DeConick A.D

148
JOHN AND THE DARK COSMOS
Jesus become convinced that he is more than this. He is the “savior of the
world” (John 4:19, 42).
Jesus teaches her about the “living water” that gives everlasting life
(4:7–15). He explains to her that the Father God is “spirit” who can’t
be worshipped in temples such as the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem or the
Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. He tells her that she has been worshipping
a God she doesn’t know, whereas he worships a God he does
know. He persuades her to follow him because he can give her knowledge
of God that she doesn’t have (4:22).
Over the years, scholars have surmised that the early Johannine community
experienced an influx of Samaritans, although there has been less
effort to distinguish what type of Samaritans they were (see Odeberg
[1929] 1974, 171–89; Bowman 1958, 1975; Meeks 1967, 216–57, 286–319;
Buchanan 1968; Freed 1968, 1970; Brownlee 1991; Purvis 1975; Brown
1978; 1979, 37–39, 43–45). This distinction is very important because
the Samaritans were divided by a number of schisms in this era. So the
question is not whether the formative Johannine community included
Samaritans. It most certainly did. The question is what kind of Samaritans
they were.
Simon Says
In the book of Acts, we learn that Samaria was among the first areas to
be missionized by the Jerusalem church, and the Simonians in particular
were targeted. According to the record in Acts, Philip travels to a Samaritan
city as an ambassador of the Jerusalem church (see Samkutty 2006).
A large number of people from this city convert (Acts 8:4, 6).
Who were these Samaritans converted by Philip? They were Simonians,
devoted to the worship of Simon as the Great Power of God who had the
Holy Spirit (8:9–10, 20). The Simonians are baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ, after becoming convinced that Simon did not really have the Holy
Spirit because he could not outperform the great miracle worker Philip.
After the Simonians were baptized and became Christians, Peter and John
were sent to the mission to lay their hands upon the converts and convey
to them the Holy Spirit (8:14–17).
Given the Gospel’s portrayal of Jesus as the descendent spiritual superman,
the account of the conversion of the Simonians in Acts has real