Purity in the Gospel of John (Paperback)

Dr. Wil Rogan

ISBN 10: 0567708705 / ISBN 13: 9780567708700

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Edinburgh, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. Wil Rogan argues that, contrary to twentieth-century interpretation, the Fourth Gospel did not replace purity with faith in Jesus. Instead, as with other early Jewish writings, its discourse about purity functions as a way to make sense of life before God in the world. He suggests that Johns Gospel employs biblical and early Jewish traditions of purity associated with divine revelation and Israels restoration to narrate how Gods people are prepared for the coming of Jesus and enabled by him to have life with God characterized by love. After evaluating different theories of purity for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Rogan explores John the Baptist as an agent of ritual purification, Jesus as the agent of moral purification, and the disciples of Jesus as ones who are (or are not) made morally pure by Jesus. While purity is not one of the Fourth Gospels primary focuses, Rogan stresses that the concept figures into some of its most significant claims about Christology, the doctrine of salvation, and ethics. Through purity, the Fourth Gospel guards continuity with the past while placing surprising conditions on participation in Israels future. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780567708700

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Purity in the Gospel of John (Paperback)
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, Edinburgh
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567708705
• ISBN 13: 9780567708700
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Wil Rogan argues that, contrary to twentieth-century interpretation, the Fourth Gospel did not replace purity with faith in Jesus. Instead, as with other early Jewish writings, its discourse about purity functions as a way to make sense of life before God in the world. He suggests that John’s Gospel employs biblical and early Jewish traditions of purity associated with divine revelation and Israel’s restoration to narrate how God’s people are prepared for the coming of Jesus and enabled by him to have life with God characterized by love. After evaluating different theories of purity for the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Rogan explores John the Baptist as an agent of ritual purification, Jesus as the agent of moral purification, and the disciples of Jesus as ones who are (or are not) made morally pure by Jesus. While purity is not one of the Fourth Gospel’s primary focuses, Rogan stresses that the concept figures into some of its most significant claims about Christology, the doctrine of salvation, and ethics. Through purity, the Fourth Gospel guards continuity with the past while placing surprising conditions on participation in Israel’s future.

About the Authors

Wil Rogan is assistant professor of Biblical Studies at Carey Theological College in Vancouver, Canada.

Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.