1 John: ‘Effects’ in biblical texts that constitute ‘lived experiences’ in the contemplative reading of those texts
Van der Merwe, D.G.
It is evident according to 1 John 2:28–3:10 that the eschatological events predicted in this text have implications for how people should live prior to these events. This essay explores this eschatological pericope by analysing a number of the linguistic effects used in the text in order to determine how the assumed spiritualities embedded in this pericope are generated to influence the readers. These linguistic effects form part of the rhetoric used by the author to awaken certain spiritualities (lived experiences) in readers in order to motivate them to act according to the recommendations given in the text. Four effects identified and examined in this essay that constitute ‘lived experiences’ in the contemplative reading of texts are (1) the dynamic interaction between text and reader, (2) the composition of images, (3) the dialectic of pretension and retention and (4) entanglement in a text.
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