Johannine Studies:
Johannine Studies: General
This LibGuide is intended to introduce students to some of the important works in Johannine studies; this includes the Gospel of John, the Johannine Epistles (1,2,3 John), and Revelation (though most scholars do not believe that John the evangelist wrote Revelation it is often included in what is known as Johannine studies).
This LibGuide does not include commentaries. Commentaries on all the Johannine books in the New Testament can be found in the New Testament Commentaries LibGuide HERE.
These are not all of the books available, just a sampling of some of the major works to help students get started in their research. To find more resources please use the search bar above.
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Johannine Writings and Apocalyptic: An Annotated Bibliography
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"Johannine Writings and Apocalyptic provides a wide-ranging and thorough annotated bibliography for John's Gospel, the Johannine letters, Revelation, and apocalyptic writings pertinent to these books. More inclusive than many other bibliographies, this volume provides reference to over 1300 individual entries." - Brill -
Johannine Studies 1975-2017
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"The voice of Francis J. Moloney has been heard in Johannine studies for many decades. This volume gathers shorter journal articles from a publishing career that began in 1975, placing them together with new studies that appear for this first time, and thus complementing Moloney's already well-known commentary and scholarly monographs on the Fourth Gospel. The author's work has encompassed all areas of Johannine scholarship - the world that produced and first received the Fourth Gospel, its theology and Christology, and critical analysis of much-discussed passages. Well known for his extensive use of narrative and reader-response criticism, Francis J. Moloney has in more recent years developed an interpretation of the gospel which suggests that the author(s) of this narrative regarded their work as the "completion" of scripture. " - De Gruyter -
Legacy of John: Second-Century Reception of the Fourth Gospel
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"This volume offers an approachable, fresh, comprehensive and up-to-date view of the second-century reception of the Fourth Gospel, in a situation where new understandings about various forms of early Christianity and its multiformity have started to emerge." - Brill -
What We Have Heard from the Beginning: The Past, Present and Future of Johannine Studies
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"The past fifty years have seen powerful shifts in the methods and objectives of Biblical Studies. The study of the Johannine Literature, in particular, has seen a proliferation of new approaches, as well as innovative exegetical and theological conclusions. This volume surveys the emerging landscape from the perspective of scholars who have shaped the field. Written in a conversational and reflective tone, the articles offer an excellent overview of major issues in the study of the Fourth Gospel and 1-2-3 John." - Baylor University Press -
Text, Context and the Johannine Community: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Johannine Writings
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"Text, Context and the Johannine Community adopts a new approach to the social context of the Johannine writings by drawing on modern sociolinguistic theory. Sociolinguistics emphasizes language as a social phenomenon, which can be analysed with reference not only to its broad context of culture, but also, through the use of register analysis, to its narrower context of situation." -T&T Clark -
Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse
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"In this magisterial synthesis, Paul A. Rainbow presents the most complete account of the theology of the Johannine corpus available today. Both critical and comprehensive, this volume includes all the books of the New Testament ascribed to John: the Gospel, the three epistles and the book of Revelation. While not proclaiming a definitive position on the question of authorship, this work seeks to shed light on the theology common to all the New Testament authors. Johns root beliefs concerning God, humanity, sin, the world, and the significance of the Christ-event on eschatology unite the examined books with the rest of the New Testament canon. The Johannine corpus also highlights the important areas of christology, soteriology and ecclesiology in a manner that is worth exploration. Organizing John's ideas by the main characters around whom they revolve, the Johannine universe consists of persons divine and human, and their relationships with each other. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, faithful believers and the rest of the world are the main cast of characters that make up the rich set of writings considered in this exhaustive analysis." - InterVarsity Press -
The Johannine Corpus in the Early Church (FORTHCOMING)
