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Readers As Witnesses in the Fourth Gospel Mark L View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by epublications@Marquette Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects The irsF t Thing Andrew Did' [John 1:41]: Readers As Witnesses in the Fourth Gospel Mark L. Trump Marquette University Recommended Citation Trump, Mark L., "The irF st Thing Andrew Did' [John 1:41]: Readers As Witnesses in the Fourth Gospel" (2017). Dissertations (2009 - ). 705. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/705 “‘THE FIRST THING ANDREW DID’ [JOHN 1:41]: READERS AS WITNESSES IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL” by Mark L. Trump, B.A., M.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2017 ABSTRACT “‘THE FIRST THING ANDREW DID’ [JOHN 1:41]: READERS AS WITNESSES IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL” Mark L. Trump, B.A., M.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2017 In 1996, Robert F. Kysar identified one of the leading issues that would form scholarly debate regarding the Fourth Gospel for decades to come: whether the Fourth Gospel is designed to strengthen and affirm the faith of those inside a Johannine community (a sectarian document/community) or to bring to faith those who were not yet part of that community (an evangelistic tract/missionary community). The sectarian position, often connected to the work of J. Louis Martyn, Raymond E. Brown, and Wayne A. Meeks, has become the received tradition in Johannine studies. Increasingly, others have called into question not only the results but also the working presuppositions of the sectarian position and the supposedly positivistic mirror reading of the text that posits a “Johannine community,” while giving detailed attention to the Gospel’s trans-sectarian elements. Yet neither position can be said to be superior, so far as satisfying exegesis is concerned: neither accounts for the existence of both sectarian and evangelistic elements. As a means of rapprochement and a way forward in the debate, this work offers an authorial reading of the Fourth Gospel that suggests that the textual intention of the Gospel is to inculcate witnessing in its readers. By means of characterization, marked instances of narration, the employment and modification of recognition scenes, and other narrative elements, the implied author repeatedly returns to the motif of bearing witness in such a way that by the end of the narrative, the reader has learned to associate faith and discipleship with bearing witness and to understand that witnesses are themselves “signs.” As scholars in the areas of evangelism and fundamental theology have articulated, bearing witness is a praxis of the Christian community that is both community forming (“sectarian”—directed to strengthening the faith of community members) and evangelistic (“trans-sectarian”—directed toward creating faith in hearers). A witness- bearing authorial audience, rather than a sectarian one, better accounts for known second- century, post-apostolic concerns and the narrative situation in which the last member of the apostolic generation is writing to the post-apostolic generation in an effort to continue the mission of Jesus to the world. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mark L. Trump, B.A., M.A., M.A. I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Theology Department at Marquette University for their excellent instruction, assistance, guidance, and grace throughout my coursework and writing, as I tried to balance teaching, writing, research, ministry, and family. I would like to thank Dr. William Kurz, whose comments at the bottom of a paper which I submitted for his class confirmed that what I was pursuing was worth further investigation as a dissertation. I especially would like to thank Dr. Julian V. Hills for the painstaking care with which he has read my work and for his enduring patience with me through the process. He has made an arduous journey with me on this project, and I am a better scholar and writer because of his challenges, his encouragement, and his attention. Because of our time together, I count him as a faithful mentor and moreover, a friend. Finally, I would also like to thank my wife Alison, my son Micah, and my daughter Matilyn, for their unconditional love, encouragement, and unending patience. They have had to sacrifice time with me so that I could complete this work. Without their support and patience, I would not have finished this journey. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………….………………....…...….. i INTRODUCTION I. THE SECTARIAN-MISSIONAL DEBATE AND THE PURPOSE OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL…………………….....1 II. A WAY FORWARD: THE “BOTH/AND” IN THE COMMUNICATIVE PRAXIS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES…………….....7 III. TEXTUAL INTENTIONS: AUTHORIAL READINGS AND AUTHORIAL AUDIENCES………......9 IV. