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Of the Spirit-Paraclete in John 16:4B-15. a Socio-Rhetorical Investigation

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Of the Spirit-Paraclete in John 16:4B-15. a Socio-Rhetorical Investigation THE ROLE(S) OF THE SPIRIT-PARACLETE IN JOHN 16:4B-15. A SOCIO-RHETORICAL INVESTIGATION by RIKU PEKKA TUPPURAINEN submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject NEW TESTAMENT at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF J E BOTHA NOVEMBER 2006 Student number 3276-712-9 I declare that THE ROLE(S) OF THE SPIRIT-PARACLETE IN JOHN 16:4B-15. A SOCIO-RHETORICAL INVESTIGATION is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. REV R P TUPPURAINEN 30/11/2006 i ABSTRACT The subject and the scope of this study are the role(s) of the Spirit-Paraclete in John 16:4b-15. The methodology applied is socio-rhetorical criticism as developed by Vernon K. Robbins. The fourth Gospel is called the ‘spiritual Gospel.’ Its pneumatic connotations are not only related to its presentation of Christ but also to its frequent references to the Spirit and its cognates. Jesus’ Spirit-Paraclete teaching in his Farewell Discourse is a prominent example of this. Its pneumatological content is, however, problematic. This is demonstrated by the various attempts of Johannine scholars. In addition, methodologies, goals and the scope of these studies vary. It was observed that if scholars suggest a role for the Spirit-Paraclete, they usually use ‘either-or’ language, pointing out one role while excluding other possible roles from their conclusions or merely list explicitly mentioned functions of the Spirit-Paraclete. This study is a response to this present situation. It deals with the last two Spirit-Paraclete sayings of Jesus in his farewell address to determine the role(s) of the Spirit-Paraclete, applying the comprehensive reading model which has not been applied to this text before. The hypothesis was that if a more comprehensive methodology is applied to the narrative, a more comprehensive understanding of the text would be gained. We applied multidisciplinary socio- rhetorical criticism which takes into account narrative-rhetorical, intertextual, social-cultural, ideological and sacred aspects of the text while not neglecting contexts in which the story took place, was recorded and is interpreted. Findings were that the roles of the Spirit-Paraclete go beyond mere theological and spiritual significance to touch sociological and psychological aspects of human experience. Thus, the roles of the Spirit-Paraclete are multidimensional. These roles are also integrated with each other. Together they support and point to one major role of the Spirit-Paraclete, which does not, however, downplay his other roles. The central role of the Spirit-Paraclete in John 16:4b-15 is to be the divine presence who forms a performing community of the disciples called the people of the Spirit. Key words: disciple(ship), forensic, Johannine community, narrative, Paraclete, paravklhto~, role, socio-rhetorical, social-scientific, soteriology, the (Holy) Spirit, the Spirit-Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, world. ii PREFACE To the Father, his Son, Jesus Christ and the Spirit-Paraclete, be the glory without whom this study would not have been possible. Only because of their presence was I able to persevere and accomplish this enriching journey in the Gospel of John. I want to present my special gratitude to my promoters: the late professor Dr Richard Lemmer with whom I began this journey and professor Dr J. Eugene Botha with whom I finished the project. I learned to know Prof Lemmer as a warm-hearted scholar whose encouragement and expertise were crucial at the beginning of my studies. Prof Botha demonstrated an excellent understanding of my field of study. He was an outstanding academic mentor to me who helped me to grow not only in the knowledge of my field of study, but also in conveying ideas from one mind to another. I also express my appreciation to the subject librarians (Theology) of UNISA, Ms Natalie Thirion and Ms Elsabé Nell. They patiently served me and their assistance was helpful and necessary. I also want to thank the library services of the University of Toronto (Canada), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and the Continental Theological Seminary (Belgium) for their help and co-operation when using their services and facilities. A special word of thanks to the Finnish Pentecostal Church of Toronto, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada and the Continental Theological Seminary which allowed me to study and write this thesis while working for/with them. Also, I want to give credit to Prof Eleanor Lemmer and Mr John Maempa who edited the English text. Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my wife, Anne, for her constant encouragement and support during my studies at UNISA while she was writing her own doctoral thesis at UNISA (Religious Studies). She also was a ‘paraclete’ to me during this undertaking. My sincere hope is that this study would stimulate others to engage in Johannine pneumatology studies and to take this discussion further. By no means has this area of research been exhausted. iii CONTENTS Statement i Abstract ii Preface iii Contents iv The list of abbreviations viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: NECESSITY, AIM AND OBJECTIVES 1 Introduction 1 2 Necessity of the thesis 3 2.1 Exegetical necessity: Recent studies on the Spirit-Paraclete 5 2.1.1 Johannine community and the Spirit-Paraclete: R Brown, G M Burge and R A Berg 5 2.1.2 The bestowal of the Spirit-Paraclete and ‘hour’ of Jesus: J Byun and J L Kipp 9 2.1.3 Soteriological pneumatology of John: C Bennema 11 2.1.4 Socio-religious-historical readings and the Spirit-Paraclete: T G Brown, C S Keener, E Franck and G Johnston 13 2.1.5 The Farewell Discourse and the Spirit-Paraclete: F G Carver and D A Carson 20 2.1.6 Conclusions to recent studies on the Spirit-Paraclete 22 2.2 Methodological necessity 24 2.2.1 General observations: Mirrors, windows and stained glasses 24 2.2.2 Recent methodological applications to the Gospel of John 26 2.2.2.1 ‘Mirror’ reading: J L Staley 27 2.2.2.2 ‘Window’ reading: R Bultmann, B J Malina & R L Rohrbaugh, J L Martyn and W A Meeks 27 2.2.2.3 ‘Mirror-window’ reading: S Motyer and M W G Stibbe 33 2.2.2.4 ‘Ornamental glass’ reading: R A Culpepper and T F Tolmie 36 2.2.2.5 Conclusions to methodological overview 38 3 The problem, aim and objectives 40 3.1 The problems with previous studies and the aim of this thesis 40 3.2 Some objectives and hypotheses 41 4 Method and scope of the study 42 iv v CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS: SOCIO-RHETORICAL CRITICISM AND JOHN 16:4b-15 1 Introduction 45 2 Rhetoric: An overview 46 2.1 Classical rhetoric: From oral to written skills of communication 47 2.2 Contemporary views of rhetoric: Persuasive communication 48 3 Rhetorical criticism(s) 49 3.1 ‘Classical’ rhetorical criticism and the New Testament 50 3.2 Socio-rhetorical criticism and the New Testament 52 3.2.1 Introduction to socio-rhetorical criticism: Stretching boundaries 52 3.2.2 Socio-rhetorical analysis and narrative criticism 54 3.2.3 Socio-rhetorical analysis and its textures 56 3.2.3.1 Inner texture 57 3.2.3.2 Intertexture 58 3.2.3.3 Social and cultural texture 59 3.2.3.4 Ideological texture 61 3.2.3.5 Sacred texture 62 3.3 Socio-rhetorical analysis: Conclusions and contributions 63 4 Socio-rhetorical analysis and the Gospel of John (16:4b-15): Some preliminary observations 66 5 The role(s) of the Spirit-Paraclete in John 16:4b-15 and socio-rhetorical analysis 69 6 Conclusion 71 Excursus: Socio-rhetorical analysis and post-modern local narrative 72 CHAPTER THREE ‘OUTSIDE’ OF THE TEXT: CONTEXTS AND ASSUMPTIONS 1 Introduction 78 2 Historical questions and the Gospel of John 79 2.1 The author(s): From an author to a composer? 79 2.2 Date(s) and place(s) of composition: From fiat to evolution? 81 2.3 The historical audience: From listeners to readers 84 3 Socio-historical locale of the Gospel of John 85 3.1 The Johannine community and its empirical context 86 3.2 Christian-Jewish dichotomy and Roman political contexts 87 3.2.1 Anti-Judaism and the Gospel of John: Who are the people of God? 88 3.2.2 Roman superpower and Christianity: Caesar vs. Jesus 91 3.3 Social-cultural context of the Gospel of John 93 4 Religio-ideological locale of the Gospel of John 96 4.1 The religious context(s): Judaism and Christianity 97 4.1.1 Hebrew Scriptures and Rabbinic literature 97 4.1.2 Intertestamental Judaism 99 4.1.2.1 Qumran community: From caves (darkness) to the light? 99 4.1.2.2 Jewish angelology: From angel to the Spirit? 99 vi 4.1.2.3 The Methurgeman: From human figure to the Spirit? 100 4.1.2.4 Palestinian mysticism: From mysticism to spiritualism (pneumatology)? 101 4.1.3 Christian writings: Synoptic tradition 102 4.2 Ideo-religious context(s): Hellenistic movements 103 4.2.1 Hellenistic Judaism: Remodeled gospel? 103 4.2.2 Proto-Gnosticism: Rephrased kerygma? 104 4.2.3 Other Hellenistic sources: Ideological or linguistic-sociological background? 105 5 Conclusion 106 CHAPTER FOUR SOCIO-RHETORICAL READING OF JOHN 16:4b-15: SEARCH FOR ROLE(S) OF THE SPIRIT-PARACLETE 1 Introduction 109 2 Inner texture of John 16:4b-15 110 2.1 Establishing the text: John 16:4b-15 in its literary context 110 2.1.1 The Farewell Discourse: Sections and content 111 2.1.2 Conclusions: Literary context of John 16:4b-15 114 2.2 Investigating the text of John 16:4b-15 (Inner texture of the text: John 16:4b-15) 114 2.2.1 Rhetorical movements 114 2.2.2 Opening-middle-closing 119 2.2.3 Argumentative structure (Argumentative texture) 120 2.2.4 Sensory-aesthetic
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