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Home , Cosmogony

Cosmos, , and in the Letters of John

Jan van der Watt

1 Introduction

In his Radboud prestige lecture Alan Culpepper ventured into the complex interdisciplanary debate on the relation between and science, espe- cially in relation to creation and the kosmos. He points out that in certain respects the Johannine material offers a perspective of synergy between the complicated processes of initial and continuing creation, which might serve as a basis for discussion with other disciplines. This moves beyond questions like, did God create in seven days or was there a ? In this contribution, another aspect receives attention, namely, the of John regarding the . In the background the question will be kept in mind whether differ- ent disciplines use different and whether it is imperative that only one worldview should be used at any particular . John’s First Letter will be analysed as being part of the wider Johannine tradition.1 What is John’s cosmological vision according to his Letters?2 To answer this question, the term “”3 should first be defined. The concept of cosmology here refers to the origin, nature, evolvement, and final fate of the .4 It includes the total dynamic mental picture (which includes any references to origin, functioning, order, nature, structural interaction, final destination) of the universe (not only the created ), including both the physical and transcendental . The aim is not to a comprehen- sive “cosmology” but to describe the “cosmological views” as they are found specifically in the letters of John. Although these letters were not written with the purpose of developing, presenting, or discussing a particular cosmology, they were written with a specific cosmic vision of how things in this reality

1 This does not deny the differences between the Gospel and Letters, but does assume a strong theological affinity between these documents. 2 Cf. my “Cosmos, Reality and God in the Letters of John,” In Luce Verbi, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2013), pp. 1–9 for similar material. 3 This word is broader than and should be distinguished from the concept “cosmogony” that refers to theories about the origin of the universe, although in many cases in the New Testament material these two concepts overlap. 4 R. A. Orden, Jr., “Cosmogony, Cosmology,” The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1162, opines, “A cosmology (kosmos + logia = ‘report’) is a blueprint or map, in the widest sense, of the universe as a comprehensible and meaningful place.”

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���6 | doi ��.��63/9789004306677_014 254 van der Watt are organized, function, etc. This vision, being at least partly embedded in the texts of the Letters, will be analysed. In analysing the cosmology of the Letters, a logical place to start is with the term κόσμος itself, which is used twenty-three in the Letters. Semantically the content of this concept cannot be restricted to one word—the concept is expressed in other ways too, that should also be considered. The semantics of the word κόσμος itself will therefore first be investigated, then concepts related to the cosmological vision in the Letters will receive attention, followed by an analysis of the presence of apocalyptic elements in the Johannine view of reality.

2 The Word κόσμος—Its Semantic Potential

The word κόσμος5 (kosmos) covers a wide range of possible uses in 1 and 2 John;6 it is not used with a single meaning.7 This corresponds with the lexicographi- cal potential of the word.8 An analytical survey of the use of this term in the Letters allows for the division into four major categories,9 namely, a) the

5 There are other words that also belong to the same semantic domain as κόσμος, like γῆ (gē), κτίσις (ktisis), but they are not treated, since they are not used in the Letters. 6 It should be noted that the word kosmos is only used in 2 John 7 outside of 1 John. It is not used in 3 John at all. The discussion will therefore by default mainly concentrate on 1 John— mention will be made of 2 John 7 when appropriate. 7 It is used 22 times in 1 John (2:2, 15[3x], 16[2x], 17; 3:1, 13, 17; 4:1, 3, 4, 5[3x], 9, 14, 17; 5:4[2x], 19) and once in 2 John 7. 8 Cf. W. Arndt, F. W. Danker, and W. Bauer, (BDAG) A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testa­ ment and other early Christian literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), ad loc.: kosmos was used to refer to “that which serves to beautify through decoration, adorn- ment, adorning” or “condition of orderliness, orderly arrangement, order” in Homeric times. However, the reference to” the sum total of everything here and now, the world, the (orderly) universe” is attested much wider, even in the New Testament. In a more specific sense it is also used to refer to “the sum total of all beings above the level of the animals, the world” or more specific, “humanity in general.” In a broader sense it is used to refer to “ earth as a place of inhabitation, the world,” indicating the habitation of humans, standing in contrast to heaven. Ibid. (ad loc.) further distinguish “the system of human existence in its many aspects, the world,” including joys, possessions, sufferings, etc. as a possible reference. In a very broad sense it may refer to the “ aspect of an entity, totality, sum total.” 9 The underlying theory used in analysing the meaning of the concept of cosmology is based on two pillars. The lexicographical potential of a word is reflected in major dictionaries like ibid. (ad loc.) and J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), ad loc. This potential of the