Creation and Christology: A Study on the Johannine Prologue in the Light of Early Jewish Creation AccountsSince previous scholarship has searched for figures equivalent to the personified Logos in the Johannine Prologue, scholars have often ignored the context of which the Genesis creation account is the center. Masanobu Endo examines that reference to the Genesis creation account as it appears in contexts where the unique identity of God is maintained. In eschatological contexts the realization of eschatological salvation is strongly expected on the grounds of the sovereignty of God, which is known in his work of creation. This observation of the theological function of the Genesis creation account in the Second Temple period may shed light on the question of why reference is made to the Genesis creation account in the Johannine prologue. What this means is that the descriptions of the identity of the Word (the Son) in the Johannine prologue were made on the grounds of Jewish monotheistic speculation about the identity of God the Creator. |
Contents
Narrative Accounts of Creation | 12 |
Descriptive Accounts of Creation | 57 |
Brief References to Creation | 137 |
Summary and Conclusion for Part I | 155 |
Philos Cosmogonic Account | 166 |
Part II | 181 |
Thematic Analysis on the Johannine Prologue | 206 |
The Relation of the Prologue to the Rest of the Gospel | 230 |
Common terms and phrases
accounts of creation Adam allude angels ApAbr Aseneth Baruch beginning biblical Book of Jubilees chiastic structure Christology command Context and Main correspondence created creation of light Creator darkness Dead Sea Scrolls depicted divine identity divine word early Jewish creation earth Enoch eschatological eternal exegetical Exod Ezra Father focus Fourth Gospel frag Genesis creation account glory Gnosticism God's Gospel of John heaven highlighted human hymn idea Influence of Key Israel Jesus Jewish creation accounts Johannine prologue John the Baptist JosAsen Key Passages light imagery Literary Considerations Context Lord luminaries Main Concern monotheism motif Mund narrative parallel Philo prayer pre-existent PrMan Prov Pseudepigrapha Qumran Qumran Cave refers revelation role salvific Schnackenburg Sirach sovereignty spirit Stanza structure Testament Thematic Considerations theological things tradition unique identity Wisd wisdom Zurvan αὐτοῦ ἐν ἦν καὶ λόγος πάντα τὰ τὸ τὸν τοῦ