Date of Award
Spring 1993
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
Abstract
Throughout the Christian era, John 3:5, with its statement about being begotten of water and spirit, has been interpreted as referring to the rite of Christian baptism as practiced within the Johannine community. Some modern exegetes, as will be shown, have espoused different views, based on their presuppositions regarding the nature and composition of the Fourth Gospel; but in the main it is still commonplace to identify this "water" with an actual physical ablution that would have been considered normative by the first readers of the Fourth Gospel...
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