2. Johannine anthropology. — The NT enables us to trace a further development of the Pauline anthropology in that of the Fourth Gospel and the First Epistle of John. ' John,' as Deissmann has said, ' is the oldest and greatest interpreter of St. Paul ' ; his writings form ' the most striking monument of the most genuine understanding of Pauline mysticism' (op. cit. pp. 4, 90). The Johannine development is towards greater affinity with Greek thought, the Logos doctrine (cf. the parallel phenomenon in Philo) being the most notable example of it. This greater adaptation to the thought and experience of a Greek world ex- plains tlie greater influence of the Johannine presentation of the gospel on the earlier theology of the Church. The more Hebrew anthropology of St. Paul had, in large measure, to wait for those thinkers of the West who culminated in Augustine. St. Paul's more subjective and indi- vidualistic outlook is, indeed, harder to realize than that broad disjday of great contrasts wliich gives to the Fourth Gospel part of its fascination for simple souls. In these contrasts we m,ay see the emergence of the opposing realms of Jewish
apocalypse (cf. Fairweather, op. cit. p. 295). The sense ot a present judgment, however, constituted by the simple presence of Christ, the Light of Life in this dark world (3" 12"'), replaces the escliato- logical outlook of the Synoptics.
(«) The vpposition of the world and God is the primary Johannine emphasis. Interest is trans- ferred from the Pauline struggle within the soul (e.(/. Ko 7, Gal 5") to the external conflict which gathers around the Person of Christ. The world (a characteristic Johannine term) ia the rcilm of darkness (Jn 1° 3'" etc.), sin (7"), and death (5-'', 1 Jn 3"). Christ is the Light of the world (Jn 8'-), its Saviour from sin (1-^ 3"), and its Life (3'" C'*). His conflict with that darkness which is sin, and issues in death, is continued by His .Spirit (16"). Sin isdelined in the characteristic Pauline (Hebrew) way as 'lawlessness' (1 Jn 3*); it is a voluntary act (Jn 9"), and reaches its culmination in the wilful rejection of life in Christ (5*" ; cf. 16''). Thus the conflict remains essentially ethical, though it is more objectively presented. The protagonist on the side of evil is the devil, who stands behind the evil-doer as his spiritual parent (8**) ; the world lies in his power (1 Jn 5'"), and he is its juince (Jn 12^' U** 16^').
(b) The spiritual transformation of individual men from lovers of darkness (3'") to sons of light (12**) is conceived both biologically as a new birth, and psychologically as a product oi faith ; no formal attempt is made to correlate these two ways of describing the change, or to solve the problem of the relation of Divine and human factors in con- version. John specializes the Pauline idea of a ' new creation ' (2 Co 5", Gal 6") into that of a new- birth (Jn 3^), which springs from a Divine seed (1 Jn 3'). This spiritual birth (much more than a mere metaphor) is sharply contrasted with natural birth (Jn 1"). The new life it initiates is ascribed to the Spirit of God (3"), and is nourished sacra- mentally (3° 6°^). The contrast of Spirit and flesh is not, however, dualistic in the Gnostic sense (cf. the rejection of docetic tendencies) ; it springs, as in St. Paul's case, from the OT contrast of their respective power and weakness, as seen in their ethical con.sequences (11 Jn 2"). This new birth from the Spirit has its conscious side in the believer's faith (Jn 1'^); that there is no contra- diction between the two ideas is shown by such a passage as I Jn 5' : ' Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God.' Such belief primarily concerns the Divine mission of Christ (Jn 12" 17*- "), knowledge of which is im]iarted through His 'words' (B*""), which are themselves Spu'it and life (v.""). It will be seen that faith has a more intellectual content for St. John than for St. Paul, though it does not forfeit its essentially mystical character ; belief in the mission of Christ marks a stage of development later than the faith of direct moral surrender to Him. The ethical emphasis is still fundamental in this Johannine conception of faith, as is shown by the recognition that ' obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge ' (7" ; cf. F. W. Robertson, Sermons, '2nd ser., 1875, pp. 94-105). The intimate relation of character and faith is further suggested by the assertion that ' Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice ' (18"'), i.e., that there is an intrinsic affinity between truth and the Truth (14«).
(c) The product of this ' faith-birth ' is eternal life, a term as central for St. John as ' righteous- ness ' is for St. Paul, and one that characteristically marks St. John's more Greek and less Jewish atmosjihere. This eternal life is life like Christ's (1 Jn 3'-), and is nourished hy such a relation to Him as the allegory of the Vine (Jn 15) suggests. The peculiar mark of this life is that ' love' which St. Paul ha4 described as the greatest amongst
abidinj; realities : ' We know that we have passed out of ileath into life, because we love the bietliren ' (1 Jn y*). In such life sin has no place as a lixed liabit of character (5'*) ; sin unto death (2'" 5'"), in fact, would show that there had been no genuine entrance into life. For single acts of sin confessed tliere is forgiveness and cleansing (1"). The issue of sin is death (Jn 8'*), whereas Christ teaches that ' if any man keep my word he shall never see death ' (v."; cf. U^- -"). Except for one passage (5-"), in which the term 'the resurrection of judgment' may have become a conventional phrase, resurrec- tion appears to be confined to the believer (6'"'), and is intended, as with St. Paul, to restore the full personality. Eternal life is already the believer's possession (lJn5''), and the future life is really the direct development of what is begun here. In this way, faith is the victory that hath overcome the world (5'').