John's Gospel in New Perspective

by Richard J. Cassidy

Book Overview

The conflict between Christianity and Roman Imperial theology manifested at very early stages in Christian history. Richard Cassidy argues that ignoring or downplaying such political-theological implications because of some supposedly manifest separation between spiritual belief and politics is both shortsighted and unbiblical. In this fascinating and original reading of the Gospel of John, it becomes clear that Christology is not merely theological...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1498202330
• ISBN13: 9781498202336
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tightly written. Covers areas other exegetists haven't.

This was a really interesting book and covered aspects of the New Testament period and early Christianity that usually is not considered adequately, namely the setting of the Roman Empire and what effects this might have had on Chrsitianity and the early Church. The book is thoughtful.

This book is very significant for Johannine studies!

This book is very significant for Johannine studies. As well as documenting telling connections between Johannine Christianity's religious commitments against their Roman backdrops, this book demolishes the naive view that because Roman persecution of Christians is not documented in Roman historical records until the third century one cannot infer the Roman empire was a source of hardship for Christians in the first and second centuries CE. Cassidy builds a convincing picture, based on the events between the reigns of Vespasian and Tatian, of what interactions with the empire may have been like for Mediterranean residents of the early Christian era. All it takes is some local enforcement of empirial clout for the Roman presence to have been experienced as problematic for Christians and Jews during this era.Paul N. AndersonVisiting Associate Professor of New Testament, Yale Divinity School