Otherness and Identity in the Gospel of John

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-3-030-60285-7
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 195 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 393 g

In this book, Sung Uk Lim examines the narrative construction of identity and otherness through ongoing interactions between Jesus and the so-called others as represented by the minor characters in the Gospel of John. This study reconfigures the otherness of the minor characters in order to reconstruct the identity of Jesus beyond the exclusive binary of identity and otherness. The recent trends in Johannine scholarship are deeply entrenched in a dialectical framework of inclusion and exclusion, perpetuating positive portrayals of Jesus and negative portrayals of the minor characters. Read in this light, Jesus is portrayed as a superior, omniscient, and omnipotent character, whereas minor characters are depicted as inferior, uncomprehending, and powerless. At the root of such portrayals lies the belief that the Johannine dualistic Weltanschauung warrants such a sharp differentiation between Jesus and the minor characters. Lim argues, to the contrary, that the multiple constructions of otherness deriving from the minor characters make Jesus’ identity vulnerable to a constant process of transformation. Consequently, John’s minor characters actually challenge and destabilize Johannine hierarchical dualism within a both/and framework.   

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lim, Sung Uk

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Otherness of Minor Characters vs. Identity of Jesus.- Chapter 2:  Nicodemus and Jesus: Reading the Otherness In-Between.- Chapter 3: The Samaritan Woman and Jesus: Reading the Otherness Within.- Chapter 4:  Pontius Pilate, the Jews, and Jesus: Reading the Otherness Without.- Chapter 5: The Mother Of Jesus, the Beloved Disciple, and Jesus: Reading the Otherness Beyond.- Chapter 6: Otherness, Identity, and Solidarity

Über Autor(innen)

Sung Uk Lim is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the College of Theology and United Graduate School of Theology, Yonsei University, South Korea.