John the Baptist: The Absinthe of the Divine Feast?

Abstract

Abstract My contribution focuses on the ‘Competition Thesis’ between John, Jesus and their disciples in reconstructing the life of the Baptist. One great merit of JBHT is adopting the Competition Thesis. When summarizing, guided by the Competition Thesis, Marcus first plays the devil’s advocate, enumerating the reasons that John should be seen as an independent figure claiming for himself the leading place in the scenario of end times. However, Marcus’s conclusion reverts to a position closer to the traditional view of John as witness and forerunner. John was the ‘absinthe of the divine feast’, as suggested by Renan. I confess: I am convinced by the devil’s advocate. Direct evidence for the competition thesis is thin. It is based on an indirect and contrary reading of the gospels, as often ‘protesting too much’ in insisting on the secondary role of John. Nevertheless, I maintain that the competition thesis should be embraced fully. One example of how it should be deployed is discussed in this article: the logion in Q, Matt 11:2-6//Luke 7:18-23, which concludes, ‘Happy is the man who does not find me a stumbling block’.