From the structure to the theology of prologue – chiasmus and the identity of God\u27s children in John 1:1-18

Polazeći od pretpostavke o međuovisnosti strukture i teologije biblijskog teksta, članak postavlja problem strukture i teologije proslova Evanđelja po Ivanu. I uz brojne prijedloge strukture ne postoji teološka interpretacija bazirana na strukturi teksta. Nakon što je izložio neke od tipičnih prijedloga strukture, autor uzima u razmatranje hijastičku strukturu proslova koju je predložio R. Alan Culpepper u svojem članku „The Pivot of John’s Prologue“, New Testament Studies 27 (1980.) 1-31. Poslije metodološke rasprave o različitim prijedlozima kriterija koji indiciraju postojanje hijazma u biblijskom tekstu, kratko su izloženi principi njegova tumačenja. U nastavku autor nastoji – prema prethodno iznesenim principima – interpretirati proslov kao tekst hijastičke strukture. Ponajprije konfrontira središnji element hijazma (H – 1,12,b) s krajnjim elementima (A, 1,1-2 – A’, 1,18). Potom uzima par po par elemenata, idući od središnjeg (G – G’, F – F’ itd.), kako bi ih stavio u odnos sa središnjom tvrdnjom hijazma (1,12b). Usprkos metodološkim nesigurnostima i teškoćama, istraživanje je pokazalo mogućnost građenja teologije proslova, temeljene na njegovoj hijastičkoj strukturi, i usredotočene – u suglasju sa središnjim elementom hijazma – na temu djece Božje (1,12b).Starting from the assumption that the structure and the theology of a biblical text are interdependent, this article raises the problem of structure and theology in the Prologue of John’s Gospel. Despite extensive speculation about the structure, there has been no theological interpretation based on the structure of the text. After outlining the main theories regarding the structure, the author explores the chiastic structure of the Prologue proposed by R. Alan Culpepper in his article “The Pivot of John’s Prologue”, New Testament Studies 27 (1980), 1-31. After a methodological discussion of different proposals concerning criteria that indicate the presence of chiastic phraseology in the biblical text, the author briefly analyses the principles of Culpepper’s interpretation. The author then endeavors to use these principles to interpret the Prologue as a text that has a chiastic structure. First of all, he confronts a central element of chiasm (H – 1:12b) with the final elements (A, 1:1-2 – A’, 1:18). Then the author takes two by two elements, moving from the middle element (G – G’, F – F’ etc.), and puts these in relation to the core claim of chiasm (John 1:12b). Despite methodological uncertainties and difficulties, this research has shown that it is possible to build a theology of the Prologue based on its chiastic structure and focused – in concordance with the central element of chiasm – on the theme of God’s children (John 1:12b)