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PRESENT WORK……….……………..…..11 V. THE AIM AND PLAN OF THE PRESENT STUDY.…..…..….…………17 CHAPTER 1: JOHN 1:40-42 AND 1:44-47: A SURVEY OF ANALYSES I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………..……………20 II. PARALLEL SEQUENCES AND FORMULAIC STRUCTURE IN 1:37-42 AND 1:43-47…………………………………………….….….24 A Survey of Approaches………………………………………….…...25 III. CONCLUSION………………………………….…………………….……44 CHAPTER 2: JOHN 1:40-42 AND 1:44-47: PARALLELS AND PARADIGMS I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………..…46 II. 1:37-42 AND 1:43-47: AN EXTENDED ANALYSIS……………….……46 1:37-42/1:43-47 and 1:35-51: Parallel Sequences and Parallel Days....51 III. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………..66 CHAPTER 3: PAIRED AND PATTERNED WITNESSES IN JOHN 1-9 I. INTRODUCTION…………………………….…………………………….72 II. RECOGNITION SCENES IN THE WORK OF R. ALAN CULPEPPER AND KASPER BRO LARSEN……....…….……77 iii III. PAIRED SCENES/CHARACTERS…………………………….……….....84 Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman………………………………..84 The Invalid and the Blind Man..............................................................96 IV. CONCLUSION……………………………………………….…………...111 CHAPTER 4: PAIRED AND PATTERNED WITNESSES AND ABSENT CHARACTERS IN JOHN 11-20 I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………... 113 II. PAIRED SCENES/CHARACTERS…………………………………….. 114 Mary and Martha……………………...………………………….…..114 Mary and the Disciples………...……………………….……….........127 The Disciples and Thomas…………………………………………...130 III. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………..135 CHAPTER 5: WITNESSING ELEMENTS IN JOHN 1-11 I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………139 II. THE BAPTIST…………………………………………………………….139 The Prologue, the Baptist, and Witnessing…………………………..139 The Baptist’s continuing witness and its effects……………………..147 John 3 and the Return of the Baptist as Witness……………………..152 III. AN AGRICULTURAL METAPHOR…………………….………...…….157 IV. THE ROYAL OFFICIAL AND THE CREATION OF FAITH BY TESTIMONY ……….…...........159 V. THE RETURN OF THE BAPTIST AS FAITHFUL WITNESS….……...166 VI. NICODEMUS AS WITNESS………………………………………….....167 iv VII. THE FINAL APPEARACNE OF THE BAPTIST AS WITNESS…….....171 VIII. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………….…..173 CHAPTER 6: WITNESSING ELEMENTS IN JOHN 13-21 I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………177 II. THE SPIRIT AND THE VINE……………………………………………178 III. AN AGRICUTURAL METAPHOR REVISITED……………….……….185 IV. JESUS’S PRAYER……………………………………………….……….192 V. NICODEMUS’S FINAL RETURN…………………………….…………196 VI. NARRATOR AS WITNESS…………………………………….………..197 VII. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….……...205 CONCLUSIONS..………………………………………………………….………...209 I. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….……...209 II. REVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS..……………………....………209 III. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL……………………………………………216 Discipleship Identified by Bearing Witness…………………………217 Faith Identified by Bearing Witness…………………………………218 Johannine Signs Revisited……………………………………….......219 A Reconsideration of the Authorial Audience……………………....220 A Way Forward in the Sectarian/Evangelistic Debate………………225 IV. AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDY..……………………..…………...…..228 V. CONCLUSION…………………….………………………………...…...230 BIBLIOGRAPHY.…………………..……………………………....…….………...232 1 Introduction The Sectarian-Missional Debate and the Purpose of the Fourth Gospel The realms of pastoral ministry and the academy have held differing views of the intended audience and purpose of the Fourth Gospel. In ecclesial praxis, the Fourth Gospel is routinely used as a missional document because of, among other things, the prevalence of “belief” language, its Christological claims, and its purpose statement (20:30-31). The purpose statement is assumed to be about generating faith in non- believers. Because of these things, Christians distribute the Fourth Gospel as a means of introducing non-Christians to the message of Christ. However, within the academy, the “received tradition” in Johannine studies is that the Fourth Gospel is a sectarian document that employs “insider” language and imagery and was written primarily to strengthen the faith of an early Johannine Community in the face of mounting opposition. It was not meant for, not could it be thoroughly understood by, outsiders. This debate as to the purpose of the Fourth Gospel, between mission document (Missionsschrift ) and community/theological treatise (Gemeindeschrift ), has been at the center of Fourth Gospel scholarship for decades. 1 In 1996, in a panoramic survey of the state of the discussion on the Fourth Gospel, Robert F. Kysar identifies five scholarly proposals as to the author’s purpose and its intended audience.2 The five proposals are 1 Wally V. Cirafesi (“The Johannine Community Hypothesis [1968—Present]: Past and Present
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