Ecclesiology and Theosis in the Gospel of John

Preface page xiii
Acknowledgments xiv
Introduction 1
1. The Johannine Vision of Community: Trends,
Approaches, and ‘Narrative Ecclesiology’ 3
The Empty Search for a Formal Ecclesiology: Johannine
Individualism and (Anti-)Institutionalism 5
Ecclesiology as Aetiology: Historical Reconstructions of the
Johannine Community 8
‘Christocentricity’: The Eclipse of Ecclesiology by Christology 12
Ecclesiology as Sectarianism: The Relationship between
Sociology and Theology 15
‘Narrative Ecclesiology’: Gospel Writing as Group Identity
Formation 19
Brief Overview of the Work’s Structure 22
Part I The Narrative Ecclesiology of the Prologue:
No Churchless Christ, nor Christless Church 25
2. The Inclusive Divine Community: The Prologue’s
Reinterpretation of God and God’s People 27
Introduction to Part I 27
The Prologue’s Relationship to the Rest of the Gospel 28
Reconceiving God: The Communal Vision of ‘Dyadic
Theology’ (John 1:1–2, 18) 30
Reconceiving God’s People: Foundations of a Participatory
Ecclesiology (John 1:3b–4; 9–18) 37
Chapter Summary 48
3. The Ecclesiology of Filiation and the Incarnation 49
The Ecclesiology of Divine–Human Filiation: Disambiguation
and Intercalation 49
The Ecclesiology of the Incarnation: Divine–Human Exchange
and the Paired ‘Becomings’ (John 1:12–14) 60
Chapter Summary 71
4. Characterizing the Prologue’s Ecclesiology:
The Ambiguation and Assimilation of John the
Baptist 72
John the Baptist as Christological Witness in the
Prologue 72
Ambiguation in the Identity and Voice of John the
Baptist 74
Christological Witness and Ecclesial Confession: John as
a Representative of Both Israel and Johannine
Christianity 78
John the Baptist as Ecclesial Catalyst 80
Summary of the Baptist’s Ecclesial Function 81
5. The Prologue’s ‘Ecclesial Narrative Script’:
Ecclesiology as Story Arc 82
The Plotline of Resocialization: A Survey of the Ecclesial
Narrative Script 84
Three Case Studies Demonstrating the Ecclesial Narrative
Script 87
The Shepherd Discourse as Parabolic Explanation of the
Ecclesial Narrative Script (John 10:1–18) 95
A Narrative Ecclesiology of Divine Participation: Chapter
Summary and Conclusion to Part I 101
Part II The Narrative Ecclesiology of the Shema:
A Reappraisal of the Johannine Oneness
Motif 103
6. The Shema as the Foundation for John’s Theological
Use of ‘One’: Identifying and Addressing
Reservations 105
Introduction to Part II 105
The Shema and the Gospel of John: The State of the Question 108
The Shema in Early Jewish Religious Life: The Evangelist’s
Potential Awareness of Deuteronomy 6:4 110
Other Possible Reservations in Accepting the Shema’s
Influence on John 116
Chapter Summary
7. The Shema, John 17, and Jewish-Christian Identity:
Oneness in Narrative Development 129
Tracing the Narrative Development of ‘One’ in John 8–11:
The Alternation between Oneness from Deuteronomy 6:4
and from Ezekiel 34 and 37 129
Jesus Prays the Shema: Oneness as Social Identity
Construction in John 17 143
A Narrative Ecclesiology of Divine Association: Chapter
Summary and Conclusion to Part II 150
Part III John’s Narrative Ecclesiology of
Participation and Deification 153
8. The Fourth Gospel and Deification in Patristic
Writings 155
Introduction to Part III 155
Deification as ‘Foreground’ for the Fourth Gospel 157
The Fourth Gospel as a Background for Patristic Deification 160
Chapter Summary 167
9. Johannine Theosis: Deification as Ecclesiology 169
The Nature of Johannine Theosis: Jewish, Narrative, and
Communal 169
Boundaries within the Inclusive Divine Community 180
The Prologue as a Deification Text 183
Oneness as Deification: Narrative Ecclesiology in Psalm 82
and John 17 186
An Ecclesiology of Deification: Chapter Summary 199
10. Characterizing Johannine Theosis: Divinized
Characters within the Narrative 200
Theosis and the Ecclesial Narrative Script: The Prologue as
the Frame for Johannine Characterization 201
Reciprocity Statements and Inclusive Parallels: Mimesis as
Theosis 202
The Man Born Blind: Ἐγώ Εἰμι 206
Peter and the Beloved Disciple: Ecclesial Conflict or Ecclesial
Vision? 213
11. Narrative Pneumatology and Triadic Theology:
The Spirit-Paraclete as the Character Who
Divinizes Beyond the Narrative 224
Narrative Pneumatology: The Spirit-Paraclete as a Johannine
Character 226
The Spirit-Paraclete and the Triadic Divine Identity 229
Narrative Pneumatology and Johannine Ecclesiology:
The Spirit-Paraclete as Source and Agent of Corporate
Deification 232
Chapter Summary 234
Conclusion 235
12. John’s Narrative Ecclesiology of Deification:
A Synthesis 237
Eleven Summary Statements on Johannine Ecclesiology 238
Questions for Further Reflection (and Implications for
Biblical Studies, Theology, and Ecumenism) 242
Bibliography 244
Index of Subjects 266
Index of Modern Authors 269
Index of Ancient Texts 271