Perumbalath, J: Faithful and Imaginative

This work investigates the use of scripture - the Old Testament - in the Johannine passion narrative. Its thesis is that John‘s interpretation of scripture is one of faithfulness and imagination. This study involves a review of the current scholarship on the use of the Old Testament in the New, and a detailed study of the explicit scripture citations and implicit scriptural allusions in the Johannine passion narrative. But this is not a mere historical inquiry into John‘s use of scripture. Being encouraged by a renewed interest shown in pre-critical interpretation by many late-modern interpreters of scripture, this study attempts to positively evaluate John‘s use of scripture in the light of the hermeneutical discussions today and concludes that John‘s hermeneutic of scripture is confessional, canonical and textual. His hermeneutical methods are subservient to his hermeneutical goal. Meaning of the text is metaphorical and underdetermined. This work advocates a post-critical approach to biblical interpretation based on a ‘biblical‘ example.