The relation between the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel (John 1:1-18) and the body (John 1:19–20:31) is one of the long-running Johannine debates. Many scholars have held that the Prologue is an independent part of the body so that these two parts were composed by different authors. The ground for this contention is that they are thought to have more differences than similarities. On the contrary, a group of scholars observes that these two parts actually have a lot of continuity, and differences are relatively small. In order to advance this debate, I present a new approach. While the previous studies have compared the Prologue with the rest of the Gospel, examining what connection points exist between these two, the present study focuses on the relation between the Prologue and John 1:19-51, which immediately follows the Prologue. Through this study, I assert that the Prologue and John 1:19-51 are interwoven in the same narrative frame. Based on my analytical comparison, I have identified a total of ten connection points: testimony theme, sending concept, “see” verb, revealing concept, the concept of preexistence of Christ, new creation paradigm, 1:19-42 following the pattern of 1:6-8, sharing three words (Moses/the Law/Jesus), temple motif, and sharing the word Christ. I also classified them into three types: linguistic connections, thematic connections, and structural connections. These findings have led me to propose two suggestions. First, the Prologue and the body were composed by the same hand. Second, 1:6-8, 1:12c-13, 1:15, and 1:17-18 in the Prologue are not parts that were added to an original poem (the so-called “a Logos hymn”).
The relation between the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel (John 1:1-18) and the body (John 1:19–20:31) is one of the long-running Johannine debates. Many scholars have held that the Prologue is an independent part of the body so that these two parts were composed by different authors. The ground for this contention is that they are thought to have more differences than similarities. On the contrary, a group of scholars observes that these two parts actually have a lot of continuity, and differences are relatively small. In order to advance this debate, I present a new approach. While the previous studies have compared the Prologue with the rest of the Gospel, examining what connection points exist between these two, the present study focuses on the relation between the Prologue and John 1:19-51, which immediately follows the Prologue. Through this study, I assert that the Prologue and John 1:19-51 are interwoven in the same narrative frame. Based on my analytical comparison, I have identified a total of ten connection points: testimony theme, sending concept, “see” verb, revealing concept, the concept of preexistence of Christ, new creation paradigm, 1:19-42 following the pattern of 1:6-8, sharing three words (Moses/the Law/Jesus), temple motif, and sharing the word Christ. I also classified them into three types: linguistic connections, thematic connections, and structural connections. These findings have led me to propose two suggestions. First, the Prologue and the body were composed by the same hand. Second, 1:6-8, 1:12c-13, 1:15, and 1:17-18 in the Prologue are not parts that were added to an original poem (the so-called “a Logos hymn”).
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