DeConick A.D

147
JOHN AND THE DARK COSMOS
Instead, we have a bifurcation of the Jewish God, when YHWH’s two
halves, his good and his evil natures, are treated as separate Gods. This
theology is a distinctive blend, the consequence of an interface between
Gnostic spirituality, Jewish scriptures, and nascent Christianity within a
religious buffer that was unique to first-century Palestine and, as we will
see shortly, to Samaria in particular.
Samaritan Converts
If Gnostic spirituality is woven into the very fabric of the fourth Gospel,
creating a distinctive religious blend, we have to wonder how this happened,
historically and socially. Where, when, and how did it occur? Can
we identify the religious buffer that would have served as the environment
for the birth of this emergent Gnostic system and distinctive Christian
community?
There are several clues in the Gospel of John that help us reconstruct
the early history of the Children of Light. The opening chapters of the
Gospel single out five disciples as Jesus’ first: two of John the Baptist’s disciples,
one of them Andrew; Andrew’s brother Simon Peter; Philip from
Bethsaida in Galilee, who was a friend of Andrew and Peter; and Philip’s
friend Nathanael (John 1:40–49). Most likely, these five disciples are privileged
in the community’s memory because they represent the founders of
the Children of Light. They represent a small missionary cohort that had
been sent out from the church in Jerusalem to persuade people to become
followers of Jesus. They founded the mission from which the Children of
Light emerged.
We have to wonder what group of people the esteemed five initially
converted. Who were the men and women who formed the bedrock of
this newly established Christian church? What presuppositions and religious
sensibilities did they bring with them? To answer these important
questions, we must journey to Samaria, a region of Palestine that has a
distinct prominence in the fourth Gospel.
The fourth chapter features the story of Jesus’ unusual interaction with
a Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob in the village of Sychar. This
Samaritan woman is Jesus’ first convert, following his calling of the esteemed
five. After talking to Jesus, she is convinced that he is the prophet
promised by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15. But when she goes and spreads
the word among the Samaritans in her village, those she talks to about