Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 01:1 (NA 1991)
Article: Signs And Faith In The Fourth Gospel
Author: Marianne Meye Thompson

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BBR 1:1 (1991) p. 89

Signs And Faith In The Fourth Gospel

Marianne Meye Thompson

Fuller Theological Seminary

The Problem Of Signs And Faith In John

The comment that the Gospel of John is a pool in which a child can wade and an elephant can swim aptly characterizes the issue of the signs in the Fourth Gospel. In recent years there appears to be no lessening of interest in various aspects of the question of signs in the Gospel of John. Monographs on the topic appear regularly.1 Among the questions which continue to be investigated are the possibility and shape of a signs source lying behind the Gospel, the historical and religious provenance of the signs tradition, and John’s theological appropriation of it. Of particular and enduring interest is the question of the role of the signs in bringing about faith.

That this question persists is surely due to the intrinsic interest of the question itself, as well as to the ambiguity of the data in the Gospel. How does one square apparently straightforward statements such as 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name,” which suggests that signs are to lead people to faith, with statements where Jesus seems to distance himself from people who believed “when they saw signs” (2:23- 25; 4:48; 6:2) or perhaps even rebukes the request for visible evidence on which to believe (4:48; 20:29)? In recent years, investigation into the

BBR 1:1 (1991) p. 90

question of signs and faith in John has also been fueled by the trend to seek literary layers within the text as well as historical stages behind it, with the hope that alleged tensions between various statements in the Gospel may be solved by appeal to sources, layers of traditions, redactors, or some combination of these.2

The present essay also deals with the question of signs and faith in John. In doing so, it acknowledges an indebtedness to Rudolf Bultmann. He was not the first to pose the question of signs and faith in John, but in doing so he pressed beyond surface questions to deeper theological issues about the nature of revelation and faith which he saw as essential to understanding John and, indeed, the entire New Testament. Bultmann clearly saw that the character of faith was as important to the discussion of signs and faith in John as was the question of the role of the signs themselves, or the resolution of critical problems, such as the use of sources. Unfortunately, few scholars have followed his ...

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