Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John : Rethinking the Historicity of the Johannine Expulsion Passages

In Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John, Jonathan Bernier utilizes the critical-realist hermeneutics developed by Bernard Lonergan and Ben F. Meyer to survey historical data relevant to the Johannine expulsion passages (John 9:22, 12:42, 16:2). He evaluates the major two contemporary interpretative traditions regarding these passages, namely that they describe not events of Jesus'lifetime but rather the implementation of the Birkat ha-Minim in the first first-century, or that they describe not historical events at all but serve only to construct Johannine identity. Against both traditions Bernier argues that these passages plausibly describe events that could have happened during Jesus'lifetime. Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Chapter One Introduction 12 1.1 An Initial Orientation 12 1.2 History of Scholarship 17 1.2.1 The De-Historicization of John and the De-Johannification of Jesus 17 1.2.2 Aposynagōgos and the Martynian Tradition 20 1.3 Toward a Post-Martynian Alternative: Reading John’s Gospel on One Level 29 Chapter Two Aposynagōgos, the Birkat Ha-Minim, and Contemporary Synagogue Studies 38 2.1 An Initial Orientation 38 2.2 Synagogue in Allegory: The Martynian Traditions 38 2.2.1 Allegory and History: The Classic Martynian Tradition 39 2.2.2 Allegory and the Turn to Identity: The Neo-Martynian Tradition 60 2.3 History and Identity Without Allegory: A Post-Martynian Alternative 63 2.3.1 The Aposynagōgos Passages in Light of Contemporary Synagogue Studies 65 2.3.2 The Mechanisms of Aposynagōgos 79 2.4 Conclusion 86 Chapter Three Aposynagōgos and Jesus’ Messianic Identity 88 3.1 An Initial Orientation 88 3.2 Bultmannianism Today: The Martynian Traditions 88 3.2.1 Continuing Bultmann’s Legacy: The Classic Martynian Tradition 91 3.2.2 Bultmann’s Legacy, Still: The Neo-Martynian Tradition 95 3.3 The Post-Martynian Alternative 97 3.4 Conclusion 104 Chapter Four Aposynagōgos and Empire 105 4.1 An Initial Orientation 105 4.2 Empire and Shoe-Horns: The Martynian Tradition 108 4.2.1 Empire as Afterthought: The Classic Martynian Tradition 108 4.2.2 Empire and Intention: The Neo-Martynian Tradition 110 4.3 A Post-Martynian Empire Criticism: The Literal Empire 112 4.4 Conclusion 117 Chapter Five Intention and Knowledge: Aposynagōgos and the Direct Pattern of Inference 118 5.1 An Initial Orientation 118 5.2 Gospel without Jesus: The Martynian Tradition 118 5.2.1 Community without Jesus: The Classic Martynian Tradition 119 5.2.2 Identity without Jesus: The Neo-Martynian Tradition 121 5.3 A Post-Martynian Alternative: Remembering Aposynagōgos 122 5.3.1 The Aims of John: Defining John’s Intention 125 5.3.2 What the Author Knew: Was John Plausibly Knowledgeable? 136 5.3.3 A Mnemonic Community: The Sitz im Leben of the Aposynagōgos Passages 143 5.4 Conclusion 145 Chapter Six Conclusion 146 Appendices 150 Appendix A External Data Relevant to John’s Identity 152 Appendix B Internal Data on John’s Eyewitness Status 158 Bibliography 162 Subject Index 178 Source Index 181 In 'Aposynagogos and the Historical Jesus in John', Jonathan Bernier utilizes the critical-realist hermeneutics developed by Bernard Lonergan and Ben F. Meyer to survey historical data relevant to the Johannine expulsion passages (John 9:22, 12:42, 16:2). He evaluates the major two contemporary interpretative traditions regarding these passages, namely that they describe not events of Jesus' lifetime but rather the implementation of the Birkat ha-Minim in the first first-century, or that they describe not historical events at all but serve only to construct Johannine identity. Against both traditions Bernier argues that these passages plausibly describe events that could have happened during Jesus' lifetime.