Jesus as Mirrored in John: The Genius in the New Testament

Description

In this volume James H. Charlesworth analyzes how John is a vital resource in understanding both the origin of Christianity and Jesus’ position in history. Charlesworth begins from a burgeoning point of scholarly consensus – that more and more scholars are coming to recognize that John’s gospel is much more historically complex and valuable than previously thought (even if this is itself complex and contested). Charlesworth outlines the two historical horizons within John: on the one hand the Jewish background to the text (complete with extensive evidence of the evangelist’s knowledge of Palestinian geography and Jewish customs) which Charlesworth sees as offering a window on pre-70 Palestinian Judaism; on the other hand a world post-70 in which non-believing Jews, with more unity, begin to part definitively with those who identified Jesus as the messiah. Charlesworth’s work is split into four areas. The first examines the origins of the gospel, its evolution in several editions, and its setting in Judea and Galilee. The second looks specifically at the figure of Jesus and issues of history. The third considers the gospel alongside contemporaneous Jewish literature, most notably the Dead Sea Scrolls. The final section engages with John’s symbolism and language, looking closely at key aspects in which John differs from the synoptic gospels, and also raising such provocative questions as whether or not it is possible that Jesus married Mary Magdalene. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Preface 1 Five well-known characteristics of the Gospel of John 2 Nine new insights and challenges 3 Conclusion Notes Acknowledgments Foreword Abbreviations Ancient works Biblical works Non-biblical works Other ancient authors Modern works Introduction: The Genius in the New Testament Forty-five areas for future explorations Notes Part One: Origin, Evolution, and Settings of the Gospel of John Chapter 1: Paradigm Shifts in Johannine Studies1 1 Judaism 2 The Gospel of John 3 Jesus 4 The advent of “Christianity” Notes Chapter 2: The Priority of John1 1 The shift in the consensus regarding the Gospel of John 2 From consensus to discussion to proposal: Eight questions and eight discoveries 3 Can John be a source for pre-70 CE Judaism? 4 Further historical speculation 5 Conclusion Notes Chapter 3: The Beloved Disciple: Criteria and Observations1 1 The authorship of the Fourth Gospel: The identity of the beloved disciple 2 Introduction to the exegesis of texts that mention “the Beloved Disciple” 3 What is the meaning of Jn 21:24? 4 Could Thomas be the Beloved Disciple? Notes Chapter 4: The Historical and Social Setting of the Gospel of John in Light of the Essenes1 1 The Gospel of John as a second century composition: An earlier consensus in historical criticism 2 A new consensus: The Gospel of John as a first century composition and its Jewish influences 3 The date and provenience of the Gospel of John 4 The historicity of the Gospel of John 5 Dualism and Qumran theology 6 The Jewishness of the Johannine group 7 The Gospel of John and sociology 8 Translating Ioudaioi in the Gospel of John today 9 Summary and reconstruction123 10 Summary and additional reflections 11 Reconstruction 12 Conclusion Notes Part Two: John and the Historical Jesus Chapter 5: John: A Neglected Source1 1 A dated paradigm: Ignore John 2 A new paradigm: Do not ignore any data, especially not John Conclusion Notes Chapter 6: Archaeological Discoveries Supporting the Historicity of John’s Traditions1 A glimpse of the beginnings of “Biblical Archaeology”: The nineteenth century Biblical archaeology: The twentieth century The new age: A sketch The Jesus of history and the topography of the Holy Land99 Pre-70 CE synagogues: Kiryat Sepher, Modein, Migdal, Jericho [possibly], Herodium, Masada, and Tel Rakesh The text of the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint Two pools near the Temple and Jesus 1 Bethzatha: The upper pools of Jerusalem 2 New insights: Archaeology and the book of John 3 Summary 4 Conclusion: Symbolism based on history Notes Part Three: The Gospel of John and Other Sacred Literature John and the Dead Sea Scrolls Chapter 7: The Dualism of Qumran and the “Dualism” of John1 1 The dualism in 1QS 3.13–4.263 2 Johannine “dualism” 3 A comparison of the “dualism” in the Gospel of John and that in 1QS 3.13–4.26 4 Conclusion Notes Chapter 8: An Overview of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a Revolutionary New Perspective1 Notes Chapter 9: John and Qumran: Almost Seventy Years of Research1 1 General remarks 2 Specific questions concerning John and Qumran 3 New avenues for potential exploration 4 Has a focus on Qumran been missing in recent Johannine research? 5 Summary 6 Conclusion Notes Chapter 10: John’s Indebtedness to Judaism and the Self-Glorification Hymn The composite text of the Self-Glorification Hymn The major questions Conclusion Notes John and Enoch Chapter 11: Did the Fourth Evangelist Know the Enoch Tradition?1 1 Prefatory remarks 2 Selected parallels 3 Conclusion Notes John and the Odes of Solomon Chapter 12: The Odes of Solomon and the Gospel of John1 1 Examination of the evidence 2 Summary of scholarly conclusions 3 Conclusions Notes Chapter 13: Qumran, John, and the Odes of Solomon 1 Analyses 2 Comparisons 3 Conclusion Notes Part Four: Symbolic Language in the Gospel of John Chapter 14:Jewish Purity Laws and the Identity of the Beloved Disciple1 1 The purpose of the present chapter 2 Is the “Beloved Disciple” a literary týpos? 3 Eight reasons for reopening the search for the beloved disciple 4 Questions and first insights 5 The collapse of the original thesis 6 Confirmation and verification 7 Narrative and history 8 A comparison 9 A fresh approach Notes Chapter 15: Symbolism of the Serpent in John1 The symbolism of the serpent in the Gospel of John Notes Chapter 16: Symbology in Johannine Christology1 Son of Man traditions in John Symbology in Johannine theology Summary Conclusion Notes Chapter 17: Is It Conceivable that Jesus Married Mary Magdalene?: Searching for Evidence in Johannine Traditions Introduction Conclusion Notes Chapter 18: Whence the Title ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ: “According to John”? Notes Conclusion Notes Advances in the Study of the Fourth Gospel: A Selected Bibliography Subject Index Author Index Ancient Index