How John Works
Resources for Biblical Study Editor Tom Thatcher, New Testament Number 86
How John Works Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel Edited by Douglas Estes and Ruth Sheridan
Atlanta Copyright 2016 by All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the Rights and Permissions Office,, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329 USA. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Estes, Douglas, editor. Title: How John works : storytelling in the fourth gospel / edited by Douglas Estes and Ruth Sheridan. Description: Atlanta :, 2016. Series: Resources for biblical study ; Number 86 Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016023462 (print) LCCN 2016024439 (ebook) ISBN 9781628371314 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 9780884141488 (hardback : alk. paper) ISBN 9780884141471 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. John Criticism, Narrative. Classification: LCC BS2615.52.H69 2016 (print) LCC BS2615.52 (ebook) DDC 226.5/066 2dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023462 Printed on acid-free paper.
Contents Abbreviations...vii Introduction Douglas Estes...1 1.. Genre Harold W. Attridge...7 2.. Style Dan Nässelqvist...23 3.. Time Douglas Estes...41 4.. Space Susanne Luther...59 5.. Point of View James L. Resseguie...79 6.. Plot Kasper Bro Larsen...97 7.. Characterization Christopher W. Skinner...115 8.. Protagonist Mark W. G. Stibbe...133 9.. Imagery Dorothy A. Lee...151
vi contents 10.. Scripture Rekha M. Chennattu...171 11.. Rhetoric Alicia D. Myers...187 12.. Persuasion Ruth Sheridan...205 13.. Closure Francis J. Moloney...225 14.. Audience Edward W. Klink III...241 15.. Culture Charles E. Hill...259 Bibliography...279 Contributors...317 Ancient Sources Index...321 Modern Authors Index...336 Subject Index...341
Abbreviations Primary Sources 1 Apol. Justin, Apologia i Acts John Acts of John Adv. Jud. Tertullian, Adversus Judaeos Ag. Aeschylus, Agamemnon A.J. Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae Alex. Plutarch, Alexander Ant. Sophocles, Antigone; Josephus, Antiquties Ars. Horace, Ars poetica Bapt. Tertullian, De baptismo Cels. Origen, Contra Celsum Comm. Jo. Origen, Commentarii in evangelium Joannis Comm. Matt. Origen, Commentarii in evangelium Matthaei Conf. Augustine, Confessionum libri XIII Corp. herm. Corpus hermeticum Dem. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, De Demosthene De or. Cicero, De oratore Dial. Justin, Dialogus cum Tryphone Doct. chr. Augustine, De doctrina christiana Eloc. Demetrius, De elocutione (Peri hermēneias) Ep. Apos. Epistle of the Apostles Ep. Diog. Epistle to Diognetus Epist. Jerome, Epistulae Eth. nic. Aristotle, Ethica nicomachea Haer. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Elenchos) Hist. Polybius, Histories Hist. conscr. Lucian, Quomodo historia conscribenda sit (How to Write History) Hist. eccl. Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica -vii -
viii Inst. J.W. Lib ed. Mon. Nat. d. Noet. Or. Brut. Or. Graec. Paed. Phil. Phld. Phys. Poet. Pomp. Probl. Prog. Protr. Pud. Resp. Rhet. Rhet. Her. Rom. Strom. Thuc. Top. Tro. Vid. AB ABG ABR ABrl AcBib acw AJec AnBib Abbreviations Quintilian, Institutio oratoria Josephus, Jewish War Pseudo-Plutarch, De liberis educandis Tertullian, De monogamia Cicero, De natura deorum Hippolytus, Contra haeresin Noeti Cicero, Orator ad M. Brutum Tatian, Oratio ad Graecos (Pros Hellēnas) Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus Sophocles, Philoctetes Ignatius, To the Philadelphians Aristotle, Physica Aristotle, Poetica Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Epistula ad Pompeium Geminum Pseudo-Aristotle, Problemata Aelius Theon, Progymnasmata Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus Tertullian, De pudicitia Plato, Respublica Aristotle, Rhetorica Rhetorica ad Herennium ignatius, To the Romans Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis Dionysius of Halicarnassus, De Thucydide Cicero, Topica Euripides, Daughters of Troy Ambrose, De viduis Secondary Resources anchor Bible arbeit zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte Australian Biblical Review anchor Bible Reference Library academia Biblica ancient Christian Writers ancient Judaism and Early Christianity analecta Biblica
Abbreviations ix ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 1885 1887. 10 vols. Repr., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994. atant abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments aus american University Studies BBB Bonner biblische Beiträge BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research BCNHSE Bibliothèque Copte de Nag Hammadi Section BdaG Danker, Frederick W., Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Bdf Blass, Friedrich, Albert Debrunner, and Robert W. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. Betl Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium BibInt Biblical Interpretation BibInt Biblical Interpretation Series BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester Bntc Black s New Testament Commentaries BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft CBet contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology CurBR Currents in Biblical Research CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly ccs cambridge Classical Studies CI Critical Inquiry crint compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum DRev Downside Review DSD Dead Sea Discoveries ecc eerdmans Critical Commentary ecl early Christianity and Its Literature
x els esco esec ETL ExpTim frlant GBS GRBS HDR HNT HTR HUCA Int ITQ JBL JGRChJ JLS JR JSNT JSNTSup JSOTSup JTS JTI lcl ld lnts lsts ltpm MARG MnSup ncb NHMs NLH NovT NovTSup Abbreviations edinburgh Leventis Studies european Studies on Christian Origins emory Studies in Early Christianity Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Expository Times forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments Guides to Biblical Scholarship Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies Harvard Dissertations in Religion Handbuch zum Neuen Testament Harvard Theological Review Hebrew Union College Annual Interpretation Irish Theological Quarterly Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism Journal of Literary Semantics Journal of Religion Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series Journal of Theological Studies Journal of Theological Interpretation loeb Classical Library lectio Divina library of New Testament Studies library of Second Temple Studies louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs Mitteilungen für Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte Mnemosyne Supplements new Century Bible nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies New Literary History Novum Testamentum Supplements to Novum Testamentum
