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Gary W Sneller

Independent Scholar, New Testament, Ph.D studies at Rice University

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After 40 years in active parish ministry, in retirement I am renewing research on the Gospel of John in areas of orality/textuality, media consciousness/media culture, and performance criticism arising out of my Ph.D. studies with Dr. Kelber at Rice University from 1979-1986.
Supervisors: Dr. Werner Kelber

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Papers by Gary W Sneller

Johannine Discourses and Dialogues as Oral Performance (An Event in Sound) A Linguistic Approach

Abstract—Since the 1983 publication of Werner Kelber’s ground-breaking book, The Oral and the Wri... more Abstract—Since the 1983 publication of Werner Kelber’s ground-breaking book, The Oral and the Written Gospel, New Testament (NT) biblical scholarship can no longer ignore the distinctive linguistic qualities of oral speech/communication and written text. While this paradigm shift indeed sparked a host of new approaches to NT biblical research, there remains a persistent print-bound perspective at the core of many NT studies. This seems to be especially true when it comes to the Gospel of John (GJ) and its distinctive dialogues and discourses.
This paper will explore the Johannine dialogues and discourses within the linguistic matrix of oral communication by re-hearing the Greek text of the GJ as oral performance, an event in sound. It will seek to place the Johannine dialogues and discourses within the oral speech acts of Spirit-inspired prophets. By identifying oral prophetic speech as the source for the Johannine dialogues and discourses (rather than literary sources), we will anchor the Jesus speaking in the GJ within the same linguistic matrix of oral communication/performance and oral/textual media flux of the ancient world as the Jesus who speaks in the Synoptic Gospels (SG). This allows us to appreciate the Jesus speech found in the GJ not as something foreign to and later than early Jesus tradition, but as something indigenous to early Christian Jesus-talk.
Finally, we will briefly explore the linguistic implications of a print-bound reading of the GJ. Failing to hear the words of the GJ as oral speech, we print-bound readers today create a textual Jesus who would be unrecognizable to first-century members of the Johannine community.

[Note: this paper assumes some fluency in reading and speaking the Greek text of the Gospel of John.]

The Linguistic Function of " Grace and Truth " in the Gospel of John: How the Written Story of Jesus created Johannine World (And How We Misunderstand that World Today

There is nearly unanimous agreement (presumption) in Johannine scholarship that the Prologue (1:1... more There is nearly unanimous agreement (presumption) in Johannine scholarship that the Prologue (1:1-18) to the narrative story of the Gospel (1:19-20:29) articulates and establishes key ideas/themes that are then “fleshed out” in the Johannine telling of the story of Jesus. Much attention has been focused on the concepts of “word,” “life,” “light/darkness,” received/believed/ were born of God,” “became flesh and dwelt among us,” “glory,” and “made known” that occur prominently in the Prologue. Less attention has been focused on the phrase “grace and truth” which occurs two very significant times in the Prologue (1:14, 17). This paper will go beyond a theological/conceptual investigation of the words “grace and truth” in the GJ to explore a fuller spectrum of the linguistic function of “grace and truth” in John’s written telling of the story of Jesus, showing how the melding of “grace and truth” in John’s written story of Jesus created “world” for John’s community and how we misunderstand that “world” today.

format_quoteThe word 'grace' primarily appears in John’s Prologue, absent from the Gospel narrative itself.format_quote

οὖν in the Gospel of John, a new linguistic understanding.docx

Abstract: The frequent occurrence of the conjunction οὖν is a distinctive feature of the Gospel o... more Abstract: The frequent occurrence of the conjunction οὖν is a distinctive feature of the Gospel of John (GJ). Various explanations have been offered but none adequately account for the frequency and perplexing inconsistency in its usage. This paper will argue that linguistically the distinctive occurrence of οὖν in the GJ is not really a matter best explained by the abstract/formal rules of Greek grammar, nor by the exigencies of narrative discourse structure (whether oral dramatic performance or written text), but rather it is simply a case of linguistic oral “residue”/ “traces” of an oral speech pattern characteristic of conversational narrative discourse/“oral performance” language embedded in the written text of the GJ.

