St John and the Victorians

288 Pages·2012·4.53 MB·English

by  Michael Wheeler

ST JOHN AND THE VICTORIANS
ThegospelaccordingtoStJohn,oftenregardedasthemostimpor-
tant of the gospels in the account it gives of Jesus’ life and divinity,
received close attention from nineteenth-century biblical scholars,
and prompted a significant response in the arts.This original inter-
disciplinarystudyoftheculturalafterlifeofJohninVictorianBritain
placesliterature,thevisualartsandmusicintheirreligiouscontext.
Discussion of the Evangelist, the gospel and its famous prologue is
followedbyanexaminationofparticularepisodesthatareuniqueto
John.MichaelWheeler’sresearchreveals thedepthofbiblical influ-
enceonBritishculture,andonindividualssuchasRuskin,Holman
Hunt and Tennyson. He makes a significant contribution to the
understandingofculture,religionandscholarshipintheperiod.
michael wheelerisaVisitingProfessorofEnglishattheUniver-
sityofSouthamptonandanHonoraryProfessoroftheRuskinLibrary
and Research Centre at Lancaster University. His previous publica-
tions from Cambridge University Press are Death and the future life
in Victorian literature and theology (1990, winner of the Conference
onChristianityandLiteratureAward,USA;paperbackabridgement,
Heaven, hell and the Victorians, 1994), Ruskin’s God (1999) and The
old enemies: Catholic and Protestant in nineteenth-century English
culture (2006). He is a Trustee of Gladstone’s Library, President of
theRuskinSocietyandaformerlaycanonandmemberofChapter
atWinchesterCathedral.

ST JOHN AND THE
VICTORIANS
MICHAEL WHEELER
cambridge university press
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CambridgeUniversityPress
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521509725
(cid:2)c MichaelWheeler2012
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Wheeler,Michael,1947–
St.JohnandtheVictorians/MichaelWheeler.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-50972-5
1.Bible.N.T.John–Criticism,interpretation,etc. 2.Bible.N.T.John–Influence.
3.GreatBritain–Civilization–19thcentury. 4.GreatBritain–History–19thcentury.
I.Title.II.Title:SaintJohnandtheVictorians.
bs2615.52.w45 2012
226.5(cid:3)06094109034–dc23 2011029381
isbn978-0-521-50972-5Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto
inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
ToSusan
MostreadersfeelthatthisGospelcontainssomeofthemostinvaluable
treasuresofChrist’srevelation;thatitcontainswhatcouldbesupplied
tousfromnootherquarter.
ThomasArnold,‘Christ’sResurrection.–
TheconfessionofThomas’(1837)
Veryremarkableisithowlittlechildrenandripechristians,thesim-
plestmindedandthedeepestminded,alllike[StJohn’sgospel]with
soprofoundaliking.Tothechilditistheeasiest,tothemerelogician
themostperplexing,ofallthebooksoftheNewTestament.
JamesCulross,Lazarusrevived(1858)
Contents
Listofillustrations pageix
Preface xiii
Notesonreferencing xvi
part i the evangelist, the gospel, the word
1 TheApostleoflove:StJohntheEvangelist 3
Youngdiscipleandageddivine 3
Witnessandcontemplative 13
BeloveddiscipleandApostleoflove 20
2 ‘Themostmarvellousenigma’:thefourthgospel 29
Traditionalandcriticalorthodoxies 29
Poetryandmysticism 41
3 TheLightoftheWord:Incarnation 52
LightandLife 52
InterpretingtheWord 57
RepresentingtheLight 69
part ii interpretations and representations
4 Waterintowine:themiracleatCana 85
Indefenceofmiracles 85
IllustratingCana 96
Thepoetryofmanifestation 104
5 Livingwater:thewomanatthewell 111
Factorallegory? 111
Christologyatthewell 118
Thefallenwomanconverted 129
vii
viii Contents
6 Raisingthedead:LazarusofBethany 139
Aproblematicnarrative 139
ThequintessenceofJohn 144
Poeticlanguageandnarrativesilence 152
Abeautywhichartcannotreach 162
7 ‘Beholdthymother’:atthefootoftheCross 169
CatholicversusProtestant 169
BloodycrucifixesandgildedVirgins 179
AnglicizingtheStabatMater 189
8 Touchingtherisenbody:MaryMagdaleneandThomas 199
Sainthoodandmisrepresentation 199
Thepoetryoffaithanddoubt 211
PicturingtherisenChrist 224
Afterword 236
Bibliography 239
Index 262