John the Baptist in the Fourth Gospel
A Biblical-Theological Study of His Role as a True Representative of the Scriptures through his Christocentric Testimony

Area 15 – Scienze teologico-religiose

John the Baptist is a significant character in the composition of all the Gospels. However, the Fourth Gospel depicts him in a different way from the Synoptics. The dissertation is a serious attempt to answer the question posed by the Jerusalemite delegation about the identity of John the Baptist and his role within the salvation history according the Fourth Gospel: «You, who are you?» (1:19). There are many different studies that are devoted to our topic. But there is a unique study totally that is dedicated to John the Baptist in the Fourth Gospel, which is the doctoral dissertation of Martin Stowasser at the University of Vienna in 1992. Yet, this study diverges a lot from our approach and conclusions. In our study, the Synchronic approach is the adopted one, since it deals with the text in its completed form. On the biblico–theological level, this dissertation reveals a new aspect in the Fourth Gospel’s presentation of John the Baptist: though recognizing the witness status of John the Baptist, this study highlights another element of his status. He is the true representative of the Scriptures. In fact, the first presentation of John the Baptist in the Fourth Gospel is the one «sent from God» (1:6), a title which underlines his prophetic identity.

SINTESI