Johannine School

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The Evangelist John, Rabbula Gospels .

According to Jens-Wilhelm Taeger (1989), the authors of the Gospel of John , the three Epistles of John and the Revelation of John are referred to as the Johannine School (also known as the Johannine Circle ) . According to Schnelle (2016), however, the position of the Revelation of John is controversial with regard to its affiliation to the Johannine school. There are significant differences in the diction , the consideration of historical facts and the overall thought structure.

The thesis that the authors of the Johannine writings were from a certain circle of authors or a common school refers to the approach that the writings are too different for a single author Johannes to be scientifically accepted, but also explains the numerous stylistic ones and theological similarities between these scriptures.

Evidence for a Johannine school

The majority of New Testament research now assumes that both the literary design and the theological profile of the Gospel of John speak against an eyewitness and disciple of Jesus being the author of the text. Some theologians see in John the presbyter the hypothetical author of the 2nd and 3rd letters of John .

Research on Asia Minor - here the city of Ephesus - and the Roman province of Syria are discussed as possible variants for the place of origin of the Gospel of John . The ancient church traditions, the discussion of docetic tendencies and the history of the impact of the Gospel of John speak for Asia Minor . These include above all the three letters of John , which deal with similar subjects. The seven letters to churches with Ephesus as the center after the Revelation of John can also be used as a reference to a "Johannine school" in Ephesus.

The origin of the mentioned community and the proximity to Gnostic - Mandaean texts speak for the Roman province of Syria .

The theologian Schnelle (1987) sees the results of the investigations by the two New Testament scholars Wilhelm Bousset (1915) and Wilhelm Heitmüller (1914) as reliable evidence of the existence of a 'Johannine school'. Schnelle (2011 and 2016) also discusses the question of the sequence of the Johannine texts. He describes two models:

  • the "classic model"; with the following sequence: Gospel of John → 1st letter of John → 2nd letter of John → 3rd letter of John
  • the alternative model; with the following sequence: 2nd letter of John → 3rd letter of John → 1st letter of John → Gospel of John

In the "alternative model", according to Schnelle, the consideration finds its expression that this sequence would lead to a progressive development and development of the Johannine theology.

Theological similarities

There would be references in the theological correspondence in the three letters of John and the Gospel according to John . Some central ideas have in common:

Linguistic similarities

According to Schnelle (1987), the ideolects of the individual authors indicated a sociolect of the 'Johannine Circle'. For example, 'preferred words' from the Greek language , which were more common in the letters and the Gospel, but were found in far fewer numbers in the rest of the New Testament , indicated a clear commonality. But also the use or the lack of words in the Johannine literature compared to the rest of the New Testament would give clues. Ultimately, common idioms are an expression of the Johannine sociolect.

Ecclesiological terms, ethical statements, representation of Jesus

Functional designations for and within Christian communities, salutations, honorary designations are largely identical. Brotherly love and neighborly love are characteristic features of Christian action . Jesus is increasingly seen as a teacher, as a rabbi ( Hebrew רַבִּי ), Greek ῥαββί . This address is far more common than in the Synoptic Gospels .

Anonymous figure of the 'favorite disciple'

The 'favorite disciple' was never mentioned by name in the Gospel of John. The anonymous figure of the ' favorite disciple ' moves closer to Jesus ( Joh 19.35  EU , Joh 13.23  EU, Joh 19.26  EU , Joh 20.2  EU , Joh 21.7  EU , Joh 21.20  EU ) and establishes a continuity between the time of Jesus and the Johannine school. Because the 'favorite disciple' would have been the ideal factual witness, having seen everything exactly and from the right perspective. As a result, he would have a kind of identity relationship with Jesus and would be identified with the spirit who worked in the disciples. The Johannine school could therefore have used the Paraclete idea to legitimize its own theology. In John's Gospel, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit "the Paraclete" who comes from God, whom he, Jesus Christ, will send to his disciples to encourage them in trouble, to speak for them, to bring them to their goal. Likewise, it is the Holy Spirit who connects people with God, leads them to the knowledge of God and the work of redemption in Jesus Christ, to repentant self-knowledge and to hope (cf. Joh 14.16 EU ; 14.26 EU ; 15.26 EU ; 16.7 EU ).

Ephesus as the site of the Johannine school

Historical topography of Ephesus .
The early spread of Christianity (centers = dark pink). Areas of Christian communities around the year 100 AD.

Only 20 years after the work of Jesus was his teaching by Apollo to Ephesus on the Asia Minor west coast passes ( Acts 18.24 to 28  EU ). The church of Ephesus was one of the oldest Christian churches ever.

The apostle Paul was able to build on the preaching of Apollos , who had already made a short stop there on the way back from his second mission trip (approx. 52 AD) ( Acts 18:19  EU ). Among other things, he aroused the displeasure of the devotional merchants who feared for their good business with the " Diana of the Ephesians ". But Paul was legally tolerated in the city. About a year later he returned to Ephesus ( Acts 19  EU ) and probably stayed for three years, some of which he had to spend in prison. During this imprisonment he wrote the letters to the Philippians and Philemon . More of his letters were most likely written in Ephesus (such as the letter to the Romans , the first and second letters to the Corinthians and the letter to the Galatians ). An important letter was addressed to the Ephesians themselves. The Christian community in Ephesus is then the recipient of the first letter of the Apocalypse of John ( Rev 2,1–7  EU ) to the seven churches in Asia Minor ( Rev 1,11  EU ).

