Race in Johns Gospel: Toward an Ethnos-Conscious Approach [Hardcover]

Directly or indirectly, race makes many appearances in the Fourth Gospel. What is the meaning of all this attention to ethnic labels? Race in John's Gospel investigates how John reflects the racialized ideas current in its milieu, challenging some and adapting others. Ultimately, John dismisses race as valid grounds for prejudice or discrimination, devaluing the very criteria on which race is based. The cumulative effect of this rhetoric is to undermine the category itself, exposing earthly race as irrelevant and illusory. However, John's anthropology is layered, and looks beyond this unimportant earthly level. Above it, John constructs a heavenly level of racial identity, based on one's descent from either God or the devil.Andrew Benko taught as an adjunct professor of biblical studies at Texas Christian University. He is an Episcopal priest.

I recommend this book. Those interested in teasing out racial thinking in early Christian texts will find the theoretical chapter informative and well researched. Johannine scholars who have struggled with Johannine anti-Judaism will be challenged by B.s larger questions and by his careful textual analysis. The prose is clear and the exegesis judicious. . . B. is to be commended for challenging scholars to confront an uncomfortable issue and for providing said scholars with a range of interpretive tools that can help them with this important task. Catholic Biblical Quarterly

This interesting and thought-provoking study of Johns gospel is set against the backdrop of the conflicts over racism now coursing through society in the United States. The Bible Today

Benkos book not only calls for fresh insight into the ethnic/racial social world of the Fourth Gospel, it also represents a significant step forward in the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel regarding racialization. It is a study that makes use of ancient Greek sources, socio-historical studies, literary and rhetorical criticisms, andlS'