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"Traditionally associated with John the apostle (the Gospel of John, the three Letters of John and the Revelation of John) make up a major portion of the Christian New Testament and have had an immense influence both on Christianity and on Western culture. Yet the consensus of scholarship has long held that one member of this Johannine corpus, the Gospel of John, endured a long struggle before it was deemed acceptable to the mainstream of orthodox Christianity. This consensus maintains that the Fourth Gospel was accepted first and most enthusiastically by gnostic and other heterodox groups while suffering disregard or opposition by the orthodox until about the 180s, when Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, ‘rescued’ it by showing how it could be used against the heretics. This study chronicles the rise of this ‘orthodox Johannophobia paradigm’ (OJP) in scholarship, then mounts a thorough investigation of the primary sources to ascertain its viability. The examination of all second-century sources, both orthodox and heterodox, both literary and material, places every aspect of this paradigm in jeopardy. The extent of John’s early use has been routinely underestimated, and its reception among the gnostic schools largely (and surprisingly) misunderstood. Considering the Fourth Gospel in the second-century context also forces us not only to view it alongside other Gospel literature, but also alongside other writings with which it was widely associated, namely, the Johannine Epistles and Apocalypse. The book concludes with a summary and reflections on the implications for our understanding of Johannine origins and history." - OUP -
Johannine Christology and the Early Church
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"Professor Pollard attempts to show how the early Church interpreted the Gospel of John and its witness to the person of Christ. The two paradoxes implicit in John's theology - the distinction between the Father and the Son in the unity of the Godhead, and the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ - were developed in varying ways and the resultant heresies arose from attempts to deny one element or the other in each paradox. In their refutation of the heresies, on the other hand, the Fathers struggled to keep both elements of the paradoxes in equipoise. The different traditions came into conflict in the controversy which raged around the figure of Arius and his supporters in the fourth century, of which the climax came in the debate about the views of Marcellus of Ancyra." - CUP -
John's Apologetic Christology: Legitimation and Development in Johannine Christology
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ISBN: 9780511488078"The Gospel according to John presents Jesus in a unique way as compared with other New Testament writings. Scholars have long puzzled and pondered over why this should be. In this book, James McGrath offers a convincing explanation of how and why the author of the Fourth Gospel arrived at a christological portrait of Jesus that is so different from that of other New Testament authors, and yet at the same time clearly has its roots in earlier tradition. McGrath suggests that as the author of this Gospel sought to defend his beliefs about Jesus against the objections brought by opponents, he developed and drew out further implications from the beliefs he inherited. The book studies this process using insights from the field of sociology which helps to bring methodological clarity to the important issue of the development of Johannine Christology." - CUP
The Gospel of John
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The Theology of the Gospel of John
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"D. Moody Smith treats the theology of the Gospel of John in its narrative form and historical context, both ancient Jewish and early Christian. His work draws upon the most recent scholarly investigations of the Gospel's historical purpose and setting. The major theological themes of the Gospel, especially its christology, are treated in relation to the context of the work, since Johannine theology is not simply a by-product of controversies that produced the Gospel, but is rather related to them in significant ways. As Professor Smith shows, John marks an important watershed between Christianity and Judaism. His study will thus serve equally well as an introduction to the question of the origin of John and as an introduction to its theology. It also consistently pays attention to the relationship of the Gospel to other major New Testament witnesses as well as to its important influence upon the development of later Christian doctrine." - CUP -
Abiding Words: The Use of Scripture in the Gospel of John
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"Like the other New Testament Gospels, the Gospel of John repeatedly appeals to Scripture (Old Testament). Preferring allusions and "echoes" alongside more explicit quotations, however, the Gospel of John weaves Scripture as an authoritative source concerning its story of Jesus. Yet, this is the same Gospel that is often regarded as antagonistic toward "the Jews," especially the Jewish religious leaders, depicted within it." - SBL Press -
The Dionysian Gospel: The Fourth Gospel and Euripides
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"MacDonald observes that the Fourth Gospel sounds themes proper to the Greek god Dionysos (the Roman Bacchus), not least as he was depicted in Euripides's play The Bacchae. A divine figure, offspring of a divine father and human mother, takes on flesh to live among mortals, but is rejected by his own; miraculously provides wine; includes women as his close devotees; dies a violent death—and returns to life. The Johannine Evangelist not only imitated Euripides but expected his readers to recognize Jesus as greater than Dionysos." - Fortress Press -
Encountering Jesus: Character Studies in the Gospel of John
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"The last thirty years have seen an increased interest in the Bible as literature and story. Yet “character” appears to be neglected in both literary theory and narrative criticism. Indeed, there is not even agreement amongst scholars on how to approach, analyze and classify characters. Applying a comprehensive theory of character to the Gospel of John, Cornelis Bennema provides a fresh analysis of both the characters and their responses to Jesus. While the majority of scholars view most Johannine characters as “flat,” Bennema demonstrates that many are complex, developing, and “round.” John’s broad array of characters and their responses to Jesus correspond to people and their choices in real life in any culture and time. This book highlights how John’s Gospel seeks to challenge its readers, past and present, about where they stand in relation to Jesus." -
