A Step Too Far: A Critique of Francis Moloney’s Understanding of ‘the Scripture’ in John 20:9

Abstract

In a series of studies Francis Moloney has argued, along narrative critical lines, that the phrase ‘the Scripture’ in John 20:9 should be understood as a reference to the Fourth Gospel itself, which presents itself to later believers as ‘Scripture’ in continuity with the Scriptures of Israel. This interpretation, while resolving the long-noted tension between v. 8 and v. 9 towards the end of the passage, is not tenable on the grounds that such a reinterpretation of γραϕή places too great a demand upon the reader in view of the use of the term up to this point. The transition across vv. 8–9 is better explained as a reference to ‘Scripture’ in a global sense as providing the divinely appointed ‘script’ for the paradoxical messianic mission of the Son.