abbreviations xi ntl NTS ntsce ntts PBTM PCNT PMLA PRSt PTMS RBs rel sac SANt SBlds SBLMs SBs SBt scl Semeia SemeiaSt SHr sijd SLJ sntsms sntw SP SR ssejc stac StBibLit stdj SubBi SVTQ Syms Them TrinJ ts new Testament Library New Testament Studies new Testament Studies in Contextual Exegesis new Testament Tools and Studies Paternoster Biblical and Theological Monographs Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament Proceedings of the Modern Language Association Perspectives in Religious Studies Princeton Theological Monograph Series resources for Biblical Study routledge Engagements with Literature studies in Antiquity and Christianity studia Aarhusiana Neotestamentica society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series stuttgarter Bibelstudien studies in Biblical Theology sather Classical Lectures Semeia Semeia Studies studies in the History of Religions schriften des Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum Southern Literary Journal Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series studies of the New Testament and Its World sacra Pagina Studies in Religion studies in Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum studies in Biblical Literature (Lang) studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah subsidia Biblica St. Vladimir s Theological Quarterly symposium Series Themelios Trinity Journal texts and Studies
xii VC WBc WGrw WMANT wunt ZECNT ZKT ZNT ZNW abbreviations Vigiliae Christianae word Biblical Commentary writings from the Greco-Roman World Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie Zeitschrift für Neues Testament Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
Introduction Douglas Estes The Gospel of John is arguably the most read book of the New Testament. So prominent is this gospel that it would be difficult to overstate its impact on world culture. We only need to consider a particular snippet of Jesus s speech in John what we today refer to as John 3:16 to see how great an impact the words of John have had on our world. Yet below these words exists a powerful story that has had a similar, incalculable impact. Just saying the phrase water into wine draws all hearers within range of Western tradition to reference the story of the miracle at Cana (John 2:1 11). These two examples are simply the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to John: there is the Word, the raising of Lazarus, the call to eat Jesus s flesh and drink his blood, Mary Magdalene wiping Jesus s nardanointed feet with her hair, the rumor of John living on earth until Jesus s return, the signs and I am statements, the resurrection, the mystery of the Beloved Disciple, and much, much more that have left indelible marks on our world. John has made these indelible marks because of the power of the story that people have read. At this point a reader may protest, But it is not the story of John that has made such impact it is the events and the testimony and the words of Jesus that make it what it is. However, the very first words of John, In the beginning, stop this protest cold. John could have taken the words and events and testimony and transcribed it into a list of what Jesus did and said. He did not, and he did not for a reason. 1 John created a story that would make powerful connections between the real world and the world of his story. John s story connects each of these words and events and tes- 1. Plus, there is the cryptic explanation by Papias for John s writing, which he describes as a spiritual gospel created by John, since the outward [literally, bodily] facts were already known (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.14.7). -1 -
2 estes timonies in such a way as to build meaning through the arc of their story. In contrast, bald statements and colorless lists do not make for much use in the larger world. They are not connective. They also are not natural to people, as human beings are fundamentally storytellers (not transcribers or list makers). Therefore, it is the shaping of the raw materials that John had that makes for the real meaning of his life of Jesus. It is this shaping that is the subject of this book: how John works; how storytelling succeeds in the Fourth Gospel. Narrative Dynamics in the Gospel of John Interest in how John tells his story continues to be a fruitful discussion some forty or fifty years after the narrative turn in biblical studies. 2 Without discounting the importance of historical investigation, literary critical approaches to John have established themselves as worthwhile avenues for defining how certain events from history became worldchanging stories. 3 This transformation of raw material to stories about Jesus is, in itself, its own narrative turn, of which literary-critical studies of the gospels have only begun to scratch the surface. Literary critical approaches to John show that there is a meaning in the text in the sense that raw materials have been transfigured into powerful stories that affect readers even today. This transfiguration (or narrativization) of events and words and testimonies into a communicable story is both a natural outgrowth of being human and an intentional plan to add meaning to these raw materials. When studying the transfiguration of an ancient story, one has to start with the features or aspects of the story that we have at hand. We work back through the narrative process. This is because there is no way to go back to the raw material and work forward. 4 The result is that we may 2. For a history of this turn, see, e.g., Mark W. G. Stibbe, John as Storyteller: Narrative Criticism and the Fourth Gospel, sntsms 73 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 5 13. 3. For a recent evaluation of literary criticism of John, including possible new directions, see Stanley E. Porter, Study of John s Gospel: New Directions or the Same Old Paths? in Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament: Studies in Tools, Methods, and Practice (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015), 277 306. 4. This is true even if scholars had a sayings source; this source would not be the same thing as all the raw materials that went into the creation of the gospels. For