Traces of Oral Performance Language in the Written Text.docx

In this paper, I explore the possibility that our current translations of the Gospel of John (GJ)... more In this paper, I explore the possibility that our current translations of the Gospel of John (GJ) in fact betray the oral word modality/linguistic world of the Greek text thereby introducing a distinctive bias that in turn significantly influences our reception/understanding of the text. I begin by examining in detail some distinctive oral linguistic characteristics of the written Greek text of the GJ, I proceed to show how most translations consistently mask these distinctive oral linguistic characteristics thereby betraying the oral linguistic world out of which the GJ was created, and finally, I briefly reflect on how a recovery of the oral linguistic world of the GJ can lead to new insights into the meaning of the Fourth Gospel (FG).

Greek verbs in the Gospel of John.docx

A comprehensive listing of the Greek verbs in the Greek text of the Gospel of John (Nestle-Aland ... more

And the Word Became Flesh--Cur Verbum Caro? A Johannine Metaphysics of the Word

Typically, Johannine incarnational language has been explored in terms of the person of Jesus, ei... more Typically, Johannine incarnational language has been explored in terms of the person of Jesus, either as an historical reality or a theological construct. This paper seeks to examine Johannine incarnational language precisely as language. It is the thesis of this paper that Johannine incarnational language functions differently than making a declarative statement about the ontological/metaphysical being (ousia) of Jesus. Rather, Johannine incarnational language draws the hearer/reader into the ontology/metaphysics of word itself. In effect, Johannine incarnational language functions in a performative way as linguistic act to create a new “world” (reality) for the hearer/reader of the Fourth Gospel whereby “the word of life” (1 John 1:1) which was at the core of the Johannine community religious experience could continue to be heard in its oral eternal/transcendent fullness and yet at the same time connected exclusively with the temporal/earthy Jesus of a written Gospel narrative.

And We Know His Testimony is True--the Performative Function of "we know" and other "we"passages in the Gospel of John

Although the Gospel of John seems to show a self-conscious sense of intentionality with regard to... more Although the Gospel of John seems to show a self-conscious sense of intentionality with regard to its own textuality, an awareness of the impact that media culture and media consciousness has on the creation, the communication, the reception, and the understanding/interpretation of the message means that as we encounter the biblical text today, we can no longer leave the present textuality of the Gospel of John unexamined. This study of “we know” and other “we” passages in the Gospel and Letters of John proceeds from the recognition that in the oral-textual media flux of first-century media culture, the written text of the Gospel of John would have functioned less as an artifact of Christian tradition and more as a “live event” with all of the hermeneutical dynamics of a live event/performance. Thus, in this hermeneutical setting, “we know” and other “we” passages would have functioned not simply historically, narratively, or grammatically, but rather to express and reinforce the collective social memory and identity of the Johannine community.

The Word and the Words of Eternal Life: The Predominance of "the Word" in the Community and Gospel of John

To a remarkable degree, the Gospel of John is dominated by "the word." Why is this the case? Pa... more To a remarkable degree, the Gospel of John is dominated by "the word." Why is this the case? Past Johannine scholarship has focused attention on history-of-religions antecedents or the philosophical/theological categories of “the word” (logos). This paper suggests that a more fruitful answer to that question may be found by focusing on “the word” in the community and gospel of John precisely as word i.e. as linguistic phenomenon (both spoken and written). Specifically, this paper suggests that “the word” both in the Johannine community and in the written gospel is so predominant precisely because “the word” functioned not simply as an abstract philosophical or theological category, but as a fundamental and powerful linguistic experience.

format_quotePeter recognizes Jesus' words as the source of eternal life, differentiating them from mere sayings.format_quote

