Gnosticism, Docetism, and the Judaisms of the First Century: The Search for the Wider Context of the Johannine Literature and Why It Matters

Description

In this book von Wahlde provides an exploration of three distinct cultural and religious backgrounds against which scholars have frequently proposed that the Gospel and Letters of John are to be read and understood. von Wahlde examines each of these three possibilities in turn, and shows how they may be regarded as plausible or implausible depending upon the evidence available. von Wahlde shows that there are features within the Gospel and/or Letters of John that do in fact suggest that they were influenced either by Gnosticism, Docetism or one of the variant forms of Judaism. However, in each case, while some of the evidence suggests a particular background, von Wahlde shows that it is equally evident that not all of the evidence can be seen to suggest the same background. Through an examination of the origins and purpose of the gospel, and drawing on the conclusions of his well-regarded commentary on the Johannine literature, von Wahlde presents a new way of understanding the Gospel in its wider contexts. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowlegments Abbreviations Introduction Prequel: The Composition Of The Gospel Of John 1. The Basic Proposal 2. An Overview of the First Edition 3. An Overview of the Second Edition 4. An Overview of 1 John a. The Views of the Opponents b. The Views of the Author c. 1 John as a ‘Handbook’ for Understanding and Dealing with the Community Crisis 5. An Overview of the Third Edition 6. The Plan of the Book Part I: Gnosticism And The Johannine Tradition Chapter 1: Gnosticism And The Gospel Of John 1. Past Attempts to Articulate the Relation of the Gospel of John to Gnosticism: Gnostic? Anti-Gnostic? Proto-Gnostic? Gnostic Milieu? 2. A New Perspective 3. The Prerogatives of the Eschatological Outpouring of the Spirit 4. A Means of Proceeding 5. Prominent Features of the Gospel Commonly Thought to be Related to Gnosticism a. The Importance of Knowing and Knowledge b. Jesus as Revealer c. Jesus as a Heavenly Redeemer d. Dualism e. Attitude Toward the Material World f. Determinism g. Lack of Ethics h. Discourse Material i. ‘I AM’ Statements j. Humanity as Composed of Sparks of Light in a World of Darkness k. Mythopoeia 6. Conclusions Part II: Docetism And The Johannine Tradition Chapter 2: Docetism In The First Letter Of John 1. Docetism 2. What Are the Criteria We Should Use for Evaluating Such Proposals? 3. Deliberate Anti-Docetism in 1 John (Schnelle, Strecker) a. Passages Thought to Reflect the Docetic Beliefs of the Opponents b. A Passage Thought to Reflect Sacramental Polemic 4. Some Observations on the Views of Schnelle and Strecker a. Are the Views of the Opponents Limited to the ‘Dogmatic Sections’? b. Are the ‘Parenetic Sections’ Concerned with the Views of the Opponents? c. Are the Three ‘Dogmatic’ Sections of 1 John Anti-Docetic? 5. Conclusions Regarding the Strecker–Schnelle Proposal of an Anti-Docetic Polemic in 1 John Chapter 3: Docetism (And Anti-Docetism) In The Gospel Of John? 1. ‘Naïve Docetism’ in the Gospel of John (Käsemann) 2. The Overall Portrayal of Jesus in the Gospel 3. Critique of Käsemann’s Statement 4. Features that Suggest Docetism in the Gospel a. The d??a of Jesus b. The Lack of a True Theology of the Cross? c. The Johannine Understanding of the Sacraments and of Church 5. Anti-Docetic Elements in the Gospel (Schnelle) a. The Miracles as Anti-Docetic b. Theologia Crucis in the Gospel c. The Sacramental Interest in John d. The Prologue of the Gospel 6. Conclusion: Is the Gospel Docetic or Anti-Docetic or Neither? Part III: First-Century Judaisms And The Johannine Tradition Chapter 4: First-Century Judaisms: General Introduction 1. Introduction 2. The Judaisms of the Gospel and Letters 3. Canonical Judaism in the Gospel of John 4. Apocalyptic Judaism 5. Hellenistic Judaism Chapter 5: Canonical Judaism And The Gospel Of John: The Presence Of A Jewish ‘Myth’ About Eschatological Fulfilment 1. Introduction 2. Four Peculiar Features