In John within Judaism, Wally V. Cirafesi offers a reading of the Gospel of John as an expression of the fluid and flexible nature of Jewish identity in Greco-Roman antiquity. While many have noted Johnâs general Jewishness, few have given it a seat at the ideologically congested table of ancient Jewish practice and belief.
By interrogating the concept of âJudaismâ in relation to the complex categories of âreligionâ and âethnicity,â Cirafesi argues that John negotiates Jewishness using strategies of ethnic identity formation paralleled in other Jewish sources from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. In this process of negotiation, including its use of âhigh christologyâ and critique of Ioudaioi, John coalesces with other expressions of ancient Jewish identity and, thus, can be read âwithin Judaism.â
Wally V. Cirafesi, Ph.D. (2018), University of Oslo, is Visiting Researcher in the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo. He has published on a range of topics related to the New Testament, ancient Judaism, and early Christianity, including Verbal Aspect in Synoptic Parallels (Brill, 2013).
Acknowledgements Abbreviations
1 Introduction: John and Judaism, Then and Now
â1âThe Questions, the Problems, and the Argument
â2âScholarly Conceptions of âJohn and Judaismâ
â3âSome Prolegomena to the Study of John and Judaism
â4âThe Contribution of This Study
2 John and the Problem of Ancient âJudaismâ
â1âIntroduction
â2ââJudaismâ in Antiquity: Religion and Ethnicity, Unity and Diversity
â3âThe Meaning Potential of Ioudaios in Antiquity: Methodological Observations
â4âConclusion
3 The Jewish People and the Children of Israelâs God in John
â1âIntroduction
â2âEthnos and âPeoplehoodâ in Greco-Roman and Jewish Antiquity: Between Genealogy and Way of Life
â3âThe Ioudaioi, Jewishness as Genealogy, and the Birth of Godâs Children in Johnâs Gospel
â4âConclusion
4 âWe Have a Law â¦â (John 19:7)
âThe Ancestral Law and Its Laws in John
â1âIntroduction: Ethnos and Law in Greco-Roman and Jewish Antiquity
â2âThe Ancestral Law in John
â3âAncestral Laws in John
â4âConclusion
5 Reterritorializing Jewish Identity: John and the Ancestral Land
â1âIntroduction
â2âEthnos and Land in Greco-Roman and Jewish Antiquity
â3âJohn and the Ancestral Land
â4âConclusion
6 The National Cult, the Public Assembly, and Jewish Associations: John between the Institutions of Temple and Synagogue
â1âIntroduction
â2âNational Cult, Public Assemblies, and Associations in Greco-Roman and Jewish Antiquity
â3âNational Cult, Public Assemblies, and Jewish Associations in Johnâs Gospel
â4âConclusion
7 Conclusion
â1âWhat This Study Did Argue
â2âWhat This Study Did Not Argue
â3âWhat Next? How John Became âChristianâ
Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources
All interested in Johannine studies, Second Temple and rabbinic period Judaism, early Jewish âChristian relations, and the study of religion and ethnicity in antiquity