Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1 Introduction
- Part 2 Jesus and God
- Part 3 Jesus, Moses and Torah
- 9 The Word and the glory (John 1.1 – 18)
- 10 Descent and ascent (John 3.1 – 21)
- 11 Bread from heaven (John 6)
- 12 Legitimating signs (John 9)
- 13 Conclusion to part 3
- Part 4 Other issues and conclusion
- 16 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
13 - Conclusion to part 3
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part 1 Introduction
- Part 2 Jesus and God
- Part 3 Jesus, Moses and Torah
- 9 The Word and the glory (John 1.1 – 18)
- 10 Descent and ascent (John 3.1 – 21)
- 11 Bread from heaven (John 6)
- 12 Legitimating signs (John 9)
- 13 Conclusion to part 3
- Part 4 Other issues and conclusion
- 16 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
- Index of subjects
Summary
In part 3 we have seen nothing that would cause us to modify the conclusions which we reached in part 2, and have found much further evidence to support our case. In connection with the issue of how Jesus' revelation relates to that of Moses, as in connection with the issue of the relationship between Jesus and God, the Fourth Evangelist engaged in legitimation, attempting to defend his beliefs. In order to do so, he developed the traditions he inherited. The idea of pre-existence was of particular importance, as it allowed John to attribute to Jesus as Son of Man a knowledge of heavenly things which could not be attributed to any other figure. In his use of Wisdom categories, John is particularly close to earlier writers, as they too made use of Wisdom language and imagery in order to present Christ as superior to Moses/Torah. Nonetheless, John's portrait is more developed than these. This may be due in part to the ‘knock-on effects’ of the developments we traced in part 2. Once John began to rethink the relationship between Wisdom and the human Jesus, further implications for the issue of the relation between Jesus and Moses would have become apparent. Yet we have not seen any firm evidence that John's legitimation of Christology against charges of ‘blasphemy’ is presupposed in his legitimation of his Christology in relation to the Moses issue, nor any real indication that the reverse is true.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- John's Apologetic ChristologyLegitimation and Development in Johannine Christology, pp. 193 - 196Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001