The Prologue of the Fourth Gospel A Sequential Reading [Hardcover]

Phillips undertakes a sequential reading of the Prologue of John's Gospel. By using the reading strategies of Iser, Emmott, and Eco, the book establishes a reading strategy termed sequential disclosure, which is then applied to the text.

In order to arrive at the reading, preliminary chapters focus both on historical interpretation of the Prologue in terms of reader response and on the role of the author, the use of persuasion and the development of irony. Special focus is given to the role of the dramatic prologue, as well as the interaction between rhetoric, irony and community. As such, the book discusses the role of the reading process in developing a specific community language. The book focuses on the didactic role of the Prologue in teaching readers this language and so including them into the Johannine community.

The reading of the Prologue highlights the key aspects of the reading process: ambiguity and disambiguation; resemanticization; antilanguage; community development and intertextuality. A sequential reading of the Prologue highlights the didactic and evangelistic role of this text.

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Chapter One: Introduction 1.1Introductory Comments 1.2Thresholds, Temples and Pompeii 1.3The Beginning as Threshold 1.4The Reader at the Threshold 1.5The Author at the Threshold 1.6Genette, Paratextuality and the Prologue 1.7Malbon's Three Functions of Gospel Beginnings 1.7.1The Interactional Function 1.7.2The Intertextual Function 1.7.3The Intratextual Function 1.8Thresholds and Welcome Chapter Two: John's Prologue and Literary Theory 2.1Introductory Comments 2.1.1John's Prologue and Literary Theory 2.1.2John's Prologue and 'Rhetoric' 2.1.3John's Prologue and Sociolinguistics 2.1.4One Methodology: Three Languages - Sequential Disclosure 2.2John's Prologue and Literary Theory 2.2.1Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel 2.2.2The Print's First Kiss 2.2.3Excursus on Paragrammatic Reading 2.2.4Back to The Print's First Kiss 2.3The Role of the Reader andlC‘