Abstract:
An exploration of the Johannine narrative reveals that John addresses the problem of the
relational dimension of a believing community as one of its ‘authorial intentions’. With its
concomitant emphasis on communalism, the characterisation of community in John 15:1–16:3
makes it legitimate to propose that it is one of the narratives that address this problem.
Therefore, the article aimed to contribute to the discussions on the Johannine community,
focusing preponderantly on how the vine metaphor guides the reader to explore the
community theme as the Johannine prescription for this sociocultural malady. The study
employed a narratological analysis because it studies the poetics and meaning of the narrative,
thereby helping to recreate the theological ideation of community in the narrative. The
findings indicated that a believing community is defined by its relationship with Christ – the
vine – and its concomitant incarnation of the divine community’s communalistic values. It
also established that the incarnation of these collectivistic values in the believing community
is a product of a divine-human partnership: the members of the divine and believing
communities perform various roles, corporately and idiosyncratically to fulfil this mission.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : The portrayal of the believing
community in John 15:1–16:3 redefines a community as people participating in the divine
community and reflecting its values, replacing the anthropocentric and anthropological
characterisation of community with a theocentric classification. Consequently, the research
intersects with the disciplines of anthropology and sociology.