Engaging with C. H. Dodd on the Gospel of John
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"C. H. Dodd's Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel, published in 1963, marked a milestone in New Testament research and has become a standard resource for the study of John. Historically biblical scholars have concentrated on the Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. However, Dodd's book encouraged scholars to take John seriously as a source for the life of Jesus. This volume both reflects upon and looks beyond Dodd's writings to address the implications, limitations and potential of his groundbreaking research and its programmatic approach to charting a course for future research on the Gospel of John. Leading biblical scholars demonstrate the recent surge of interest in John's distinctive witness to Jesus, and also in Dodd's work as the harbinger of advancements in the study of the Fourth Gospel." - CUP -
The Gospel of John and Christian Origins
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"One of the most challenging questions facing New Testament scholars—how did Christianity emerge from Judaism?—is often addressed in general and indirect terms. The question becomes acute, however, when we turn to the Fourth Gospel, which, like the Judaism from which it presumably sprang, affirms one God, yet also affirms the incarnation of the eternal Word and, in nascent form, what Christians will later call the Trinity––teachings that seem to set the Gospel poles apart from Judaism! John Ashton refuses any merely evolutionary explanation for this shift. Rather, he argues that the author of the Fourth Gospel set out precisely to supplant one revelation with another, and this because of the profound religious experience of the Evangelist, who turned from being a practicing Jew to experiencing a new revelation centered on Christ as the intermediary between God and humanity." - Fortress Press -
Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel
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"To distinguish between history and interpretation is difficult in all the gospels, and perhaps most difficult in the Fourth Gospel. In his sequel to The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, Dr Dodd attempts, with the historical question in mind, to discover the particular strain of common tradition on which the unknown author worked. This detailed study of St John's Gospel is in two parts. In the first Dr Dodd examines the narrative material - the Passion narrative, the Ministry and the chapters on John the Baptist and the first disciples - and in the second he makes a detailed examination of the Sayings. As against theories which assert the dependence of the Fourth Gospel on one or more of the Synoptic Gospels, Dr Dodd marshals a mass of evidence to show that behind it there lies an ancient tradition independent of the Synoptic Gospels, deserving serious consideration as a contribution to our knowledge of the historical facts concerning Christ. " - CUP -
History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel
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“This is an unusually important work which will surely affect the course of scholarly research. While still sympathetic with the Loisy-Bultmann thesis that the fourth gospel is dominated by a form of Gnosticism akin to that reflected in Mandean, Dr. Martyn has come to think that several points of correspondence between certain Johannine passages and certain rabbinical data not only illuminate noteworthy aspects of the conceptual milieu in which the evangelist worked, but also reflect significant historical developments occurring in his own city at the time of writing.” – T.A. Burkill -
How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel
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"Essential classroom resource for New Testament courses In this book, a group of international scholars go in detail to explain how the author of the Gospel of John uses a variety of narrative strategies to best tell his story. More than a commentary, this book offers a glimpse at the way an ancient author created and used narrative features such as genre, character, style, persuasion, and even time and space to shape a dramatic story of the life of Jesus. Features: An introduction to the Fourth Gospel through its narrative features and dynamics Fifteen features of story design that comprise the Gospel of John Short, targeted essays about how John works that can be used as starting points for the study of other Gospels/texts." - SBL Press -
The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel
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"Since its publication almost forty years ago, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel has established itself as a classic of biblical scholarship. Regarded as a seminal text in Johannine studies, it provides a comprehensive and authoritative exposition of the major elements and themes contained in this more original and fascinating of ancient documents. The author reconstructs the background and intellectual milieu out of which the Fourth Gospel may be supposed to have taken shape. He then defines as precisely as possible the leading concepts that may be said to have determined the structure and arrangement of the book as we have it." - CUP -
John, His Gospel, and Jesus: In Pursuit of the Johannine Voice
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"Captures John's unique perspective and voice in the wider field of Jesus studies In this volume Stanley Porter tackles a variety of important and often highly contentious topics within the Gospel of John as a means of defining and capturing the distinctive Johannine voice. Subjects discussed include John in relation to competing Gospels, the public proclamation of Jesus in John, the sources of John's Gospel, John's prologue, the "I Am" sayings, the notion of truth, the Passover theme, and the ending of the book." - Eerdmans -
