A historical survey and critical evaluation concerning discipleship in the fourth gospel

Abstract

The historical survey about discipleship in the Fourth Gospel indicates that the literature of the second half of this century was sketchy about this theme. Up till 1972 a thematic-theological approach highlighted some characteristics of discipleship as they appeared in all four gospels. The study of Jimenez (1972) was the first substantial approach to research about discipleship in the Fourth Gospel and caused a paradigm shift to restrict his study to only the Fourth Gospel. During the 80's the interest about this theme increased, due to Rudolph Bultmann. After Bultmann more attention was paid to the situation and circumstances of the audience which contributed to a greater interest on discipleship and ecclesiology in the Fourth Gospel. Although no constant current influence on discipleship has been observed, most scholars are unanimous that the focal point of discipleship lies in the "Last Discourse".