The Johannine Son of Man - Paperback

by Robert Rhea (Author)

Rhea's study of the Son of Man seeks to support the uniqueness of the Fourth Gospel even with regard to its use of this term and title. He contends that not only are the traditional, apocalyptic trappings and characteristics of the Son of Man not found in the thirteen Johannine sayings, a thorough exegetical examination of four of the primary ones, John 5:27; 6:53; 6:62; and 9:35 provides explicit evidence that the term and title have been derived from a pre-apocalyptic source. With his survey of the scholarship until 1980, he points to the growing skepticism of the Synoptic Son of Man logia that challenged the accepted consensus of an apocalyptic source. As more scholars rejected the Synoptic apocalyptic Son of Man, the philological argument began to receive greater emphasis. Lindars was certain that the phrase was originally an idiomatic self-referent that preserves a generic meaning. Following the arguments of Lindars, Colpe, Black, and Moule, Rhea surmises that the idiom is an ambiguous designation that Jesus could have used either as a generic self-referent or as a messianic title. Considering its use in Pss 8, 80; Ezekiel; and Dan 8:1--and noting its relationship to the concept of the Mosaic-Prophet-Messiah found in the Fourth Gospel, its special eschatological function in John 5:27, and its unique Eucharistic role in John 6:53--Rhea advances the view that the Fourth Evangelist locates the term in the tradition of Hebrew prophecy and proceeds to document this hypothesis. Considering the basic characteristics of the texts of Aramaic Daniel, I Enoch with the Similitudes Enoch, and IV Ezra, Rhea finds conclusive evidence for their origins in esoteric, marginal Jewish writings of the late intertestamental period and the first century AD. With a comparison of the Synoptic logia he strongly differentiates between sayings derived from Jewish apocalyptic texts on the one hand and those based on the prophetic writings, and their traditional Hebrew eschatology on the other. He finds that the future Synoptic Son of Man logia has definitely been influenced by apocalyptic texts such as Aramaic Daniel, while the passion sayings and those of the lowly, earthly Son of Man bear a strong resemblance to the Suffering Servant of II Isaiah and the lowly, suffering prophet along with its use as a form of address in Ezekiel and Dan 8:17. Rhea finds the similarity between this Synoptic suffering, earthly Son of Man and the Johannine Son of Man concept compelling. As he proceeds with his exegetical study of the four selected Johannine Son of Man sayings listed above, he finds conclusive evidence that the expression Son of Man appears with reference to a person or prophet addressed by God during the time of revelation. Thus, the fourth Evangelist records the formation of the title, Son of Man, which has been taken from the spiritual, prophetic designation of one called by the Hebrew God. ""The unique use of the Son of Man title in the Fourth Gospel not only addresses the special relationship between Jesus and his heavenly Father, it is also used to describe his messianic and eschatological roles as the Anointed One of Israel. Robert Rhea's important study has enhanced my own view of the traditional Johannine Son of Man sayings and Johannine Christology with his discussion of the Jewish, prophetic background that underlies the term. Above all Rhea's distinction between the Synoptic, apocalyptic Son of Man and the prophetic/messianic Son of Man of the Fourth Gospel leads to his view of the Son of Man as a prophetic/spiritual designation that Jesus employs for his messianic role. Rhea thus makes a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on Johannine Christology and eschatology."" Dr. theol. Markus Sasse; The Ministry of Education of Rhineland and the Palatinate, Germany; formerly Lecturer of Biblical Studies at the Lutheran Seminary of the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany. Robert Rhea is a graduate of Davidson College, Un

Author Biography

Robert Rhea earned a BA in Modern German Literature at Davidson College, North Carolina, received an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary, New York, and completed an MA for Hebrew Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York. While a student at Davidson he spent a year at the University of Marburg, Hessen, Germany, where he attended Georg Werner Kuemmel's lectures on the Pauline epistles and began reading Rudolf Bultmann.

He taught German language and American literature at Darlington School, Rome, Georgia, before entering active duty as a communication's duty officer for the US Army Signal Corps. Although he submitted an application for conscientious objector status, which was rejected, he served honorably for the 160th Signal Group in Longh Binh and Saigon, Vietnam.

Rhea was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for the study of modern German literuature at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, where he wrote a study on selected novels of Hermann Hesse. For the next three years there he focused primarily on German and English Romantic literature, and wrote a master's thesis on Ferdinand Freiligrath's poetry and translations of English Romantic verse at the request of Professor Werner Vordtriede, known for his work, Novalis and the French Symbolists.

Returning to the US in 1976, Rhea matriculated at Union Theological Seminary, New York. Although his study included a considerable amount of Old Testament exegesis along with psychology and religion, he placed emphasis on the New Testament, particularly the Fourth Gospel. With his thesis on the use of the Son of Man title in the Fourth Gospel written for James L. Martyn and Raymond E. Brown and later published by Oscar Cullmann in his ATHANT series, he demonstrated that the title most likely originated in the Hebrew prophetic tradition, not Jewish apocalyptic literature. It was 1990 before he read The Priority of John by the late Bishop of Woolwich and Cambridge Professor John A. T. Robinson, who also held the view that the Fourth Gospel was written by an eyewitness disciple, the Beloved Disciple, and who suggested that the Son of Man title of this Gospel has been derived from a pre-apocalyptic source.

During the autumn of 1989, Rhea entered the graduate school at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, to study Hebrew Bible with an emphasis on the Hebrew prophetic tradition. He was a student of David Marcus, Stephen Geller, and Ed Greenstein. His exegetical study on Zech 13:1-6 was published by the Zeitschrift fue die Alttestamentliche Wissenshaft, Berlin.

After visiting Ephesos in the summer of 1998, where he coordinated with Austrian archaeologists digging at the so-called Tomb of Luke for evidence that could prove this tomb to be that of the Beloved Disciple of the Fourth Gospel, he matriculated a few years later as a doctoral candidate in New Testament at the Evangelish-Theologische Fakultaet of the Universtiy of Vienna, Austria. He completed the course work and spent almost two years on the research of the baptism of Jesus for Professor Wilhelm Pratscher. The focus of this study was on the Johannine account of the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus, which led him to conclude that Jesus was not baptized by the Baptist.

At Virginia Intermont College, Rhea worked as a librarian and taught German for the college's study abroad program in Munich, Germany. He taught German language at the New School for Social Research, New York, and ESL at the Alpha Sprachinstitut in Vienna, Austria, as well as for the Inlingua School of Languages, Manhattan, New York. He also served as a substitute teacher for three of Vienna's international schools. From 1986 to the present he has met with numerous pastors, priests, preachers, and parishioners along with mainline church officials seeking recognition of the Fourth Gospel as the most authentic account of the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.