scholarly journals The midwife of truth: The nature of irony and a rationale for its prevalence in the Gospel of John

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bruce W. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Passion Narrative ◽  
Sustained Use ◽  
Meaningful Engagement ◽  
Major Treatment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Conceptual Link ◽  
The Way

<p>The Gospel of John is renowned for its pervasive use of irony. While this phenomenon is widely recognized by scholars, there have been only a few attempts to explain the “how” of Johannine irony and no meaningful attempt to explain its “why.” The last major treatment of the topic was by Paul Duke in his 1985 work, Irony in the Fourth Gospel, which provides an account of how Johannine irony works through an analysis of local and extended ironies. Other examinations, such as Gail O’Day’s Revelation in the Fourth Gospel in 1986, explore irony as a corollary of some other thematic concern. The reticence of scholars to delve deeper into the nature of Johannine irony is understandable given that as Duke puts it, irony laughs at all pretensions, especially the pretension of claiming to have grasped irony.  This study undertakes the demanding but necessary task of describing irony to a level that allows meaningful engagement with ironic texts, while accepting that it remains ultimately indefinable. Particular attention is paid to historical shifts of understanding of the nature of irony and the implications this has for appreciating irony at a conceptual level. From a survey of the Johannine scholarship, a comprehensive but non-exhaustive overview of the Fourth Gospel’s use of irony is derived. No previous work has attempted to approach the subject in this way. The main advantage of doing so is that it allows for the identification of broad patterns of irony and the way it functions in the narrative. This in turn provides a framework for proceeding to an examination of particular texts and the identification of a possible rationale.  The present study assesses several hypotheses to explain why the author of the Fourth Gospel makes such sustained use of irony. The preferred hypothesis is that it is intrinsically linked to a predominant Johannine theme of alētheia (truth). Drawing on the conceptual link between irony and truth, it argues that the truth theme is a deliberate literary strategy employed by the author to entice the reader to seek certain propositional truths within the narrative. This ultimately serves the author’s desire to evoke revelation and response in line with the Gospel’s purpose statement in 20:31.  The argument that irony serves the Johannine truth theme is tested with particular reference to the Prologue (1:1-18) and the Passion Narrative (chapters 18-19). The study establishes that irony serves as the link between appearance and reality in the narrative. Its subtle and engaging qualities make irony the most suitable vehicle to testify to the Gospel’s propositional statements in a manner that fulfils the author’s stated Christological (a revelation of Jesus’ true identity) and soteriological (a response that leads to salvation) purposes.</p>

scholarly journals The midwife of truth: The nature of irony and a rationale for its prevalence in the Gospel of John

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bruce W. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Passion Narrative ◽  
Sustained Use ◽  
Meaningful Engagement ◽  
Major Treatment ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Conceptual Link ◽  
The Way

<p>The Gospel of John is renowned for its pervasive use of irony. While this phenomenon is widely recognized by scholars, there have been only a few attempts to explain the “how” of Johannine irony and no meaningful attempt to explain its “why.” The last major treatment of the topic was by Paul Duke in his 1985 work, Irony in the Fourth Gospel, which provides an account of how Johannine irony works through an analysis of local and extended ironies. Other examinations, such as Gail O’Day’s Revelation in the Fourth Gospel in 1986, explore irony as a corollary of some other thematic concern. The reticence of scholars to delve deeper into the nature of Johannine irony is understandable given that as Duke puts it, irony laughs at all pretensions, especially the pretension of claiming to have grasped irony.  This study undertakes the demanding but necessary task of describing irony to a level that allows meaningful engagement with ironic texts, while accepting that it remains ultimately indefinable. Particular attention is paid to historical shifts of understanding of the nature of irony and the implications this has for appreciating irony at a conceptual level. From a survey of the Johannine scholarship, a comprehensive but non-exhaustive overview of the Fourth Gospel’s use of irony is derived. No previous work has attempted to approach the subject in this way. The main advantage of doing so is that it allows for the identification of broad patterns of irony and the way it functions in the narrative. This in turn provides a framework for proceeding to an examination of particular texts and the identification of a possible rationale.  The present study assesses several hypotheses to explain why the author of the Fourth Gospel makes such sustained use of irony. The preferred hypothesis is that it is intrinsically linked to a predominant Johannine theme of alētheia (truth). Drawing on the conceptual link between irony and truth, it argues that the truth theme is a deliberate literary strategy employed by the author to entice the reader to seek certain propositional truths within the narrative. This ultimately serves the author’s desire to evoke revelation and response in line with the Gospel’s purpose statement in 20:31.  The argument that irony serves the Johannine truth theme is tested with particular reference to the Prologue (1:1-18) and the Passion Narrative (chapters 18-19). The study establishes that irony serves as the link between appearance and reality in the narrative. Its subtle and engaging qualities make irony the most suitable vehicle to testify to the Gospel’s propositional statements in a manner that fulfils the author’s stated Christological (a revelation of Jesus’ true identity) and soteriological (a response that leads to salvation) purposes.</p>

