Spirit and Rebirth in the Gospel of John

Insofar as Christianity can be said to have begun with the disappearance of a body, namely the absence of Jesus’ body in the grave, this disappearance occasioned not so much a disjuncture with Jesus’ preceding work as a new start, by way of a salvific turn, according to multiple accounts in the New...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religion & theology
Main Author: Weissenrieder, Annette (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2014
In: Religion & theology
Further subjects:B Translation Theory embodiment ancient embryology Gospel of John ancient medicine re-creation pneumatology of John
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Summary:Insofar as Christianity can be said to have begun with the disappearance of a body, namely the absence of Jesus’ body in the grave, this disappearance occasioned not so much a disjuncture with Jesus’ preceding work as a new start, by way of a salvific turn, according to multiple accounts in the New Testament. It is through the absence of Jesus’ body and subsequent appearances of the risen Jesus that the messianic promise is fulfilled. Furthermore, the absence of Jesus’ body opens up space for transfigured bodies in multiple forms to fill the gap, each in its own way. Christian faith was thus marked, from the earliest time, by questions regarding the meaning, representation, and transformation of the body. In the Gospel of John, after Jesus is resurrected he blows (ἐμφυσάω) the holy spirit into his disciples. Here the infusion of the spirit evokes the framework of ancient embryology, in which spirit brings life. Ancient embryology illumines the recurrent passages in John referring to birth, being reborn, and children of God, especially 1:13–14 and 3:3–8.
ISSN:1574-3012
Contains:In: Religion & theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15743012-02101007