Abstract

Standard commentary on the Gospel of John concludes that "signs" refer to miracles and that John views signs faith as inferior to faith that does not need signs. However, commentators have not explored signs from the perspective of what they are, how they work, and what positive functions they serve in the flux and change experienced by people moving from one faith community into another. From this perspective, the Johannine signs look very different from the standard view. ;The dissertation draws on the semeiotics of Charles Peirce, explicating his system in light of the "competing" semiology of Ferdinand de Saussure. The elements of Peirce's semeiotics are developed in relation to his larger philosophical concerns, particularly the polyvalence of signs, the relations between signs and the world, and the ways that communities seek meaning and truth. ;Peirce provides a lens for reading, in order, the fourteen passages in John that use "$\sigma\eta\mu\varepsilon\ \iota o\nu$". From these readings, the dissertation concludes that Jesus' signs in John are public acts--miraculous and non-miraculous--that lead to, maintain, or deepen belief. It argues, also, that although people reach different levels of faith, no belief in John stands as deeper or better than belief based on signs. ;Attention turns to other elements besides those things explicitly called signs that also function as signs--citations of scripture, the community's life, the gospel itself, and the Spirit/Paraclete's guidance. With these signs, the narrative creates additional, external contexts of meaning, pushing readers outside the narrative's bounds to understand its claims. The signs operate "vaguely," with their meanings developed less in terms of conceptual content and more in terms of community conduct. Jesus promises the Paraclete, who both stabilizes the community--linking them to Jesus' ministry--and potentially destabilizes the community--leading them into truths they were previously unable to bear. This promise renders provisional all norms. The content of beliefs and norms becomes less important than the process by which the community comes to understand and embody them. The community must remain open to change and new insight in order to stay on the way to truth and life