On the Notion of Κόσμος in John’s Gospel: A Hermeneutic of John 3:16-21

Abstract

The work that our hermeneutics assigns itself to in these pages is an attempt to understand the polysemy that emerges from the notion of κόσμος in the Gospel of John. It is fascinating to observe the permanent contrast that surrounds the notion of κόσμος in biblical literature. This contrast is summed up in the understanding of the κόσμος as a manifestation of the love of God and the degradation of humanity subjugated by the law of sin. It is in the Johannine literature that this contrast seems to reach its climax. Our reading of John 3: 16-21 aims at showing that the contrast found in the Johannine corpus regarding the notion of κόσμος is not to be grasped in a dualist structure of good and evil. The main objective of this work will be to understand why, more than elsewhere, John 3:16-21 offers a more loving vision of the κόσμος by its Creator. What the exegetical analysis will help us to understand is that the κόσμος is lost only when it takes the option of preferring darkness to light, but this option is not permanent, the possibility of conversion and redemption is always offered by the gift of the saving love of God by His Only Son.