Rhetorical Syncrisis in the Johannine Presentation of Jesus and Peter

Abstract

The article advances a hypothesis that certain elements in the Johannine characterization of Jesus and Peter can be profitably interpreted through the lens of the ancient rhetorical device of syncrisis. The analysis consists of six main parts. First, the hypothesis itself is laid out in detail. Second, the Jewish and Christian uses of syncrisis around the turn of era is described, as proof for the possibility that this rhetorical technique was employed in the FG. Third, the status quaestionis on the use of syncrisis in the FG is provided. Fourth, some arguments are presented to justify the choice of progymnasmata as a methodological framework in the exposition of σύγκρισις between Jesus and Peter. It is argued that the ancient rhetorical exercises called progymnasmata, which contain a reliable and helpful description of ancient syncrisis, can thus provide useful criteria in the search for elements of syncrisis in the Johannine description of the relationship between Jesus and Peter. Fifth, the Johannine comparison between Jesus and Peter is viewed according to some of the basic rules of the progymnasmatic theory of syncrisis. Sixth, a detailed analysis of a few elements of the Johannine syncrisis between Jesus and Peter is presented.