Introduction 3 create an anatomy of the story, showing its different parts and how these parts are connected. 5 Yet this book looks to take this approach a step further by looking a little less at parts (static) and a little more at process and action (dynamic). These processes and actions within narrative movements that actually make narrative are what we call narrative dynamics. Thus, in one sense narrative dynamics concern the movement of a narrative from its opening to its end. 6 But the various aspects and features of narrative are not easily isolatable in stories; they all work together to create the ups and downs of story. Thrice now I have used the word powerful in this introduction. Readers may assume that the power I am referring to is John s frequent challenge(s) to believe in Jesus that create moving religious experiences within readers. Though it is true that this occurs and that John can do this (after all, it is the point of the story, John 20:31), here I am using the word powerful for a slightly different reason. I use it to indicate that, when stories are told, there is an activity or action that must animate the telling of the story. Not the reading, necessarily, but in the story itself. As Paul Ricoeur points out, from the beginning of Aristotle s writing on Poetics, an intentional regard for the power of story is required for it to complete itself and become a meaningful story. To put it another way, it is not the parts that make a story but how the parts are put together that make a story. Ricoeur goes one step further and explains that Aristotle (and, by extension, the literary tradition from Aristotle to John to us today) is not interested in the structure of a story but in the structuration of a story. 7 This gets us to the heart of how a story is told. example, the writer of John had access to cultural insights a raw material that we no longer possess. 5. Intentional allusion to the original work of R. Alan Culpepper, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983); and cf. Tom Thatcher and Stephen D. Moore, eds., Anatomies of Narrative Criticism: The Past, Present and Futures of the Fourth Gospel as Literature, RBS 55 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008). 6. Brian Richardson, General Introduction, in Narrative Dynamics: Essays on Time, Plot, Closure, and Frames, ed. Brian Richardson (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2002), 1. 7. Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, trans. Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer, 3 vols. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984 1988), 1:48; and cf. Holly E. Hearon, The Storytelling World of the First Century and the Gospels, in The Bible
4 estes The Thing about Powerful Stories There are two things that we can say about powerful stories. First, powerful stories are created from powerful raw materials. Powerful stories are not typically created out of the mundane or the uninspired; they are often about love, or war, or hope, or similar great ideas and great themes. It will be no surprise to anyone that many stories are written about the military habits of Julius Caesar (battles and victories), but few are written about the dietary habits of Julius Caesar (what he had for dinner on a typical kalends). Second, and less often noted, powerful stories tend toward more intense scrutiny and questioning from later readers. For example, the Iliad is one of the greatest stories in the Western tradition. Yet readers have studied it and criticized it and picked at it from antiquity to the present day. 8 In fact, powerful stories with powerful themes invite an increase in scrutiny. When readers read a powerful story, they naturally want to know how such a powerful story came about, what it means, and what makes it tick. Therefore, the earliest writing that we might call literary theory comes from trying to figure out how stories work. 9 We may call an investigation of the narrative of John s Gospel literary critical, but in the end it is mostly about figuring out how John s story works. From this we should not be surprised that readers have put the Gospel of John to the test. As the title How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel suggests, this book invites readers to do just that through the looking glass of fifteen different narrative features that powerfully imbue the story of the Fourth Gospel. 10 With contributions from a group of international scholars who are distinct in social location and reading perspectives but who share a commitment to a scholarly guild, the intent of this volume is not only to show how John works but how these different narrative dynamics are related and tied to one another. Like narin Ancient and Modern Media: Story and Performance, ed. Holly E. Hearon and Philip Ruge-Jones (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2009), 34. 8. René Nünlist, Some Ancient Views on Narrative, Its Structure and Working, in Defining Greek Narrative, ed. Douglas Cairns and Ruth Scodel, ELS 7 (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014), 158. 9. Janine Utell, Engagements with Narrative, REL (London: Routledge, 2016), 2. 10. In most cases, previous attempts to point out narrative features of the gospel either focused on one feature (or a few features) or drifted further towards a traditional commentary. While we could fill many books with the narrative dynamics of John, our present situation required a compromise: selecting the top fifteen features.
Introduction 5 ratives in general, sometimes there is a great deal of continuity and, in a few places, notes of divergences, but the essays work together to help the reader understand the movement of story in the Gospel of John. This, then, is how John works.