Abstract:
In ecumenical circles, John 17:11b, 21–23 has been understood as Jesus’ prayer for church
unity, be it confessional or structural. This article questioned such readings and conclusions
from historical, literary and sosio-cultural viewpoints. The Fourth Gospel’s language is
identified as ’antilanguage’ typical of an ’antisociety’, like that of the Hermetic, Mandean and
Qumran sects. Such a society is a separate entity within society at large, but opposes it. Read
as a text of an antisociety, John 17:11b, 21–23 legitimises the unity of the separatist Johannine
community, which could have comprised several such communities. This community
opposed the Judean religion, Gnosticism, the followers of John the Baptist and three major
groups in early Christianity. As text from the canon, this Johannine text legitimates tolerance
of diversity rather than the confessional or structural unity of the church.