Jesus als Typos der Mannhaftigkeit

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-75
Author(s):  
Hans-Ulrich Weidemann
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Masculinity Studies ◽  
Passion Narrative ◽  
Cyril Of Alexandria ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Way ◽  
Beloved Disciple

Abstract This article examines the way Cyril of Alexandria interprets the Passion narrative in his commentary on the Gospel of John. It argues that besides the doctrinal, christological focus of his exegesis Cyril is concerned with a second issue: the contested masculinity of Jesus and his followers during the events of the Passion. This concern becomes clear when Cyril designates the cross-bearing Jesus as “the type of manly courage” (typos andreías). Following a survey of the current historical masculinity studies, the article examines Cyril’s interpretation of such scenes of the Johannine Passion account where Jesus is depicted as being arrested, beaten and flogged, humiliated and finally crucified – i.e., depicted in a way that might seem to contradict antique ideals of manliness. It finally analyzes Cyril’s explanations as to various “unmanly” or “manly” traits of Jesus’ adversaries, especially of the Jews, and of his followers: Peter, his beloved disciple and his Mother.

Ethics and the Gospel of John: Toward an Emerging New Consensus?

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-304
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Skinner
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
English Language ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ethical Systems

For decades the scholarly consensus held that the Fourth Gospel was either devoid of ethics or that its ethical material was narrow, exclusive, and sectarian. In recent years, that consensus has begun to show signs of wear. This article examines the more recent turn to ‘implied’ ethics by looking at four English-language books on the subject published in the past four years. This examination is undertaken with a view to tracing a newly emerging consensus, which holds that (1) the Gospel of John has ethical material, and (2) that material must be taken seriously by those reflecting on ancient ethical systems in general and New Testament ethics in particular. Further, the emerging consensus holds that the implied ethics of the Fourth Gospel, far from being strictly sectarian, are useful for reflecting on and/or constructing models of normative Christian behavior.

Conceptual metaphors in press headlines on globalisation

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Honesto Herrera-Soler
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Level ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
The Press ◽  
Value Judgements ◽  
The Subject ◽  
British Press ◽  
National Stereotypes ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy ◽  
The Way ◽  
Cultural Frames

The systematic use of metaphor and metonymy in economics discourse facilitates reading and widens the scope of our understanding in the globalisation domain. The importance of metaphor in conveying ideology has been highlighted since Lakoff and Johnson (1980:34) and recent studies have shown in detail how ideology, particularly in press discourse, underlies conceptual metaphors (Hawkins 2001; White and Herrera-Soler 2003). The aim of this article is to identify and contrast the conceptual metaphors underlying the metaphorical expressions found on internet editions throughout 2003 in Spanish and British press headlines dealing with the subject of globalisation. Findings show that though the meaning of globalisation seems to be elusive, the perspectivation metaphor provides a good understanding of the way the press handles pro- and anti-globalisation headlines. On the grounds of cultural frames such as national stereotypes and economies, and newspaper ideology, no significant differences are found between the languages at the conceptual level. Nevertheless, important differences arise by virtue of culture specific imagery and value-judgements occasionally show a markedly cultural realisation.

Eschatology and Time in the Gospel of John

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Eternal Life ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Linguistic Expression ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The Way

The article discusses the complex issue of time and eschatology in the Fourth Gospel. To get a grip on John’s eschatology it is necessary to take seriously John’s own use of language, and not to let the issue be determined solely by categories or terms (such as ‘eschatology’ and ‘apocalypticism’) introduced by scholars. It is essential to understand John’s eschatology as an aspect of the Gospel’s broader concept of time and the way in which this concept is given linguistic expression. This approach allows more recent, in particular narratological, methods to be applied to determine the Gospel’s concept of time. The article addresses the following topics: present and future eschatology in recent scholarship; the fusion of temporal horizons in the Farewell Discourses; motifs of time and eschatology, such as ‘the hour’, ‘the last day’, and ‘eternal life’; time and narration in John; and implications for John’s theology and ethics.

scholarly journals The Eschatological Aspects of the Monastic Life in St. Jerome’s Letters

Vox Patrum ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 143-155
Author(s):  
Marcin Wysocki
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Monastic Community ◽  
Monastic Life ◽  
Saint Jerome ◽  
The Way ◽  
Realized Eschatology

In the year 1953, a New Testament scholar named Charles Harold Dodd published a book titled The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel which revolutionized the way of thinking about Christian eschatology. In his opus vitae, Charles Dodd argued based on the Gospel of John that apocalyptic realities are in fact already realised through Jesus and His Apostles’ ministry. On this premise, he coined the term “realized eschatology”, in which all announcements concerning the Kingdom of God had already been realized according to Dodd. This “realized eschatology” can be seen through various realities of everyday life of the community of believers. In the case of Saint Jerome of Stridon, he saw the eschatological reality in the monastic lifestyle. This article aims to show what eschatological signs are present in the description of the monastic community found in the letters of Saint Jerome. For in his letters many times he refers to eschatological realities already present in monastic life, which is for him a kind of paradise on earth and the fulfilment of Christ’s eschatological prophecies.

