Johannine Soteriology and Aristotelian Philosophy 421 mode operates as an implicit assumption in Johannine soteriology (20). In this sense, what I am suggesting is that here we have a certain hermeneutic that is predicated on the implied distinction of causes. The significance of such a hermeneutical reading lies in the advantage of having a clear understanding, on the one hand, of what precisely causes salvation, and on the other hand, how that salvation may be appropriated by a person in faith. And that question is crucial because it is one of the most important questions of the New Testament and the Christian faith. St. Paul’s College Peter FRICK University of Waterloo Westmount Rd. N. Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G5; Canada SUMMARY The aim of this short study is to propose a hermeneutical reading of Johannine soteriology based on John 3,16 and 1 John 4,9 in order to clarify in what sense Jesus was ‘the cause’ salvation. I will employ the Aristotelian categorization of the various causes as used by Philo in his explanation of the creation of the cosmos and apply his scheme to the Johannine texts. The result is (1) a specific definition of what constitutes the cause of salvation and (2) the important distinction between the means (understood as the four conjoint Aristotelian causes) and the mode (understood as faith) of salvation. (20) Here I have attempted to demonstrate that the distinction between the means and mode of salvation is implicit in Johannine theology. It is less complicated to demonstrate that the same distinction is implicit in Pauline soteriology, as I plan to argue in a forthcoming study.