John's Gospel in New Perspective: Christology & the Realities of Roman Power

by Richard J. Cassidy

Hardcover with dust jacket. VG/G. Dust jacket is gently edge worn with some curling. Faded along edges and to spine. 132 pages.

132 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 1992

Reviews

[Serge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent line of reasoning rooted in the biblical text that frames Fourth Gospel as literary resistance to Roman hegemony and defense against apostasy. I particularly enjoyed chapters 4-6 that drove home the point of John's Jesus as the counterweight to Domitian and to all Flavian "divine" usurpers who sought to appropriate the titles of lord and savior. Looking forward to using this book as part of Bible Study this Lent

[Mike DePue, OFS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Savior of the World. Lord and God. Hearing or reading these terms, most Christians and even many non-Christians of recent centuries automatically think: “Jesus, of course.” In the First Century CE world, however, most people across the board would think: “The Emperor, of course.”

In the first seventy-nine pages of this book, the author effectively makes the case that it was the intention of the author of the Gospel of John “to present elements and themes that were significant for Christians facing Roman imperial claims and for any who faced Roman persecution.” (p. 88) (See pp. 2-3 for the author’s take on the authorship of this gospel.) The purpose of pp. 80-88: “It is now time to draw together the results of the analyses made in the preceding chapters.” This summation centers on “John’s consciousness of Roman realities” at the end of the first Christian century. (p. 80)

This focus on Roman context, include the cult of the Emperor, plows ground too often left fallow in Johannine studies.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to follow his writing style