Light and Hope in John: An Itinerary in the Fourth Gospel

Abstract

What can be learnt from the way John uses the terms ‘light’ and ‘hope’ in the Fourth Gospel and in his First Letter? The paper tries to highlight the thematic interaction between the two concepts as it unfolds in the course of the narration. In a first step it shows how some literary and narrative choices made by John concur to establish both a distance from and a unity with the reader, reproducing the dialectics of hope and light. In a second step, the paper illustrates a thematic itinerary in the Gospel, centered on the promise and gift of the Spirit, and evidences how the development of other themes, notably the topic of light, follows the same trajectory. Finally, it tries to offer a synthesis of the results, with a particular attention to some thematic connections with the First Letter of John.