The Voice that Thundered--Witness and History in the Gospel of John

This paper examines the "historicity" of the Gospel of John in terms of the Gospel's function as... more

Up the Down Staircase--The Limiting and yet Equalizing Function of Ascending/Descending Language in the Gospel of John

This paper takes a new look at the function of ascending/ descending language in the Gospel of Jo... more This paper takes a new look at the function of ascending/ descending language in the Gospel of John. Narratively, ascending/descending language seems to function both to limit access to heavenly things exclusively to the Jesus of the written gospel and yet at the same time to make that access available to everyone through the Jesus of the written gospel. Sociologically, this language reflects the experience of heavenly visions/journeys by charismatic seers. The validity and authority of those experiences are both limited to and made equally available to all through the Jesus of John's written gospel.

The Strange Absence of "the gospel" in the Gospel of John

Everyone who grew up Christian (especially evangelical Christian) in the second half of the twent... more Everyone who grew up Christian (especially evangelical Christian) in the second half of the twentieth century knows that John 3:16 is the quintessential expression of the gospel. However, the word "gospel" does not occur anywhere in the Gospel or Letters of John. Why should this be? In this paper I suggest that the author of the Gospel of John does not use the word "gospel" because his understanding of God's salvation has its roots in the ancient wisdom-spirit tradition of Israel. It is not the “good news” about the reign of God and the announcement of a new age in the long salvation history of Israel. It is not about Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin. It is not a special gnosis [knowledge] that brings enlightenment. Salvation for John and his community is a revelation, an unveiling of the reality of God—an eye-opening experience that comes when we truly see and hear Jesus and through that hearing and seeing experience the very life of God in our current existence.

format_quoteThe Gospel of John may have avoided using 'gospel' to explore deeper spiritual mysteries, requiring new language.format_quote

"I am" Sayings in the Gospel of John--A Linguistic Approach

This paper examines the "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John first through the ear of primary ora... more This paper examines the "I am" sayings in the Gospel of John first through the ear of primary orality and then through the eye of textuality. Oral "I am" sayings promoted a sense of the present, exalted Jesus offering the benefits of salvation in present experience. By placing these sayings within the historicizing context of a written story of Jesus, the author of the Gospel of John anchored the evanescent and dynamic orally spoken "I am" sayings in the "fleshly Jesus" of the gospel narrative. The Jesus who speaks “the words of eternal life” is now restricted to the one who appears in the gospel story (“the Word who became flesh”). An effective closure for oral speaking in the name of the Lord is accomplished; a definitive context for hearing Jesus speak and interpreting his words is thereby created.

Drafts by Gary W Sneller

How Will I Know? The Authenticating Function of "Signs" in the Gospel of John

In this paper, I explore the linguistic function of “signs” in the written Gospel of John. Do th... more In this paper, I explore the linguistic function of “signs” in the written Gospel of John. Do the “signs” intentionally written in the Gospel of John function first and foremost theologically to lead to a particular type of faith, or do they function linguistically in a different way? I argue in this paper that the written “signs” of the Gospel of John function first and foremost to authenticate John’s written testimony that the Jesus presented in the written Gospel is truly “the Christ, the Son of God.”

I begin by taking a new look at how the Greek word, “σημειον” functioned in non-Johannine usage (in particular ancient Greek literature, in the LXX/Hebrew Scripture, and in other New Testament writings), then I briefly re-examine the issue of a presumed “signs-source” used by the author of the Fourth Gospel, and finally, I demonstrate how the “signs” written in the Gospel of John function linguistically therein to strengthen and support the author’s purpose in writing his gospel by authenticating the Jesus presented in the written text as “the Christ, the Son of God.”

An Oral Reading of the Gospel According to John/John's Witness About Jesus

This is a script for an oral reading/performance of the Gospel of John based on my own translatio... more

ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ highlited verbs.docx

Color-coded Identification of the Tenses of the Greek Verbs in the Gospel of John Nestle-Aland N... more