Heilsverschlossenheit im Johannes-Evangelium

Abstract

The concept of predestination in St. John's Gospel is a controversial issue, even though it is not a very prominent one in current New Testament studies. It is, however, important to point out that the Fourth Gospel clearly features the idea of a double divine predestination of man, i.e. a predestination to participation or non-participation in salvation, and that this idea forms an integral part of Johannine theology. The predestinatarian thinking in the Fourth Gospel is closely connected to the concept of faith. For John, faith in Jesus Christ is not a precondition for salvation, to be fulfilled by man. It is rather the mode of salvation, by participation, and as such, it is a gift of God (Jn 6; Jn 1o).According to John, before the coming of Jesus into the 'world’, the 'world' is darkness, i.e. It is in a state of total ungodliness. By God's grace alone some people, the disciples, are chosen out of this 'world' and come to Jesus in faith, independent of their own will, act or merit (Jn 13,18; Jn 15). This election which includes a permanent adherence to Jesus constitutes for the elect a new existence and entails a new commission (Jn 15,16; Jn 17,18). Likewise, God has foreordained and effects that other people, the majority of the 'Jews', do not come to Jesus. When the divine truth is proclaimed through Jesus,, they remain in their wordly ungodliness, on the side of, and under the deadly power of, the devil (Jn 8; Jn 12,37-43). The Johannine concept of election, however, does not contradict the notion of human responsibility and freedom. For John, freedom is a christological concept; without Christ, there can only be bondage (Jn 8,32ff.).Some phrases and statements in St.John's Gospel seem to be universalistic rather than predestinatarian, but this impression of universalism dissolves when John's qualitative notion of Kosmos is taken into account. For John 17,21.23, however, a tension between predestination and universalism remains.