John and the Dark Cosmos

Author(s):  
April D. DeConick

Historical influence of the Gnostic religion of Simon Magus on the formation of the first Johannine community; Gnostic storyline of the Gospel of John that has been obscured for centuries by inaccurate translations; Gnostic controversy in the epistles of John. Engages the movie, “The Dark City.”

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zorodzai Dube

What does it mean to live in a society where everything good is located within one ethnicity, and geography? In reading the gospel of John, one gets the impression that faithful disciples, the Holy Spirit and morality are exclusively located within the Johannine community and can only permeate to the outside through the good work of the insiders – the disciples. Everything is asymmetric – morality, ideal disciples and good virtues – these originate from within John’s community. Outside John’s community, it is darkness that awaits the illuminating lights of John’s disciples, without which they will remain in perpetual darkness. Despite recent theories that position John as a missionary and an open community, still it does not remove the asymmetric nature of the gospel. The study builds on views inspired by scholars such as Jonathan Draper (1992:13) to argue that John used the Holy Spirit to naturalise identities. From this perspective and if read from the South African context of racism, ethnicity and gender, John makes the reader think about the consequences and implications of exclusive social boundaries.Keywords: Spirit, identity, boundary making, modernity, Social cohesion


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Charles David Isbell

This article’s aim is to highlight the impact that plain sense readings of the Gospel of John have on educated Jewish and Christian lay persons but who typically do not aspire to learn or appropriate current scholarly theories seeking to explain sacred texts in a technical and often inordinately complex fashion. Essay topics include: 1) the anonymous author (“John”), the relationship of his gospel to the Synoptic Gospels, his interpretation of Jewish actions and customs, and his influence on a distinct group of early Christians, the “Johannine” community; 2) John’s portrayal of Jesus’ self-identification in using the divine name YHWH; 3) John’s description and interpretation of various Jewish responses to Jesus, as well as the author’s understanding of the reasons for Jews rejecting the message and person of Jesus; and 4) John’s portrayal of the early break between Judaism and Christianity, laid entirely at the feet of “the Jews.”


Author(s):  
Finki Rianto Kantohe ◽  
Samuel Benjamin Hakh

Abstract This article focuses on the portrait of Jesus as depicted by the Johannine community according to John 9. Exploring the perspectives of Johannine scholars, the historical context of the Gospel of John, and the image of Johannine faith community, this study suggests that a born-blind man is a symbolic figure of the marginalized Johannine community. The marginalization is caused by the conflict between the blind man and the Pharisees, starting with Jesus’ violation of the Sabbath’s rule, and followed by identity conflict concerning Jesus and Moses. The epilogue of John 9 implies a portrait of Jesus as the Mediator through his actions to embrace the blind man following his expulsion. This article concludes with a theological implication concerning the presence of Jesus in the struggle of contemporary marginalized people such as GKI Yasmin and HKBP Filadelfia. Abstrak Artikel ini menyoroti gambaran Yesus yang dikonsepkan oleh komunitas iman Yohanian menurut Yohanes 9. Melalui penelusuran terhadap pandangan para ahli Yohanian, konteks historis Injil Yohanes, dan gambaran komunitas iman Yohanian, kajian ini menemukan bahwa orang buta sejak lahir dalam Yohanes 9 ini adalah tokoh simbolis dari komunitas iman Yohanian yang termarginalisasi. Marginalisasi tersebut disebabkan oleh konflik antara orang buta dan orang-orang Farisi yang dipicu oleh pelanggaran Yesus atas hari Sabat, lalu berkembang menjadi konflik identitas mengenai Yesus dan Musa; karenanya, mengakibatkan orang buta yang Yesus sembuhkan tersebut termarginalisasi dari sinagoge. Epilog Yohanes 9 menyiratkan potret Yesus sebagai mediator melalui tindakannya merengkuh orang buta tersebut setelah pengusirannya. Sebagai simpulan, artikel ini menyodorkan implikasi teologis tentang kehadiran Yesus dalam pergumulan umat masa kini yang termarginalisasi, seperti GKI Yasmin dan HKBP Filadelfia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnson Thomaskutty

This article is an attempt to explore the theme of ‘humanhood’ in the Fourth Gospel. The most important questions to be posed at the outset are the following: who is the model human presented in the gospel as per the Johannine community standards? How can a person acquire humanhood status according to the Johannine community? The divine and human interaction in the life and ministry of Jesus dynamically introduces the life ethics and mission aspects of the Johannine community. According to the Johannine community standards, people can achieve ‘humanhood’ status exclusively in relation to Jesus. As the community of John emphasises humanhood in relation to Jesus, a person can overcome all sorts of human-made boundaries, including the sexual, racial and class-oriented boundaries through the mediation of Jesus. This further means that the all-inclusive mission of Jesus foregrounds a new criterion for ‘humanhood’ in the Johannine community context. The article concludes by stating that the Johannine understanding of humanhood can be considered as a paradigm in the contemporary global scenario.Contribution: This article contributes to the reader a wider hermeneutical framework and a new way forward in interpreting the gospel according to John by taking into consideration the humanhood aspects. As a theological and contextual interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, the article fits well within the scope of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies.


1993 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-57
Author(s):  
Henry Staten
Keyword(s):  

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