SUSTENTO LEGAL

The second principle in the theory is assimilation; symbolic assimilation occurs at three levels: 1) pre-semantic, 2) semantic, and 3) interpretative.

3.3.2.1 Pre-Semantic Assimilation

Assimilation first occurs in the pre-semantic state of the symbol, meaning that most Johannine symbols are already in existence before appearing in the text. These symbols are the result of linguistic, cultural, and/or theological assimilation; pre-semantic origins of symbols are found in the depths of human experience.242 Mircea Eliade

explains that symbols diffuse through culture and human societies, sometimes far from their point of origin and are assimilated by different peoples.243 Symbolic assimilation also takes place when elements of the created world merge with human activity or experience, such as the connection between burial or death and the sowing of grain.244 These symbols are not products of a single culture, but are found in different cultures separated in time and influence; symbols that take on a universal nature are commonly referred to as archetypal or mythical symbols.245

242

Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 69.

243 _{Mircea Eliade, Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism (trans. Philip Mairet; New}

York: Sheed & Ward, 1969), 34.

244 _{Ricoeur observes that certain fundamental human experiences create symbolisms such as the}

notion of above and below, cardinal directions, spectacle of the heavens, terrestrial localization, houses, paths, fire, wind, stones, or water.” Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 62, 65.

245

Frye describes the archetypal symbol as a symbol that helps unify and integrate human experience. Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, 99. Wheelwright’s examples of archetypal symbols include sky father, earth mother, serpent, eye of the sun, ear of grain, vine, sprouting tree, ritualistic bathing, road or path and the pilgrimage along it, kingly power as blessing and threat, soaring bird, and circle or sphere. Wheelwright, “The Archetypal Symbol,” 222-223. Ashton identifies light and darkness as archetypal symbols in the Gospel of John. Ashton, Understanding the Fourth Gospel, 208. Jesus used archetypal symbolism in 12:24, when he speaks of his impending death: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

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Many Johannine symbols are universal, such as light, darkness, bread, grain, water, life, and birth. Symbolic language such as Λόγος, which spans both Hebrew and Greek cultures, has traveled through time and developed conceptually in these cultures. John’s original audience was at least tri-cultural (Jewish, Samaritan, and Greek).246 Most Johannine scholars recognize Johannine symbols as emanating from Hebraic origin;247 however, due to their universality, these symbols have also been assimilated into Greek culture. This process of assimilation makes several Johannine symbols easily

recognizable. Although set in context of Jewish history and tradition of the Israelite journey in the wilderness, the symbol of manna in John 6 resonates with the Greek audience because bread is a universal symbol representing life and sustenance.248

Investigation into the process of assimilation of Johannine symbols reveals a rich history

246

See Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, 18-24. Koester comments, “The Greek-speaking world of the late first century included many different kinds of potential readers for the Fourth Gospel. Johannine imagery has affinities with imagery in an astonishing range of ancient sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenistic Jewish texts, Greco- Roman sources, and later gnostic writings.” Koester,

Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, 18.

247

According to Ashton, Johannine symbols such as Messiah, prophet, and Son of Man are “unquestionably Jewish provenance” transformed to serve the purposes of the author of the Gospel. Ashton, Understanding the Fourth Gospel, 124. Johnson observes, “Elements of John’s symbolic structure are present and important in the Judaism of first-century Palestine.” Johnson, Writings of the New

Testament, 527. Gilbert Soo Hoo points out a difference in the manner in which Jesus uses symbolism

when communicating with his general Jewish audience and with his disciples. With the former, Jesus uses traditional Jewish symbols of water, light, and temple; however, with his disciples, rather than resort to Jewish tradition, Jesus performs the symbolic acts of footwashing and giving the morsel of bread. Gilbert Soo Hoo, “The Pedagogy of the Johannine Jesus,” PhD diss., Catholic University of America, 2009, 248.

248

According to Dodd, images of bread and water already serve as symbols for religious conceptions. In Jewish religion bread is viewed as a symbol for Torah or Wisdom, and manna is not only Jewish but in Philo is a symbol of the Logos. Dodd, Interpretation, 136-138. Other examples of symbols spanning Hebrew and Greek cultures are the symbols of vine and shepherd. Although Dodd relates the vine symbolism to the vine allegory in Ps 80:9-15 and Jer 2:21, he notes a Hellenistic reader of the Gospel familiar with the work of Numenius the second century philosopher, will be familiar the figure of God as a vinedresser. Likewise, Koester comments in Hebrew culture, shepherd evokes associations with Israel’s leaders and even God; Greek classics also used shepherd to refer to leaders and the art of governing people. Koester, Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, 16.

