Studies on characterization have proliferated in Johannine circles as an ongoing conversation that engages a deeper understanding of the narrative and theology of the Fourth Gospel. As scholars have examined John’s characters, more developed readings have emerged. From representational models to narrative criticism, the journey of Johannine characterization has come to consider several theories that include continuums of development and motifs that run through the various presentations in the Gospel. Influential scholars such as Cornelis Bennema, Christopher Skinner, and Susan Hylen have built upon R. Alan Culpepper’s work on the literary features of the Gospel, which has paved the way for further study of John’s characterization.
This paper joins this conversation by proposing a new theory about characterization and investigates another model for reading character in the Fourth Gospel. This interdisciplinary approach engages both intertextuality and characterization to develop a method that sees characters as the embodiment of Scripture through allusions employed by the Evangelist in pursuit of his stated purpose (John 20:30-31). The amalgamation of scriptural reuse in contemporary literature and the flexibility of allusions created fertile soil for the Evangelist to specifically highlight his interpretation of Scripture as realized in the person and work of Jesus. Thus, he combines characters and Scripture intricately but effectively. Recently, Culpepper has argued that theme development is woven together with characterization, and after a reexamination of “main” characters in the Gospel, a similar pattern emerges as to how the Evangelist also weaves allusions into his characters. In this paper, I establish a methodology that details the relationship between Scripture and character and conclude with a brief case study of this interplay.
Several characters are readily positioned for a study of this nature, including Nicodemus. While work has been done to understand this individual, I believe his characterization deserves another look from a different lens. Nicodemus’s example demonstrates the proposed theory that the Evangelist characterizes individuals alongside several scriptural allusions in such a way that embodies Scripture. In this respect, Nicodemus is particularly interesting as the allusions in his characterization are more indirect, which agrees with Malbon (2011) that “characterization is more than characters.” Through the intertextual dialogue with Jesus, the Evangelist illuminates Nicodemus’s misunderstanding and ambiguity. In light of the Gospel’s purpose, the details of Nicodemus’s intertextual characterization ultimately disclose Jesus to his audience as an embodiment of Scripture.
This paper is an important addition to the broader conversations in Fourth Gospel scholarship as it furthers the development of the Evangelist’s composite allusive intertextuality while expanding current methods and models of John’s characterization.