Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 179:716 (Oct 2022)
Article: Periodical Reviews
Author: John A. Adair

BSac 179:716 (October-December 2022) p. 487

Periodical Reviews

By The Faculty And Staff Of Dallas Theological Seminary

John A. Adair

Editor

“Faith and Narrative: A Two-Level Reading of Belief in the Gospel of John,” Christopher Seglenieks, Tyndale Bulletin 70.1 (2019): 23–40.

Belief is a prominent theme in John (1:12–13; 20:31). The characters in the narrative, together with the discourses, portray the kind of faith approved by Jesus. It is commonly accepted among scholars that the Gospel of John portrays a range of responses from unbelief, to ambiguity, to inadequate faith (Culpepper, Brown, Moloney) (23–24). Seglenieks says the author of the Gospel intentionally provokes readers to question the nature of belief through characters’ different responses. The purpose is not to evoke a superficial faith but a genuine one that leads to life (20:31) (24).

Seglenieks notes the divergent assessments of the faith of the disciples among scholars, with some leaning towards the negative (Skinner, Redman) and others leaning towards the positive (Bennema) (25–27). The negative assessment by some scholars focuses on the disciples’ lack of confessional (genuine) faith in Jesus’s identity as God incarnate (25–26). The alternative assessment provides a more balanced approach to explain the fluctuation of the disciples’ understanding. Their continuing to follow Jesus demonstrates a vulnerable yet acceptable faith (26–27).

Seglenieks advocates a two-level reading of belief in John. Drawing on narrative theory, he distinguishes between the story level and discourse level of the text (27–28). He observes that each level has a distinct “now.” The “now” of the characters’ world within the story is different from the “now” of the communication between the author and the reader (or implied author and implied reader) (28). Chatman explains that the “now” of the story during the time of Jesus’s ministry on earth is different from the “now” of the discourse of the post-resurrection church (29). Disciples fall short of understanding at the story level, but both disciples and readers understand and believe at the discourse level.

The narrator plays a significant role, pointing forward to a post-resurrection future when disciples both remember and understand Jesus’s words (29). Seglenieks points to the repeated use of the aorist verb “remember” (2:17; 12:16), together with the ...