The use of zeteo in the Fourth Gospel : a debate with John Painter’s The Quest for the Messiah

Abstract

This article will tune into a debate with John Painter’s, The Quest for the Messiah: The History, Literature and Theology of the Johannine Community, as a monograph that deals extensively with the theme of zeteo – seeking – in the Gospel of John. In this monograph, Painter has led to certain valuable results in his efforts to establish the importance of zeteo in this Gospel by studying its quest and rejection stories. The article will reveal the degree on which Painter has understood the historical origin of zeteo against the Sitz im Leben of the Johannine Community. This exercise will sketch out some of the main lines of development in Painter’s work and highlights certain directions of recent research on the Gospel of John.