of the Gospel and Their Relation to the Myth of the Eschatological Outpouring of the Spirit a. ‘Knowing’ God/Jesus b. The Lack of ‘Revelation’ on the Part of Jesus c. The Lack of Specific Ethical Instruction d. The Lack of Attention to the Death of Jesus as Atonement 3. Once Again We See That Each Feature Is Directly Related to the Prerogatives Associated with the Outpouring of the Spirit 4. Summary of the Differences Between Canonical and Apocalyptic Judaism a. Prophecy and History b. Sinfulness c. Dualism d. Duality of Spirits e. The Miracles f. Eternal Life and the Kingdom of God g. The Time of Fulfillment Chapter 6: ‘Realized Eschatology’: An Example Of The Failure To Recognize ‘Canonical’ Judaism In The Gospel Of John 1. Introduction 2. Some Past Attempts to Account for the Presence of ‘Realized Eschatology’ in John 3. Eschatology in the Jewish Scriptures a. Always Within History b. Types of Hopes for the Future c. The Time of Fulfillment 4. The Johannine Conviction That These Hopes Had Been Fulfilled a. The Difficulty in Seeing This Eschatology for What It Is b. A Problem That Did Not Exist c. The Relation Between the ‘Eschatology’ Characteristic of the Second Period of the Gospel’s Development and That of the Third Period 5. Conclusions Chapter 7: Apocalyptic Judaism: A Radical Transformation Of The Tradition 1. Introduction 2. Some Distinctive Features of Apocalyptic in the Johannine Literature 3. Apocalyptic in 1 John 4. Apocalyptic in the Gospel of John Chapter 8: Limited Love In The Johannine Tradition 1. Introduction 2. The Terminology of Love in John 3. The Overall Johannine Presentation of ‘Love for One Another’ a. In 1 John b. In 2 John c. In 3 John d. In the Gospel 4. Why Is This Love Limited to One’s Fellow Religionist? 5. A Problem with Properly Understanding the Background of Johannine Love 6. An Understanding of Love for the Christian Today Chapter 9: ‘You Are Of Your Father The Devil’ In Its Context: Apocalyptic Polemic In John 8.38-47 1. Introduction 2. John 8.38-47 in the Context of Chapter 8: General Remarks 3. The Worldview of Chapter 8 a. The Structure of the Argument in 8.12-37 b. The Structure of the Argument in 8.48-58 c. The Structure of the Argument in 8.38-47 4. Parallels to the Structure of 8.38-47 in Other Late Jewish and Early Christian Literature a. Parallels in the Dualism of the Dead Sea Scrolls b. Parallels in the Dualism of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P) c. Parallels in the Dualism of 1 John d. The Importance of These Parallels and Their Relationship to John 8.38-47 5. The Social Situation of Such Polemic and the Meaning of John 8.38-47 6. The Real Issue in 8.38-47 7. Is John 8.38-47 Anti-Jewish? 8. Why Call These Opponents ‘the Jews’? 9. The Wirkungsgeschichte of John 8.38-47 Chapter 10: Hellenistic Judaism And The Prologue Of John’s Gospel 1. Introduction 2. The Background of the Hymn of the Prologue 3. John 1.1-2 4. John 1.3 5. John 1.4-5 6. John 1.12 7. John 1.14 8. Additional Dissimilarities Between Philo and the Hymn 9. Conclusions Part IV: Why It Matters Chapter 11: The Importance Of Recognizing The Various Backgrounds Present In The Gospel Of John 1. Introduction 2. Why Recognition of the Worldviews Present in the Johannine Literature Matters a. The First Reason: To Interpret the Gospel Properly b. The Second Reason: An Indication That the Gospel Is the Result of More than One Stage of Composition d. The Third Reason: Greater Insight into the Nature of the Community That Produced the Gospel Chapter 12: Some Insights Into The Development Of The Johannine Community Derived From The Awareness Of The ‘Contexts’ Of The Johannine Literature 1. Introduction 2. The History of the Johannine Community a. The First Phase of the Community’s History as It Is Reflected in the Johannine Literary Tradition b. The Second Phase of the Community’s History c. The Third Phase of the Community’s History d. The Fourth Phase in the Community’s History e. The Fifth Phase in the Community’s History f. The Sixth Phase of the Community’s History 3. Conclusions Bibliography Index of References Index of Authors