Abstract
To open our contribution proper to the growing discussion of both an expanded notion of ethics and the ethical material of the Johannine literature, we intend to grapple with the concept of ethical imperatives.¹ As the title of this chapter suggests, my own contribution is the proposal that the summons to believe is not only an ethical imperative but also the foundational human component of John’s story of the good news of the Christ event. The argument begins as follows.
The core proclamation of the Prologue to the Gospel of John is that the Word become flesh is the gift