Violence as Sign in the Fourth Gospel

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 100-117
Author(s):  
Jennifer Glancy
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Sacred Place ◽  
Passion Narrative ◽  
Symbolic Communication ◽  
Hand Functions ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Violence ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Temple

AbstractThe Gospel of John twins the history of Jesus' body with the history of the temple. On John's telling, intersections of those two violent histories are multiple. In the fourth Gospel, the violence directed against Jesus' body that unfolds in the passion narrative is catalyzed (on a narrative level) by Jesus' own physically enacted violence at the temple site. Jesus' action at the temple, his use of a whip to drive out his fellow Jews, is a form of symbolic communication. Jesus' appearance in the temple, whip in hand, functions as a violent epiphany, a moment of self-revelation akin to his self-revelation at Cana. Recognition of the temple incident as sign forces us to consider what, precisely, Jesus reveals about himself when he picks up a whip to clear men and goods from the space he calls his Father's house. As Roger Friedland and Richard D. Hecht argue, "Violence is a form of communication…. Symbolic violence, profanation, is used by members of one community… in order to mobilize their own communities, to make their definition of reality the dominant one…. By profaning the other's sacred place you make the other profane, an alien with no claim to possession of that space." By encoding violence as sign the Gospel of John not only records the history of violence but becomes an episode in that history.

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN SPEAKING THROUGH TWO STAY TWO STRAY STRATEGY

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dita Masyitah Sianipar And Sumarsih
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Test Score ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The Way

This study deals with the way to improve students’ achievement in speaking particularly through Two Stay Two Stray Strategy. This study was conducted by using classroom action research. The subject of of the research was class X-AP SMK Swasta Harapan Danau Sijabut in Asahan Regency that consisted of 34 students. The research was conducted in two cycles consisted of three meetings in each cycle. The instruments of collecting data for quantitative data used Speaking Test and instrument for analysis of qualitative data used observation, interview and questionnaire sheet. Based on the speaking test score, students’ score kept improving in every test. In the test I the mean was 61,47, in the test II the mean was 67,41 and the test III the mean was 78,52. Based on observation sheet and questionnaire sheet, it was found that teaching learning process run well and lively. Students were active and interest in speaking. The using of Two Stay Two Stray Strategy is significantly improved students’ achievement in speaking.

Tanks in the Spa Town. The New Book about the Events of the Year 1968 in Czechoslovakia

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 278-282
Author(s):  
Kirill A. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Fiftieth Anniversary ◽  
Warsaw Pact ◽  
Scientific Event ◽  
The Social ◽  
Prague Spring ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Scientific Terms ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Regional Perspective ◽  
The Way

This review is devoted to the monograph by Jan Nedvěd “We do not decline our heads. The events of the year 1968 in Karlovy Vary”. The Karlovy Vary municipal museum coincided its publishing with the fiftieth anniversary of the Prague spring which, considering the way of the presentation, turned the book not only to scientific event but also to the social one. The book describes sociopolitical trends in the region before the year 1968, the development of the reformist movement, the invasion and advance of the armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and finally the decline of the reformist mood and the beginning of the normalization. Working on his writing, the author deeply studied the materials of the local archive and gathered the unique selection of the photographs depicting the passage of the soviet army through the spa town and the protest actions of its inhabitants. In the meantime, Nedvěd takes undue freedom with scientific terms, and his selection of historiography raises questions. The author bases his research on the Czech papers and scarcely uses the books of Russian origin. He also did not study the subject of the participating of the GDR’s army in the operation Danube, although these troops were concentrated on the borders of Karlovy Vary region as well. Because of this decision, there are no materials from German archives or historiography in the monograph. In general, the work lacks the width of studying its subject, but it definitively accomplishes the task of depicting the Prague spring from the regional perspective.

AUX FONDEMENTS DE L’INSTITUTION ECCLÉSIALE: LA POSITION DE SAINT PIERRE PARMI LES APÔTRES (MT 16, 13–20) ET SON RETENTISSEMENT Á L’ÉPOQUE APOSTOLIQUE ET PATRISTIQUE

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-105
Author(s):  
Jacek Wojda
Keyword(s):  
Special Role ◽  
Church Community ◽  
Special Place ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

Big activity passed Popes, with the least Francis Bergoglio, is a question about receptiontheir lives and action, especially in times of modern medium broadcasting. Sometimes presentedcontent could be treated as sensation, and their receptiveness deprived of profound historical andtheological meaning. This article depends of beginnings of the Church, when it started to organizeitself, with well known historically-theological arguments. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ andgot special place among Apostles. His role matures in young Church community, which is escapingfrom Jewish religion.Peter tramps the way from Jerusalem thru Antioch to Rome, confirming his appointing to thefirst among Apostles and to being Rock in the Church. Nascent Rome Church keeps this specialPeter’s succession. Clement, bishop of Rome, shows his prerogatives as a successor of Peter. Later,bishop of Cartagena, Cyprian, confirms special role both Peter and each bishop of Rome amongother bishops. He also was finding appropriate role for each of them. Church institution, basedon Peter and Apostles persists and shows truth of the beginnings and faithfulness to them innowadays papacy.Methodological elements Presented in the introduction let for the lecture of Gospel and patristictexts without positivistic prejudices presented in old literature of the subject.

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