A narrative-rhetorical analysis of John the Baptist’s contribution to the Christology the gospel according to John.

Abstract

Recent Gospel studies in general, and especially on John’s Gospel have neglected the extent and nature of the contribution of the Baptist’s Christology to John’s Christology. Some studies have predominately accentuated the polemical purposes of the Baptist’s accounts against the Baptist’s followers. However, considering that the accounts of the Baptist’s ministry and witness are strategically and prominently positioned in John’s literary structure, this suggests a very heightened role in John’s narrative. This study, therefore, investigated the nature, influence and contribution of the Baptist’s Christology to the overall Christological programme of the Gospel of John. Also, it examined the narrative-rhetorical contribution of the Baptist’s Christological witness to John’s rhetorical strategy. It was determined based on narrative-theological and comparative analyses that the Baptist’s Christology is a major resource for the Evangelist’s formulation of his own Christological beliefs and articulation thereof. This conclusion counters the competing suggestion that the Baptist is employed for polemical rhetorical purposes by the Evangelist. Also, based on the theory of eyewitness memory and comparative analysis, it was resolved that the Baptist’s Christology in John’s Gospel is historically plausible. And, based on a narrative-rhetorical analysis, it was determined that the Baptist’s Christological witness was employed to enhance the credibility of John’s rhetorical strategy. Specifically, the author relied on the Baptist’s authority and social prestige to convince his readers to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God. However, these readers were dissuaded from ensuing the patterns of the Jewish religious authorities because of their unbelief, conflict, and hatred of Jesus. Ultimately, all John’s readers were to aim to be at the level of Baptist’s belief, characterised by precise Christological confessions, a full grasp of the significance and implication of their Christological confessions and unwavering conviction about Jesus’ identity and mission. overall, the study makes four fundamental contributions to scholarship, namely, (a) that in theological terms, the Christology of the Baptist substantially influences the overall content and presentation of the Christology of the Fourth Gospel, (b) that the nature and extent of this influence derive from the historical relationship that existed between the Baptist and the fourth Evangelist as a former disciple of the Baptist, thus formatively shaping the latter’s Christological beliefs and formulations,(c) that therefore the Evangelist marshalling of the Baptist’s Christology for rhetorically advancing his pastoral and evangelistic purposes in writing the Gospel derives from these historical and theological influences, and (d) that these findings severely undermine the hitherto common scholarly construct that the references to the Baptist in the Gospel served polemical purposes.