“That you may believe”: revisiting seeing, hearing, and believing in John’s Gospel in light of the narrative timeline

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“That you may believe”: revisiting seeing, hearing, and believing in John’s Gospel in light of the narrative timeline

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title: “That you may believe”: revisiting seeing, hearing, and believing in John’s Gospel in light of the narrative timeline

creator: Kristanto, Andrew

subject: Jesus Christ - Resurrection.

subject: Bible - Gospel of John - Criticism, interpretation, etc.

description: Abstract reads :"Scholars debate the relationship of seeing, hearing, and believing in John’s Gospel due to the tension between passages which depict hearing as the prominent instrument that leads to belief in Jesus (20:29), and those which present both seeing and hearing as legitimate mediums of believing (20:30). This present thesis offers an alternative view to explain the tension. By employing the perspective of a narrative timeline, it proposes that during the pre-resurrection era, seeing and hearing are portrayed as equal and complementary in leading the characters to belief in Jesus, while in the resurrection period hearing begins to take precedence over seeing, before finally hearing becomes the normative instrument of believing in the era after his ascension.Chapter 1 introduces the tension regarding the relationship of seeing, hearing, and believing. It also briefly explains the position of the present research and themethodology used to address the issue.Chapter 2 is a literature review which critically describes the views of the competing scholarly camps regarding the issue. This serves as an intellectual map of the issue in order to locate the contribution of this study. Chapter 3 lays out the thesis’ methodology, which includes: (i) word studies of seeing, hearing, and believing in John’s Gospel; (ii) theories on character studies; and (iii) Johannine narrative timeline. It establishes the working framework and rationale for selecting and engaging with the relevant passages in John.“That You May Believe”Chapter 4 elaborates the issue of the Johannine narrative timeline. It discusses the present and future aspects of Johannine eschatology which serve as a basis for the proposed narrative timeline.Chapter 5 studies the Prologue (1:1-18). It argues that seeing and hearing are legitimate instruments of believing due to the Word’s revelatory acts of creation and incarnation.Chapters 6 and 7 focus on Jesus’ pre-resurrection ministry (John 1:29-51 and 9:1-41). In both passages, seeing and hearing become necessary instruments of believing for the characters as a result of Jesus’ incarnation.Chapter 8 studies John 20, which highlights the era of Jesus’ resurrection. The inclusion in 20:9 and 20:29 suggests that hearing begins to take prominence over seeing. Hence, John 20 depicts the rising role of hearing as Jesus’ bodily absence is imminent.Chapter 9 discusses John 19:35 and 20:30-31 as the passages which directly refer to the era after Jesus’ ascension, thus his bodily absence. Consequently, hearing becomes the normative medium of believing.Chapter 10 draws conclusions and implications based on the findings. It then provides a self-critique, and some suggestions for future research"1. Introduction2. Literature review3. Methodology4. Eschatology and the timeline of John's Gospel5. The prologue : John 1:1-186. Pre-Resurrection : John 1:29-517. Pre-Resurrection : John 9:1-418. The Resurrection : John 20:1-299. Ascension and beyond : John 19:35-37 and 20:30-3110. ConclusionSubmitted in full fulfillment for the degree of Master of Theology, Moore Theological College.

publisher: Moore Theological College

date: 2020-10-01

type: Text

language: English

rights: In copyright - educational use only.This item may be used for the purposes of research and study. Please acknowledge that it is held by Moore Theological College.This digital item is accessible online to all.

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format: pdf

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