Gift Upon Gift

by Brown, Sherri; Moloney, Francis J.

• ISBN13: 9781608993918
• ISBN10: 1608993914
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-11
• Publisher: Pickwick Pubns

Summary

This Study Builds Upon Recent Scholarship Exploring The Significance of the Old Testament covenant metaphor in the Johannine writings. By examining the Gospel of John as a whole through a narrative lens and focusing on several key dialogues, the author sheds light on the dialogical nature of the revelatory process and the central role of covenant for the Fourth Evangelist. Also incorporating recent scholarship that suggests the evangelist understood himself to be writing Scripture based upon fulfillment language present in summary statements across the Gospel, and demonstrating a relationship between the Fourth Gospel and ancient drama that renders speech as action, this work attempts to construct a new paradigm for reading John against the background of the Old Testament covenant metaphor. The claim is twofold: the Johannine story of Jesus Christ is a carefully crafted literary treatise theologically underpinned by discourse on covenant and Scripture, and the Fourth Evangelist provides catechesis to a believing community on the nature of its faith in the God of Israel's ongoing covenant with the created order. By grasping the theological fabric of the evangelist, the richness of the dialogue and imagery of his Gospel is allowed to have its full voice in terms of covenant fulfillment and the ongoing commitment of God to a believing people. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Sherri Brown (PhD, Catholic University of America) is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University. She has written several articles on the apostle Paul, but here returns to her first passion in biblical studies, the Gospel of John.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Abbreviations	p. xv
The Gospel of John and the Covenant Metaphor	p. 1
Covenant in the Gospel of John	p. 1
A Literary Approach to the Study of Covenant in the Gospel of John	p. 11
Studying John through the Prism of Dialogue: The Gospel's Dramatic Nature	p. 15
Covenant as the Guiding Literary Paradigm of the Gospel of John	p. 21
Covenant in Scripture	p. 23
Covenant in the Old Testament	p. 24
Key Covenantal Texts in the Old Testament	p. 39
Conclusion: Characteristics of the Old Testament Covenant Relationship	p. 64
John and Scripture: Beginnings and Endings	p. 68
The Structure of the Gospel	p. 68
John as Evangelist and Writer of Scripture	p. 70
Endings: The Conclusion of the Body of the Gospel (20:30-31)	p. 75
Beginnings: The Prologue to the Body of the Gospel (1:1-18)	p. 78
John the Baptist: The Prologue Embodied in the Gospel Action (1:19-34)	p. 95
Discipleship and the Teaching of the Son of Man	p. 103
The Hope of Israel: The Dialectic of Fulfillment	p. 105
Covenantal Dialogue in John 2-4	p. 108
The Catechetical Journey from Cana to Cana (John 2-4)	p. 108
The Dialogue of Covenant in John 2-4	p. 136
Covenantal Dialogue in John 5-12	p. 141
The Feasts of Israel (John 5-10)	p. 142
Moving to Glory (John 11-12)	p. 172
The Dialogue of Covenant in John 5-12	p. 175
Covenantal Dialogue in John 13-20	p. 180
The Last Discourse (John 13-17)	p. 181
The Passion: The Covenantal Dialogue of the Cross (John 18-19)	p. 190
The Resurrection of the Word (John 20)	p. 224
The Dialogue of Covenant in John 13-20	p. 225
Community and Covenant: Gift upon Gift	p. 230
Epilogue: The Covenant for the Community of Believers (John 21)	p. 232
Covenant as a Guiding Literary Paradigm	p. 236
Covenant through Word in the Gospel of John	p. 243
Bibliography	p. 251
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