This study presents a systematic analysis of motifs, literary devices, and language in the Fourth Gospel that resemble similar motifs, literary devices, and language in Socratic tradition. The persistent recurrence of words and patterns of thought in the Fourth Gospel which are common to Platonic philosophy, Socratic progymnasmata, and well-known descriptions of Socrates’ moral heroism and martyr’s death lead me to conclude that the Johannine authors imagined Socrates’ life as a “pagan prophetic theme” which Jesus fulfilled; their use of Socratic tradition in the Fourth Gospel is subtle but obvious, and was used to appeal to a pagan or highly hellenized audience intimately familiar with Socratic tradition as the embodiment and articulation of social and religious values in the Hellenistic period. Much of the study is devoted to literary analysis of the Fourth Gospel, and draws upon the rhetorical criticism models developed by George Kennedy. Through rhetorical criticism the educational background of the Johannine writers becomes clear, as do their evangelical motives in appropriating Socratic tradition for their invention of Jesus’ speeches and martyrdom. / Department of Modern Languages and Classics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/186217 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Gillihan, Yonder Moynihan |
| Contributors | Shea, Christine |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xxv, 115 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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