXEGESIS TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN…………..……...…11 1.7 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY………………………………….………………...........13 CHAPTER II GNOSTICISM; INCIPIENT GNOSTICISM; AND BIBLICAL STUDIES...14 2.1 GNOSTICISM AS
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