The seat of the school, and thus also the probable place where the Gospel of John was written, should have been Ephesus. In the region around Ephesus there were various Christian and especially Johannine congregations, the main congregation being located in the city of Ephesus itself. Many similarities between the Pauline and Johannine theology point to Ephesus as the common seat of the Paulus and Johannesschule. The Johannine congregations are likely to have organized mainly as house churches. An indication of this are the families - imagery . Johannine school or schools were not easy to equate with the parishes. The congregation represented the more comprehensive structure, whereas the school only included those who were actively involved in the formation of Johannine theology, who formed a community of interpretation and who further developed the narration of Johannine thought.

literature

  • Jens-Wilhelm Taeger : Johannes apocalypse and Johannine circle. Attempt to determine the place of origin in the history of tradition using the paradigm of water of life. Walter De Gruyter, New York / Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-11-011359-7
  • Georg Strecker : The beginnings of the Johannine School. New Testament Studies, Volume 32, Issue 1, January 1986, pp. 31-47
  • Theo K. Heckel : From the Gospel of Mark to the four-form Gospel. Scientific investigations on the New Testament vol. 120, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 978-3-1614-7199-5
  • R. Alan Culpepper : The Johannine School: An Evaluation of the Johannine-School Hypothesis Based on an Investigation of the Nature of Ancient Schools. (Society of Biblical Literature. Dissertation), Scholars Press 1975, ISBN 978-0-8913-0063-2
  • Eugen Ruckstuhl : The literary unity of the Gospel of John. Sudia Friburgensia, Friborg 1951
  • Udo Schnelle : The Johannine School. In: Friedrich Wilhelm Horn (ed.): Balance sheet and perspectives of current interpretation of the New Testament (= supplements to the journal for New Testament science. 75), BZNW 75, Berlin / New York 1995, pp. 198-217.

Web links

  • Esther Kobel: Gospel according to John. (created: May 2017) ( [3] on bibelwissenschaft.de)
  • Ludwig Neidhart: Johannine question and John letters. 2010 ( [4] on philso.uni-augsburg.de)
  • Klaus-Michael Bull: John letters. (created: Dec. 2010) ( [5] on bibelwissenschaft.de)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Udo Schnelle : The Gospel according to John. Theological hand commentary on the New Testament. 5th edition, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2016, ISBN 978-3-374-04317-0 , p. 2
  2. ↑ to the question of the author also Gospel according to Johannes # The presbyter Johannes
  3. ^ Hugh J. Schonfield : Preface to the Letters of John the Elder . In: The Original New Testament. The definitive translation of the New Testament in 2000 years. Element Books Ltd, Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK. 1998, p. 533f.
  4. ↑ see also the first letter of John ; 2nd letter of John ; 3rd letter of John . The 2nd and 3rd Epistles of John are very similar to each other, both in terms of content and language, but differ greatly from the 1st Epistle of John. The 2nd and 3rd Johonnnesbrief are occasional letters that each responded to a specific situation. Based on the author's statement, it is assumed that the time interval between the two letters was relatively short.
  5. ↑ Udo Schnelle : The first 100 years of Christianity 30-130 AD. The history of the origins of a world religion. UTB Volume 4411, 2nd edition Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-8252-4606-8 , p. 351 ( [1] on books.google.de)
  6. ↑ Udo Schnelle: Antidocetic Christology in the Gospel of John. An investigation into the position of the fourth gospel in the Johannine school. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, ISBN 3-525-53823-5 , p. 53
  7. ^ Wilhelm Bousset : Jewish-Christian schools in Alexandria and Rome. Literary studies on Philo and Clement of Alexandria, Justin and Irenaeus. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1915 (ND Olms, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2004), p. 316.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Heitmüller : To the Johannes tradition. ZNW 15 (1914), pp. 189-209
  9. ↑ Udo Schnelle: The order of the Johannine writings. New Testament studies (NTS) 57, (2011), pp. 91-113
  10. ↑ Udo Schnelle: The Gospel according to John. Theological hand commentary on the New Testament. 5th edition, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2016, ISBN 978-3-374-04317-0 , p. 9
  11. ↑ Udo Schnelle: The Gospel according to John. Theological hand commentary on the New Testament. 5th edition, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2016, ISBN 978-3-374-04317-0 , p. 1
  12. ^ Eduard Ruckstuhl : On the antithesis of idiolect and sociolect in Johannine literature. Studies on the New Testament and its Environment (SNTU) 12 (1987), 141-181.
  13. ↑ Udo Schnelle: Antidocetic Christology in the Gospel of John. An investigation into the position of the fourth gospel in the Johannine school. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, ISBN 3-525-53823-5 , p. 54
  14. ↑ or Aramaic Rabbuni "Master, Teacher"
  15. ↑ Udo Schnelle: Antidocetic Christology in the Gospel of John. An investigation into the position of the fourth gospel in the Johannine school. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1987, ISBN 3-525-53823-5 , p. 54; 55; 56
  16. ↑ Thomas Söding : “He saw it” (Jn 19:35). The favorite disciple in the passion of Jesus. ( [2] on kath.ruhr-uni-bochum.de)
  17. ^ Geographical data by P. Scherrer (Ed.): Ephesos, The New Guide. Selçuk, 2000.
  18. ↑ Stefan Meißner: Paulus in Ephesus , in: christen-und-juden.de, 2000 (= " Christoph Burchard for his 70th birthday")
  19. ↑ Udo Schnelle : The Gospel according to John. Theological hand commentary on the New Testament. 5th edition, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2016, ISBN 978-3-374-04317-0 , pp. 2–3; Footnotes 7; 8th