Characterizing Jesus (Library of New Testament Studies | LNTS)

by Alicia D. Myers

Publisher:

Bloomsbury

, 2013

Overview

This study explores how the Fourth Gospel's use of Scripture contributes to its characterization of Jesus. Utilizing literary-rhetorical criticism, Myers approaches the Gospel in its final form, paying particular attention to how Greco-Roman rhetoric can assist in understanding the ways in which Scripture is employed to support the presentation of Jesus. It offers further evidence in favour of the Gospel's use of rhetoric (particularly the practices of synkrisis, ekpharsis, and prosopopoiia), and gives scholars a new way to use rhetoric to better understand the use of Scripture in the Fourth Gospel and the New Testament as a whole.

The book proceeds in three parts. First, it examines ancient Mediterranean practices of narration and characterization in relationship to the Gospel, concluding with an analysis of the Johannine prologue. In the second and third parts, it investigates explicit appeals to Scripture that are made both in and outside of Jesus' discourses. Through these analyses, Myers contends that the pervasive presence of Scripture in quotations, allusions, and references acts as corroborating evidence supporting the evangelist's presentation of Jesus.

Key Features

• Adopts a literary rhetorical model of criticism for demonstrating how the Gospel of John contributes to our understanding of Jesus
• Present recent developments in Johannine studies
• In-depth academic treatment of significant texts and themes in Johannine literature

Contents

• Rhetoric, Jesus, and Scripture in the Fourth Gospel: An Introduction
• Evangelist and Protagonist: Narrator, Narrative, and Person in Mediterranean Antiquity
• Speaking Scripture: The Evangelist's Voice Mediated through the Discourses of Jesus
• Reflecting Scripture: the Evangelist's Voice Mediated outside the Discourses of Jesus

Product Details

• Title: Characterizing Jesus: A Rhetorical Analysis on the Fourth Gospel’s Use of Scripture in Its Presentation of Jesus
• Author: Alicia D. Myers
• Series: Library of New Testament Studies
• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication Date: 2012
• Pages: 256
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Johannine Studies

About Alicia D. Myers

Alicia D. Myers (Ph.D., Baylor University) is Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek at Campbell University Divinity School. A constant feature of her research is an interest in how Greco-Roman rhetoric and literature can aid our understanding of the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John. She is the author of Characterizing Jesus: A Rhetorical Analysis on the Gospel’s Use of Scripture in Its Presentation of Jesus. Her other recent book, Blessed among Women? Mothers and Motherhood in the New Testament, explores presentations of mothers and maternal metaphors.