John, Jesus, and History Volume 3: Glimpses of Jesus through the Johannine Lens
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"Since it began in 2002, the John, Jesus, and History Project has assessed critically the modern disparaging of John's historicity and has found this bias wanting. In this third volume, an international group of experts demonstrate over two dozen ways in which John contributes to an enhanced historical understanding of Jesus and his ministry. This volume does not simply argue for a more inclusive quest for Jesus-one that embraces John instead of programmatically excluding it. It shows that such a quest has already indeed begun." - SBL Press -
The Origins of John's Gospel
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"The essays in The Origins of John’s Gospel, gathered by Stanley E. Porter and Hughson T. Ong, either survey or discuss in detail various areas and topics in Johannine scholarship, especially in the study of John’s Gospel. These include the authorship and dating, sources, and traditions of John’s Gospel, its structure and composition, the Johannine community, and Johannine anti-Judaism and the Son of Man sayings. Collectively, these essays offer important contributions to various areas and topics of research relating to the origins of John’s Gospel." - Brill -
Portraits of Jesus in the Gospel of John
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"John's Gospel is best known for its presentation of Jesus as the Word of God made flesh. But as the narrative unfolds, readers discover that the identity of Jesus is surprisingly complex. He is depicted as a teacher, a healer, a prophet, and Messiah. He is Jewish and Galilean, a human being who is Son of Man and Son of God. Portraits of Jesus considers each of these roles in detail, showing how each makes a distinctive contribution to the Gospel's rich mosaic of images for Jesus. John's multifaceted portrait of Jesus draws on a broad spectrum of early Christian traditions. Contributors to this collection of essays explore the ways in which these traditions are both preserved and transformed in the Fourth Gospel. The writers draw us more deeply into the questions of the way in which traditions about Jesus developed in the early church and how the Gospel of John might contribute to our understanding of that dynamic process." T&T Clark -
Studying John: Approaches to the Fourth Gospel (FORTHCOMING)
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"Is historical criticism of the New Testament dead? This collection of eight chapters on John's Gospel argues that this is very far from the case. Challenging the assumptions of methodologies which ignore the historical context in which the Gospel was composed, the book offers a spirited defence of historical criticism and provides practical demonstration of the many new insights which it has still to yield. The first two chapters treat in greater depth two key themes, the Prologue of John and the Jews, which appeared in Understanding the Fourth Gospel. A third chapter is intended to supplement and correct this larger work. The rest of the book explores some of the serious theoretical weaknesses in much recent writing on the Gospel and makes some alternative proposals." - OUP -
The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History, and Theology in the Gospel of John
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"How do historical and literary details contribute to a coherent theological witness to Jesus in the Gospel of John? A leading British evangelical New Testament scholar answers that question with studies on themes from messianism to monotheism, symbolic actions from foot-washing to fish-catching, literary contexts from Qumran to the Hellenistic historians, and figures from Nicodemus to "the beloved disciple" to Papias. Originally published in various journals and collections, these essays are now available for the first time in one affordable volume with a substantial new introduction that ties them all together. A must-have for serious students of the Fourth Gospel." - Baker Academic Press -
John as Storyteller
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"In this widely acclaimed study of John's Gospel, Mark W. G. Stibbe shows how the fourth evangelist uses all the tactics of a skilled storyteller to promote his distinctive Christology. Literary and historical methodologies are integrated by the author in his narrative criticism, and a new, holistic approach to the gospel literature is suggested thereby." - CUP
Johannine Epistles (1,2 & 3 John)
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The Theology of the Johannine Epistles
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"The Johannine Epistles have long been recognized as contributing a vital element to the theology of the New Testament. Usually it is to the Gospel that the reader turns first in order to explore that contribution; the First Epistle is treated as a supplement, while 2 and 3 John--because of their brevity--receive little attention. This book allows the Epistles to speak for themselves, and shows that they sound a distinctive note within Johannine theology, in particular, and the thought of the New Testament, in general. Dr. Lieu carefully outlines their most important theological themes which, when understood in their original setting, are seen to have rich potential for the continuing theology of the Church." - CUP -
Communities in Dispute: Current Scholarship on the Johannine Epistles
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"Presenting the best work on the Johannine Epistles from a world-class gathering of scholars This anthology includes papers presented at the McAfee School of Theology Symposium on the Johannine Epistles (2010). Contributions on the relationship between the Gospel of John and the Letters of John, Johannine theology and ethics, the concept of the Antichrist, and the role of the elder round out the collection. This is a must-have book for libraries and New Testament scholars." - SBL Press -
