ipl-logo

Symbolism In The Gospel Of John

1377 Words6 Pages

The Gospel of John contains some of the most profound truth which is expressed in the simplest way. It is full of imagery and symbolism which though concise and limited bears deep spiritual meaning. In his book, The Interpretation of the fourth Gospel, C. H. Dodd must have been the first to identify the leading ideas and thus separate in form and function the allegories of the Gospel of John from the synoptic parables and connect them with the Old Testament and the Hellenistic-Jewish symbolic tradition. That is to say the author of this Gospel mostly uses common things present in the life and tradition of his listeners and uses them to make the divine understandable. Koester in his book on Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel says that: …show more content…

(and)...once in the world, Jesus called upon things that could be heard, seen, touched, and tasted to bear witness to the unseen God who sent him, so that the commonplace - bread made from barley meal, streams of cool water, and a glimmer of light - became vehicles of revelation.1 Prominent among these are the seven ‘I am sayings’, where Jesus uses such things as bread, light, a door and the shepherd to symbolize him. Koester points out that the fundamental structure of these symbolisms are twofold: the primary level of meaning concerns Christ and the secondary concerns the disciple.2 He says that by concentrating the primary meaning of each image on Jesus and the secondary on his disciples, the Gospel continuously drives the reader to accept the fact about Jesus’ divinity and the meaning of his life (the reader) in relation to him.3 A clear example of this is the last but not least of the ‘I am’ sayings where Jesus represents himself as the ‘True Vine’ which we will here explore more in depth. It seems that this discourse took place after Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples. He had predicted his betrayal, told them that he had to go to the Father and that he would not leave them alone, that he would send them the Advocate, his Holy Spirit. So in John 15:1-8 it seems that he was warning them not to be like Judas but to remain in the

Show More
Related

Symbolism In The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver

1494 Words | 6 Pages

After I have read the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I realized that there were multiple different symbols that helped convey complex ideas. For me I have found that in the Novel there are three important symbols that help shape the plot of the story and these are Methuselah the Parrot, Palindromes: Which is Ada’s journal, and lastly the green Mamba snake that killed Ruth May. The significance about all of these symbols is that they tend to add a meaning and depth to the story.

Read More

Symbolism In The Poisonwood Bible

1539 Words | 7 Pages

In the novel The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, Leah Price moves to the Congo with her family as part of a missionary. Through their experiences in the Congo, and living amongst a community with many political conflicts, Leah discovers the importance of justice and selflessness. Kingsolver uses assertive and benevolent tones, and symbolism throughout the story to portray the voice of Leah, illustrating Leah’s determination to adamantly strive for justice and equality for Africa and its people, rather than believing that her heritage, her father and God are superior to those around her. Her father’s authority and idealism overshadows her point of view, as she is highly set on her father’s approval and ultimately, God’s approval too. By using phrases such as “But my father needs permission only from the Saviour, who obviously is all in favor of subduing the untamed wilderness for a garden (36)”, Kingsolver establishes Leah’s narrow-minded belief that her father is ‘A Chosen One from God’ and he will pacify the Congolese.

Read More

Symbolism In Viramontes Under The Feet Of Jesus

743 Words | 3 Pages

In Viramontes’ novel Under the Feet of Jesus, the author composes symbolic representations about the daily life of a migrant worker. Symbols used throughout the novel was the barn as a figure to represent a church, Petra’s statue of Jesus that symbolized her faith in Christianity and the baby doll with no mouth that represented the views on silence. The author uses symbolism to get her message across on how the difficulties of migrant workers. The symbols, the barn, Jesus statue, and the baby with no mouth represent the migrant workers’ stance on faith.

Read More

Biblical Allegory, And Symbolism O Connor

427 Words | 2 Pages

Through biblical allusion, religious analogy, and symbolism O 'Connor expresses the need for god and a savior. She writes the perspective of a young child named Harry who lives in a household without religion. The young man is given the mentality and ideology of Christianity and the value of baptism. He grows for a need to belong to something from his small world and gives his life to Christ.

Read More

Symbolism In Paul's Case

849 Words | 4 Pages

In the opening scene of Paul’s Case, the author notes the vibrant, red carnation that Paul wears to his disciplinary meeting and the teacher’s distaste of what they believe the flower symbolizes referring to it as a, “scandalous red carnation” and how, “his whole attitude was symbolized by...his flippantly red carnation flower” (114). A defiant student, shown by his disrespect toward his teachers, Paul seems unfazed to the fact that he is in a disciplinary meeting and choses to act indifferent to what his teachers say about him. He is arrogant and holds himself to a higher status than his teachers thus causing him to feel entitled. The red carnation symbolizes his idealistic view of society in which he had hopes and dreams to elevate himself and achieve the higher status that he believes that he deserves. Paul’s world comes crumbling down though when he realizes that he could not pretend to be part of the world that he wanted to be in.

