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Religious Studies Essay The term discourse has a very diverse meaning as it can be seen if you looks at a dictionary definition. A discourse may be a talk, yet the talk could be a short address or a lecture. More generally a conversation may be thought of, suggesting the involvement of more than one person, or even, when considering ‘religious’ discourse, a sermon might be intended. Therefore when we consider the fourth gospel the term discourse may be seen as an ‘Umbrella’ term, this is confirmed by the way certain scholars use discourse to describe a variety of communication types. Dodd for example frequently uses dialogue when considering discourses. It is through this dialogue the dramatic events of chapters 3 and 4 are shown, or as sustained dialogue between Jesus and the crowd in Chapter 6. Such sustained elements are also present as long continuous discourses in Chapter 5 and 10, though these are different from the conversations of Chapters 7 and 8, which are more controversial. Bultman suggests that it is part of a Johannine style to have a discourse where people butting in interrupt the flow. These people are called interlocutors, and it is their interruptions that allow a clarification of intended meaning as the audience takes literally what is meant to be symbolic.
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