Description

There is no single obvious meaning of Paraclete in
the Johannine Gospel. The Johannine Paraclete-Spirit
figure fulfilled a very unique and specific function
in the ancient world as portrayed in the Johannine
narrative. Given the information gathered in my
research we can say that in the Johannine milieu the
Paraclete-Spirit functioned as a teacher, a guide
and instructor, an advocate and a witness, an agent
of renewal and a companion. Maybe one of the
greatest deficiencies of some of earlier studies of
this topic is the fact that scholars tried to lock
these functions into one socio-cultural setting and
tried to explain the whole concept from that vantage
point.
We find that in Johannine thought the foundation for
a distinctive religious experience of believers
would be the distinctive features of the Johannine
Paraclete-Spirit and his relation to Jesus. The
Paraclete-Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus that is,
he continues the work of Jesus. We can put it more
strongly in Johannine terms: He continues the
presence of Jesus.