Revelation and Self-Perception in the Gospel of John

In this study, Ole Jakob Filtvedt engages with recent scholarly discussion on ancient notions of self and self-perception, applying these concepts to the encounters between Jesus and John the Baptist, Nicodemus, the Jews and Pharisees, Peter, and Pilate. The author demonstrates that these encounters involve a relationship between two sets of questions. The first set concerns revelation: Do the characters recognize who Jesus is and what he has to offer? The second concerns self-perception: Do the characters recognize what they lack and what they need? By exploring how these two sets of questions relate to each other, the study probes whether there is a connection in John between the degree to which characters recognize who Jesus is and the degree to which they recognize their own situation.