The Second and Third Epistles of John
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“The two brief letters known as 2 and 3 John have long suffered from a double disadvantage: They stand in the shadow of their more substantial cousin, 1 John, even as the latter is virtually lost from view in the glare of the great and luminous Johan- nine Gospel. Judith Lieu, Lecturer in Christian Origins and Early Judaism at King's College, London, has sought to remedy this situation by throwing a powerful spotlight on 2 and 3 John, thereby forcing readers to see and to scrutinize them on their own terms. Only at the end of her literate and erudite study does Lieu allow their more substantial Johannine relatives to reemerge from the shadows to which she tempo- rarily consigns them. Her work seeks to make a contribution to the current concern with "the interaction between thelogical perspectives and social factors in the origins and growth of the Christian church.” – Martin C. de Boer -
Affirming the Resurrection of the Incarnate Christ: A Reading of 1 John
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"The first letter of John is commonly understood to contain no reference to Jesus's resurrection. Matthew D. Jensen argues that, far from this being absent from the theology of 1 John, the opening verses contain a key reference to the resurrection which undergirds the rest of the text and is bolstered by other explicit references to the resurrection." - CUP
Revelation
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The Book of Revelation: Apocalypse and Empire
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"About seventy years after the death of Jesus, John of Patmos sent visionary messages to Christians in seven cities of western Asia Minor. These messages would eventually become part of the New Testament canon, as The Book of Revelation. What was John's message? What was its literary form? Did he write to a persecuted minority or to Christians enjoying the social and material benefits of the Roman Empire? In search of answers to these penetrating questions, Thompson critically examines the language, literature, history, and social setting of the Book of the Apocalypse." - OUP -
The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture
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"The Book of Revelation and Early Jewish Textual Culture explores the relationship between the writing of Revelation and its early audience, especially its interaction with Jewish Scripture. It touches on several areas of scholarly inquiry in biblical studies, including modes of literary production, the use of allusions, practices of exegesis, and early engagements with the Book of Revelation. Garrick Allen brings the Book of Revelation into the broader context of early Jewish literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and other important works. Arguing that the author of the New Testament Apocalypse was a 'scribal expert, someone who was well-versed in the content of Jewish Scripture and its interpretation', he demonstrates that John was not only a seer and prophet, but also an erudite reader of scripture." - CUP -
Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation
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"The Apocalypse of John is a work of immense importance and learning. Yet among the major works of early Christianity included in the New Testament it has received relatively little scholarly attention.This work is a significant contribution to remedying this neglect. The author examines the meticulous literary artistry, creative imagination, radical political critique and profound theology of the Apocalypse of John. It is a sustained enterprise to understand both the form and the message of the Apocalypse in its literary and historical contexts.An invaluable and illuminating work for students, scholars and ministers." - T&T Clark -
The Genre of the Book of Revelation from a Source-Critical Perspective
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Explores the various arguments concerning the genre of the Book of Revelation and offers a new perspective based on the methodology of source criticism. -
Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John
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"Examines the relationship between imperial cults and the Book of Revelation, focusing especially on the Roman province of Asia during the early Empire. The main argument is that Revelation and imperial cult institutions were in direct contradiction regarding cosmology and eschatology. The exaggerated cosmology of imperial cult institutions resulted in an absurd eschatology – their emphasis on Roman imperial order was so strong that they could not envision an end to Roman rule. Revelation, on the other hand, denigrated all temporal authority and focused attention on the throne of God in heaven and the eschatological inauguration of the New Jerusalem." -OUP -
John's Use of the Old Testament in Revelation
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"This book explores the variety of ways John contextually uses the Old Testament in the Apocalypse. The introduction surveys and evaluates recent studies, which have been divided over the issue of whether or not John uses the Old Testament with sensitivity to its original literary context... The remainder of the book looks at various ways in which John uses the Old Testament and argues that there is a reciprocal interpretative relationship between the Old Testament and the Apocalypse. Studies of special interest concern the bearing of the Old Testament on Revelation's eschatology, on the issue of the millennium, and on the thorny problem of the grammatical solecisms." - T&T Clark -
The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation
