Countercultural Character of Johannine Christianity

Abstract

The paper presents the rhetorical aspects of Johannine literature and shows the countercultural character of the community that produced it. Although different in genre, content and scope, the Gospels, the three Epistles and the Book of Revelation exude the same countercultural mechanism. To recognise these mechanisms on the literary level, the first part of the paper shows the impulses of countercultural interaction with the audiences. They are marked as a confrontation with religious and political authorities. Being in constant conflict with the Jewish synagogue and God-defying structures of the Greco-Roman world, the Johannine community built its own world. This world is legitimised as countercultural, i.e. constructed in opposition to the prevailing social structures and cultural practices. René Girard's anthropological concept of the scapegoat serves to observe the countercultural basis of Johannine Christianity, which is contained in the Christological symbol of the lamb. In the second part of the paper, examples of the operation of the countercultural mechanism are listed, and how it reshapes cultural practices and social structures is shown. The Johannine motifs of love and sacrifice are crucial in this process. Finally, the paper's conclusion briefly discusses the potential of the countercultural contribution of Johannine literature to Christianity and contemporary society.

Radom se prezentuju retorički aspekti Jovanovske književnosti i pokazuje se kontrakulturni karakter zajednice koja ju je proizvela. Iako različitog žanra, sadržine i obima, Evanđelje, tri poslanice i Knjiga otkrivenja odišu istim kontrakulturnim mehanizmom. U cilju prepoznavanja ovog mehanizama na literarnom planu, u prvom delu rada se pokazuju impulsi kontrakulturne interakcije sa auditorijumima. Oni su označeni kao konfrontacija sa religijskim i političkim autoritetima. Nalazeći se u stalnom sukobu sa jevrejskom sinagogom i bogoprotivnim strukturama grčko-rimskog sveta, Jovanovska zajednica je izgradila sopstveni svet. Budući konstruisan u suprotnosti sa vladajućim društvenim strukturama i kulturnim praksama, ovaj svet se legitimiše kao kontrakulturni. Antropološki koncept žrtvenog jarca Renea Žirara služi uočavanju kontrakulturnog temelja Jovanovskog hrišćanstva, koji je sadržan u hristološkom simbolu jagnjeta. U drugom delu rada navedeni su primeri delovanja kontrakulturnog mehanizma i pokazani su načini na koje on preoblikuje kulturne prakse i društvene strukture. Jovanovski motivi ljubavi i žrtve pokazuju se ključnim u ovom procesu. Zaključkom su, konačno, diskutovani potencijali kontrakulturnog doprinosa Jovanovske književnosti hrišćanstvu i time savremenom društvu.