One Thing I Know [Hardcover]

This work employs multiple methodologies to analyze the story of the man born blind (John 9) in order to discern how this episode serves the greater purpose of the Gospel, stated in 20:31: so that you may trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and through trusting you may have life. The analysis of linguistic patterns; narrative structure; cultural anthropology; and an analysis of irony, humor, and wit are each employed. These are all synthesized in the final chapter, which makes an attempt to discern how an ancient performance of John 9 might look, and how such a performance might sway an ancient audience toward trust in Jesus as Messiah. The underlying question of this illuminating study is, 'How does it work?' If John's goal is to lead people to trust in Jesus and the experience of eternal life in the present, how does the narrative actually accomplish that goal? Britt Leslie sets out to answer that question through an analysis of the story of the healing of the man born blind in John 9. He does it by applying one method after another to lay bare the meaning and rhetoric of the passage until he reveals the overall impact designed to lead the audience of a performance of John to faith in Jesus and the spiritual experience of Jesus as the light of the world. Written with clarity and cogency, this study of John is a must-read book for students, teachers, and scholars alike. --David Rhoads, Professor Emeritus, Lutheran School of Theology One Thing I Know is notable not only because it advances new insights on one of the most-discussed passages in the Fourth Gospel over the past fifty years, but also because it illustrates the emergence of new and multidisciplinary approaches that bring together and build upon the conclusions of historical, rhetorical, social-scientific, narrative-critical, and media-critical approaches to the text. Judiciously combining observations on the narrative and performative dimensions of John 9, and combining these with hl�U