Irony in the Fourth Gospel


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The Jews and the World in the Fourth Gospel


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Revised thesis (Ph. D.)--Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., 2006.




Archetypes and the Fourth Gospel


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Employing Northrop Frye's system of archetypal literary criticism - the use of romance, tragedy, irony and satire, and comedy - Brian Larsen offers a compelling summary of the essential governing framework and means of exchange between literature and theology. Characters in the Fourth Gospel are examined through a specific archetype, and, reciprocally, these characters illuminate and inform important theological aspects of their respective archetypes: Jesus and romance (hero story); Pilate and tragedy; the Jews and Thomas and irony; and Peter and comedy. This volume further clarifies the understanding of Frye's archetypesand identifies the key variable between each one: the relationship between (1) a belief or ideal and (2) experience or reality. Helping to advance dialogue between literature, biblical studies and theology, and providing insightful readings for a number of Fourth Gospel characters and texts, Larsen's examination will appeal to those seeking a new perspective on the themes of the New Testament or those seeking theological insights into literature.




The Symbolic Narratives of the Fourth Gospel


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The book examines six long narratives of the Fourth Gospel, arguing that they are best understood as 'symbolic narrative'. They display a unique cohesion of symbol and narrative: the narrative unfolds the symbol and the symbol draws out the narrative. This process occurs as the character struggles to understand the symbolic meaning. The structure develops in five Stages: the establishing of a 'sign', image or feast (Stage 1); misunderstood in materialistic terms (Stage 2); the struggle to understand the symbolic meaning (Stage 3); the acceptance or rejection of that meaning (Stage 4); a confession of faith or statement of rejection (Stage 5). The symbolic narratives reveal how material reality becomes symbolic of the divine. Just as the flesh of Jesus is the symbol of divine glory, so material reality now has the potential for symbolizing God. Flesh has no independent existence; its value lies in its symbolic role. This parallels the cohesion between form and meaning. Just as the flesh is given value in symbolizing the divine, so narrative form is of value in disclosing theological meaning. The implied reader is drawn into the drama of the symbolic narratives to make the authentic response of faith.




Irony in Mark's Gospel


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An important contribution to our understanding of Marcan irony, and combines a literary-critical approach with insights gained from the sociology of knowledge.




Revelation in the Fourth Gospel: And Eight Johannine Essays


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About this Book: Gail R. O’Day’s Revelation in the Fourth Gospel set the stage for a new literary paradigm in Johannine studies, which has carried over into disciplinary advances in gospel criticism overall. With the addition of eight key Johannine essays and a state-of-the-art introduction by Alan Culpepper, this new publication as Volume 9 in the Johannine Monograph Series advances a fuller appreciation of her important work on John and new-literary biblical analyses overall. From the Preface: What becomes apparent in an overview of Gail O’Day’s work is her keen analysis of relations and functions of literary themes and features within the Gospel of John, as they further its rhetorical thrust, elucidating its meaning. Whereas diachronic approaches to John have tended to compartmentalize and divide sections and literary forms, O’Day shows time and again how things worked synchronically within John’s story of Jesus, challenging misinterpretations and opening doors to understanding more fully its message. The present collection highlights the dialectics between narrative and theology, time and space, and characters and plot in the Fourth Gospel, clarifying their tensive presentations within this classic narrative.




The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel


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This study explores the background to the interpretation of the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel and the various layers of meaning.




Rhetoric and Reference in the Fourth Gospel


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This innovative study attempts a comprehensive reading of the Fourth Gospel so as to make sense of its theology, anthropology and history. The most valuable insights of structuralism and reader-response criticism have been taken up, without ignoring what those methods ignore, namely, questions intrinsically related to the Fourth Gospel itself. Moreover, a just appreciation of the text requires the reader to recognize that particular historical situations affect the nature of any narrative.




The Gospel of John as Literature


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This volume contains thirteen essays written between 1900 and today. Each of them takes as its starting point the Gospel of John as a literary unity. The volume as a whole traces literary studies of John back to the early 1900's and charts their development from then. Some of these essays are little known even to Johannine scholars. Others are recognized as classics in the field. Two of them are translations. This book is therefore a timely and indispensable resource for those interested in the history of the fourth gospel interpretation, and in examples of literary methods applied to John.