THE ETERNAL WORD (JOHN 1: 1 – 18) – A LINGUISTIC EXAMINATION

Many commentaries have spoken highly of this prelude in the Gospel of John – The Eternal Word. Its style and structure have been highly praised. There is no doubt that this text is quite popular and is often quoted by pastors when giving a sermon on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Indeed, in the Roman Catholic liturgy, this is the Gospel passage read during the Christmas day Mass every year. From the literature, therefore, the message of this passage has greatly contributed to its acclaim. However, the point of interest in this study is that, though the relevance of the message may have played a part in the high acclaim the passage has garnered, the organization of the text from New King James English version itself has played an equally important role in ensuring the popularity of the passage. As argued in systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the texture and organization of a text can contribute immensely to the delivery of the message. Accordingly, the main objective of this study was to investigate how the structural organization of the message of John 1: 1 – 18 has contributed to its dissemination. The theory that is applied in the study is aspects of the Textual Metafunction of Halliday’s SFL. This is a text-based model for which John 1: 1 – 18 (the New King James version) is taken as a textual artefact for linguistic exploration. In line with the principles of SFL, the clauses of this biblical text were qualitatively examined, focusing on its textual organization and cohesion. It was found that the prevalent thematic choices, thematic progression and cohesive elements have been strategically used to project the Christology of Jesus, consistently referred to as the Word, the Light, the Life and God.