Untrustworthy Believers: The Rhetorical Strategy of the Johannine Language of Commitment and Belief

The Gospel of John seeks to evoke belief, the kind of belief that leads to eternal life (20:31). Yet the language of belief is used to challenge the reader, as in 2:23-25 there are believers whose faith falls short of the belief that leads to life. This account confronts a reader unprepared for the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Seglenieks, Christopher 1983- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2018]
In: Novum Testamentum
Year: 2018, Volume: 61, Issue: 1, Pages: 55-69
Further subjects:B Belief
B Rhetorical Strategy
B Organizational commitment
B John's Gospel
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:The Gospel of John seeks to evoke belief, the kind of belief that leads to eternal life (20:31). Yet the language of belief is used to challenge the reader, as in 2:23-25 there are believers whose faith falls short of the belief that leads to life. This account confronts a reader unprepared for the appearance of inadequate faith. In confronting the reader, the scene serves a rhetorical function to provoke the reader to question why this faith falls short, and what genuine belief entails. This pattern is repeated in a series of episodes (6:60-71; 8:30-31; 15:1-6) where characters are described in terms of faith and commitment, and yet in each case the narrative conveys that their faith-response is inadequate. These episodes contribute to a rhetorical strategy whereby readers are continually challenged to understand the nature of genuine belief, in order that they might take on such genuine belief themselves.
ISSN:1568-5365
Contains:Enthalten in: Novum Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685365-12341616