Read More

Example Of Ethos Pathos Logos

623 Words | 3 Pages

It was a chilly Friday morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School; students eager to learn. Around 9:30 am, teachers heard gun fire in the hallway. Immediately, the teachers scattered to get their children to safety. The teachers, pushing them into the bathroom, shoving them in closets, or even hiding them in cabinets. Still, if someone was to enter the room, they would do their best for them not to be able to get to the children.

Read More

Outline For John 2: 18-17

827 Words | 4 Pages

I. John 2:18-19, “18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” A. The Jews went from who gave you the authority to cleans the temple, to what sign are you going to show us so we will believe that God gave you the authority to cleans the temple. 1.

Read More

John's Gospel Purposes

399 Words | 2 Pages

Each Gospel writer is unique in their approach to revealing Jesus’ arrival on earth and launching of his ministry. For instance, Matthew begins his Gospel with a Jewish genealogical tree; so that he can connect Jesus to Abraham pointing to him as the long awaited Jewish Messiah; whereas Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist and does not get to the family tree until chapter three. Interestingly, Luke’s family tree starts with Jesus and goes back to Adam perhaps signifying Jesus as lord of both the Jews and Gentiles. On a completely different level, John’s Gospel begins with a proclamation of Jesus being God who came to earth opposed to God sending a messiah (essentially, God was the Messiah). Lastly, Mark skips the birth of Christ all

Read More

The Book Of Revelation In The Year Of 95 A. D.

177 Words | 1 Pages

The Book of Revelation, “a book to excite the senses”, is the last book of the Bible. (Powell, 519). In the year of 95 A.D., this book was written by Apostle John. He was believed to have a vision from heaven. The Book of Revelation is difficult to understand and inspires a wide range of questions, especially since there are many competing interpretations, “in a sense, to “interpret” this book is to misinterpret it, for often the appeal is to the imagination; it’s a book to be experienced, not explained” (Powell, 519).

Read More

John's Depiction Of Jesus

202 Words | 1 Pages

According to Harris (2014), John’s depiction of Jesus is an embodiment of heavenly wisdom and his message centers on his on divine nature. Jesus reveals unknowable truths about God’s being and purpose, and is depicted as the human form of God’s celestial world. John also does not characterize Jesus’ crucifixion in the same way as Mark. In John, the crucifixion was a glorification that frees Jesus to go to heaven, not a humiliating experience. John also does not contain any prophecies of the second coming like in other Gospels.

Read More

Figurative Language In Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

928 Words | 4 Pages

Figurative language can be a compelling factor in literary works ranging from romantic poetry to political speeches. It forces the reader, or listener, to visualize and understand what the author is trying to say. Jonathan Edwards utilized this writing technique in his powerful sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards used imagery, metaphors, and personification to express his differentiating attitudes towards both sinners and God which consisted of complete disgust in regards to the former and unwavering respect for the latter. Jonathan Edwards relied more on the composition of his writing rather than the execution of it which is why figurative language is found so often in this sermon.

Read More

Irony And Symbolism In The Short Story 'Janus'

612 Words | 3 Pages

There are several things in life that can hold value to a person. One object can be just an object to one person while at the same time be so much more to a different person. In the short story Janus, the object that Andrea had fixated on is a simple bowl. She is obsessed with the bowl, thinking about it all of the time and worrying about it. It is not hard to see that the bowl was something much more to her than any other ordinary object.

Read More

Leonardo Da Vinci: The Significance Of The Last Supper

1176 Words | 5 Pages

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me '" (Bible, by Luke 22:19). The third significance is the important principle given by Jesus Christ to live a Christian life. “One should never expect to be served by anyone but to serve others and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Bible, by Luke 22:29-30).

Read More

Church Observation Paper

720 Words | 3 Pages

I asked Paul what the meaning of the circular disk was. He answered that the circular disk is bread that represented life, and the body of Christ. In addition to the bread, I also asked about the wine glass, and the wine glass is supposed to be the blood of Christ. Both the wine and the bread are drank and eaten to signify the acceptance of Christ or also known as Holy Communion. But before the bread and wine are received there is prayer.

Read More

Book Of Revelation Research Paper

1185 Words | 5 Pages

In this chapter, Jesus is revealed as walking among the seven lampstands (representing the church), holding the seven stars in His right hand (representing the angels of the seven churches), His eyes like flames of fire, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and His face like the sun shining in all its brilliance. He stands as the Judge of the whole

Read More

More about Symbolism In The Gospel Of John

Related Topics

Open Document