Creation Imagery in the Gospel of John

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Sosa Siliezar investigates the presence and significance of creation imagery in the Gospel of John. He argues that John has intentionally included only a limited (albeit significant) number of instances of creation imagery and that he has positioned them carefully to highlight their significance. Sosa Siliezar contends that the instances of creation imagery used in varying contexts function collectively in a threefold way that is consonant with Johns overall argument. First, John uses them to portray Jesus in close relationship with his Father, existing apart from and prior to the created order. Second, John uses creation imagery to assert the primal and universal significance of Jesus and the message about him, and to privilege him over other important figures in the story of Israel. Third, John uses creation imagery to link past reality with present and future reality, portraying Jesus as the agent of creation whom the reader should regard as the primal agent of revelation and salvation. The book concludes by underscoring how these findings inform our understanding of Johns Christology and Johannine dualism.

Reviews

This is a commendable study, primarily because of the clear methodology [Sosa Siliezar] employs. * The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *
Sosa Siliezar's work is admirably clear and methodologically consistent. He has brought a needed measure of order to the interpretation of this theme in John, and his work has the great strength of resisting the temptation to press an interpretation or thesis beyond the evidence that supports it ... [He] has provided us with a valuable standard ... and his method might profitably be adapted to other readings of symbolism and double meaning in John also. * Review of Biblical Literature *
[Sosa Siliezar] offers a careful, even-handed evaluation of the evidence. * Religious Studies Review *
This rewarding monograph is valuable not least for its habitual precision and restraint. * Biblica *
A carefully written and well-argued study of the Fourth Gospel ... This is a valuable book and I commend it unreservedly. * Journal for the Study of the New Testament *
Argues, rightly in my view, that the Gospel of John has made limited but strategic use of creation imagery in various contexts. * Journal of Theological Studies *
[Sosa Siliezars] study is a significant contribution to studies of the GJohn, and should receive due attention. * Larry Hurtado blog *

Author Bio

Carlos Ral Sosa Siliezar (PhD, University of Edinburgh, UK) is a lecturer at several universities in Guatemala City, Central America.