Title of the Article: “The Light Shines in the Darkness”. Johannnine Dualism and the Challenge
For Christian Theology of Religious Today*
About the Author: Amos Yong/ Regent University
Bibliographic Data: The Journal of Religion
January 2009 Volume 89. No. I
Outline of the Article:
- Introduction
- Light and Darkness in John: Aspects of a Classical Christian Theology of Religion
- John and the Jewish: Reconsidering Implications for Theology of Religions
- The Light Shines in the Darkness: John’s Prologue and Sectarianism at Qumran.
- At Dawn and at Dusk: Ambivalence regarding a Johannnine Theology of Religions.
- Pressing the Question: Performing Johannnine Theology in the Interreligious Encounter
What is the Article all About:
The prologue presents the Logos and contrast to darkness- “The light shines the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it”-and says that the Baptist “came as a witness to testify to the light, so all might believe through Him”. And as the light, Jesus admonishes His listeners: “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have light, so the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light”. Given this clear opposition between believers and unbelievers, it should not be surprising that Christian thinking about the religions has long been dominated by a similar logic. My approach will attempt to understand how the light –darkness motif function in John against the backdrop on early Jewish-Christian relations, of dualism at Qumran, and of other Johannnine references to the world and to the gentiles. Many believe that the sitz im leben (original life situation) of the FG reflects the painful process through the earliest Christian community emerged out of and began to separate from its Jewish roots. Christian theology of religions in terms of the light-darkness theme in John it might be argued that no conclusions can be drawn, since the FG identifies those in darkness as Jews, and this permits us to extract only a Christian theology of Judaism rather than a full-blown Christian theology of religion. Christians need to be recognizant of the performative dimension of theology of religions, and this raises the question of the proper posture and practices that Christian beliefs about the religions should inculcate and foster. People do not lose their ethnicity, culture, and language totally in conversion to Christ. Is it not then also true that prior religious identities may not be entirely negated but rather transformed in Christian conversion and if so, would not the cosmic reach of God’s love be redemptive of ethnicity, culture, language, and religion rather than threaten their eradication. Our discussion of the light-darkness motif in John suggests that the classical categories of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism are less pertinent.
