Description
Book SynopsisIn Exegeting the Jews: The Early Reception of the Johannine "Jews", Michael G. Azar analyzes the rhetorical function of the Gospel of John’s "Jews" in the earliest surviving full-length expositions of John in Greek: Origen’s Commentary on John (3rd cent.), John Chrysostom’s Homilies on John (4th cent.), and Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on John (5th cent.). While scholarship often has portrayed the reception history (Wirkungsgeschichte) of the Gospel’s “Jews” as simply and uniformly anti-Jewish or antisemitic, Azar demonstrates that these three writers primarily read John’s narrative typologically, employing the situation and characters in the Gospel not against contemporary Jews with whom they regularly interacted, but as types of each patristic writer’s own intra-Christian struggle and opponents.
Trade ReviewDie Lektüre stimmt nachdenklich und ist jedem zu empfehlen, dem die antijüdische Wirkungsgeschichte des Johannesevangeliums ein Wissenschaftliches Anliegen ist. - Hans Förster, in: Theologische Revue, 2018 The argument is dense and detailed, supported by a wealth of footnotes and quotation, often in the original Greek, and a substantial bibliography. [Azar’s] work is to be commended for its thoroughness and for the insights it offers into the approaches of these influential church leaders. - Ruth B. Edwards, in: The Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist 2017
Table of ContentsContents Introduction 1 The Modern Reception of the Ancient Reception of John’s “Jews” Theologians and Historians of Jewish-Christian Relations Enter the New Testament Scholars Readings of the Johannine Jews in Late Antiquity: Summary of Argument 2 Origen of Alexandria Origen’s Commentary on John: Backgrounds Origen and the Johannine Christ: Teachers of Divine Things Corporeal Christians, Johannine Jews, and the Resistors of Divine Things Origen, Contemporary Gnostics and Jews, and John 3 John Chrysostom John Chrysostom and the Homilies on John John Chrysostom as Imitator of Christ John Chrysostom’s Audience as Imitators of the Johannine Jews The Jews of Antioch and John Chrysostom’s Reading of the Johannine Jews 4 Cyril of Alexandria Cyril’s Commentary on John: Backgrounds Cyril and the Johannine Christ: Teachers of Orthodox Doctrine The Johannine Jews as Catalysts of Orthodox Doctrine Cyril’s Reading of the Fourth Gospel and Contemporary Jews 5 Conclusion Summary: Ancient and Modern Readings of John’s Jews Reflections on the Ancient and Modern Readings