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of symbolic tradition. Exploring the pre-semantic phase of symbolic assimilation provides a variety of social, cultural, and religious perspectives for interpretation.

3.3.2.2 Semantic Assimilation

Semantic assimilation takes place when the referent of the symbol assimilates similar characteristics of the symbol at the semantic level. The terms “assimilate” and “similar” are cognates; in symbolic assimilation, symbol and referent assimilate at the points of similarity. The symbol is not a literal substitute of its referent; hence, semantic assimilation can occur between alien or distant ideas.249 Distant but similar concepts of the symbol and referent are assimilated and the assimilation connects them semantically. In John 1: 29, the Baptist calls Jesus “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In the interpretative process of the Lamb of God symbol, Jesus the Lamb assimilates the “distant idea” of the Hebrew Passover lamb. The main point of resemblance and

assimilation between the two ideas is death, for Exodus 12:3-6 narrates the death of the Passover lamb. Jesus the Lamb of God therefore assimilates the sacrificial act of

redemption implicated in the killing of the Hebrew Passover lamb. Jesus is a man, not a lamb; therefore, this symbolic principle is described as assimilation rather than logical comprehension because the connection is comprehended intuitively rather than rationally. Because the relation between symbol and referent is not logically articulated in the

narrative the hearer-reader comprehends symbolic meaning after the process of assimilation.

249 _{Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative (trans. Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer; Chicago:}

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3.3.2.3 Interpretative Assimilation

Interpretative assimilation occurs when interpreters participate in symbolic assimilation by first intuitively comprehending and then experiencing theological truth in the symbol. In the Gospel of John, the aim of symbolic interpretation is transformation. The process of interpretative assimilation begins with the principle of symbolic

presentation; the interpreter first encounters the symbol, then its re-presentation, which is followed by reflection and resemblance.

The first level of symbolic assimilation occurs when the interpreter first

comprehends the transcendent symbolic meaning of the literary symbol. The interpreter is thus assimilated into symbolic meaning as s/he makes a shift from literal to symbolic meaning.250 In 2:13-22, the temple symbolism is at first an alien idea; however, if the interpreter reflects back to the temple symbolism of 1:14, s/he will understand that the symbolism connotes the visible abiding presence or glory of God. Next, 2: 21-22 flashes- forward to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus; the interpreter then grasps the

symbolic connection. Jesus’ physical presence symbolizes the presence of God; therefore, Jesus himself is the temple.251 At each stage of the interpretative process described above, the interpreter assimilates the meaning of the symbol by gradual comprehension.

John 2 shows symbolic assimilation can be delayed since the disciples do not immediately comprehend the temple symbolism until after the resurrection. Also, for the

250

Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 55. Ricoeur also describes assimilation thusly: By living in the first meaning (i.e. literal meaning), the interpreter is “led by it beyond it” into the symbolic meaning. Ricoeur, Symbolism of Evil, 15. Ricoeur explains further, “The symbol is the movement of the primary meaning which makes us participate in the latent meaning and thus assimilates us to that which is

symbolized without our being able to master the similitude intellectually” (emphasis mine). Ricoeur, Symbolism of Evil, 16.

251 _{Jesus’ death symbolizes the “destruction” or phasing out of the old temple and its religious}

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reader-hearer, the temple symbolism hinted at in 1:14 is expanded in chapter 2, and fully assimilated in the post-resurrection narrative. Thus, delayed assimilation is the gradual comprehension of the succession of symbolic representations in the entire narrative. As the plot progresses, the hearer-reader assimilates by adapting, expanding, and conforming to newly presented knowledge of Jesus, before arriving at symbolic meaning.

The second level of interpretative assimilation occurs when the interpreter

experiences reality conveyed in the symbols. Those who accept the Gospel’s invitation to believe that Jesus is the Son of God can partake of the spiritual realities expressed the Christological symbols such as birth, life, light, water, and shepherd. Schneiders describes Johannine symbols as the “locus of experience.”252 Symbolic portrayals of Jesus call readers to enter into the truths expressed in the symbol. Jesus the Light calls his hearers to follow him and they will not longer walk in darkness; Jesus the Living Water, invites all to quench their spiritual thirst; and Jesus the Good Shepherd, calls believers to enter into his fold by hearing and following his voice. Thus, hearer-readers are

assimilated into the realities of Johannine symbolism and the SFR.