Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 69:2 (Fall 2007)
Article: A Johannine Perspective Of The Human Responsibility To Persevere In The Faith Through The Use Of μενω And Other Related Motifs
Author: Christopher David Bass

WTJ 69:2 (Fall 2007) p. 305

A Johannine Perspective Of The Human Responsibility To Persevere In The Faith Through The Use Of μενω And Other Related Motifs

Christopher David Bass

Christopher D. Bass received his Ph.D. in New Testament from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently preparing to plant a church with NETS, a church planting apprenticeship program which seeks to plant gospel-driven churches in New England and abroad.

I. Introduction

The more one reads John’s Gospel, the more the reader notices key themes and motifs that permeate throughout.1 One such motif is that of “abiding,” which is certainly discernable to a conscientious first-time reader, but becomes increasingly evident to the one who works through this literature time and again.2 Moreover, this theme is particularly salient to the reader of the Greek text due to the fact that most English translations vary the English gloss for (μένω within its semantic domain.3 While it is affirmed that this is probably the best overall method for translation, it is also regrettably clear that the reader of these translations will inevitably miss some of the biblical author’s development of such key motifs as a result of this variation.4

WTJ 69:2 (Fall 2007) p. 306

Westminster Theological Journal

This article will attempt to demonstrate that one of John’s primary purposes in his “abiding” motif is to incite his readers to persevere in their faith.5 In addition, I will try to prove that while there is a major emphasis on human responsibility in this motif, John also sees his readers as living in the new covenant and therefore believes that they have a new and divine enabling that will empower them to abide. This thesis will be supported by an inductive study of John’s Gospel. Here I will examine both the concrete uses of μένω as well as those that are metaphorical with the belief that the former will help illuminate the latter.6 Due to the proliferated usage of this term in the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, the bulk of this study will focus there. Following this assessment of abiding, I will briefly discuss the new covenant motif in this Gospel and the importance it plays in our understanding of this theme.

II. What Does “To Abide” Mean In John?

The word μένω has a semantic range that ...