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"This book explores the relationship between the new context that John provides for his allusions and their context in the Old Testament. For example, did John choose texts to meet the needs of the recipients or did his meditation on the scriptures give him a unique insight into their situation? Ramsay held that local knowledge led to John's choice of texts whereas Beale believed that Revelation is a midrash on Daniel. Both are one-sided, as a study of John's use of Ezekiel shows. John based a number of his incidents on Ezekiel, in much the same order. Nevertheless, there are also major discontinuities, such as his denial of the very thing-the temple-that Ezekiel 40-48 is all about." - T&T Clark -
The People of God in the Apocalypse: Discourse, Structure, and Exegesis
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"Stephen Pattemore examines passages within Revelation 4:1–22:21 that depict the people of God as actors in the apocalyptic drama and infers what impact these passages would have had on the self-understanding and behaviour of the original audience of the work. He uses Relevance Theory, a development in the linguistic field of pragmatics, to help understand the text against the background of allusion to other texts. Three important images are traced. The picture of the souls under the altar (6:9–11) is found to govern much of the direction of the text with its call to faithful witness and willingness for martyrdom. Even the militant image of a messianic army (7:1–8, 14:1–5) urges the audience in precisely the same direction. Both images combine in the final image of the bride, the culmination of challenge and hope traced briefly in the New Jerusalem visions." - CUP -
Poetik und Intertextualität der Johannesapokalypse
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"Die Erforschung der Johannesapokalypse hat in den vergangenen Jahren einen Paradigmenwechsel erfahren: während der Text lange Zeit als das Werk eines oder mehrerer Autoren angesehen wurde, die des Griechischen kaum mächtig waren und sich weit von der ursprünglichen Botschaft Jesu entfernt hatten, und während angebliche Brüche in der Konzeption immer wieder zu gewagten literarkritischen Hypothesen führten, kristallisiert sich heute mehr und mehr heraus, dass wir es mit einem höchst durchdachten, wenn auch spannungsvollen, in mancher Hinsicht einzigartigen literarischen Werk von erstaunlicher Qualität und theologischem Gewicht zu tun haben." - Mohr Siebeck -
Reading Revelation in Context
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"Reading Revelation in Context brings together short, accessible essays that compare and contrast the visions and apocalyptic imagery of the book of Revelation with various texts from Second Temple Jewish literature. Going beyond an introduction that merely surveys historical events and theological themes, Reading Revelation in Context examines individual passages in Second Temple Jewish literature in order to illuminate the context of Revelation's theology and the meaning and potency of John's visions." - HarperCollins -
Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students
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"An introduction to the interpretation of the Apocalypse. Each chapter provides an overall reading of Revelation that grows out of a particular methodological approach. The primary approaches include historical, literary, and social analysis, which are then used in combination with other reading strategies including social conflict theory, philosophy, women's studies, ethics, history of religions, postcolonial studies, and popular culture. Each of the essays focuses on a specific text from Revelation and shows how the method used helps interpret that text, and how diverse methods produce divergent readings of a text. A resource book for undergraduates, graduate students, religious leaders, and others who wish to explore how methods shape our understandings of texts." - SBL Press -
Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation
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Publication Date: 2015-11-15"John's apocalyptic revelation tends to be read either as an esoteric mystery or a breathless blueprint for the future. Missing, though, is how Revelation is the most visually stunning and politically salient text in the canon. Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation explores the ways in which Revelation, when read as the last book in the Christian Bible, is in actuality a crafted and contentious word." - Baylor University Press -
Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation
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"In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as'the Jewish War,'in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as 'Christians' seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies." - Penguin Group -
The Testimony of the Exalted Jesus: The 'Testimony of Jesus' in the Book of Revelation
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"The interpretation of the phrase ‘the testimony of Jesus’ in the Book of Revelation has been the centre of much debate, with no clear consensus regarding its meaning. One of the most important but often neglected issues is whether or not the phrase can be read consistently across each instance of its occurrence. The opening lines of the Apocalypse clearly specify that ‘the testimony of Jesus’ is a moniker for the book of Revelation itself, indicating that the phrase is an internal self-reference to the book’s own message. Nevertheless, most interpreters are reluctant to apply this interpretation to the phrase in other parts of the book, leading to varied and inconsistent interpretations of the phrase." - T&T Clark -
Theology of the Book of Revelation
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"Richard Bauckham expounds the theology of the Book of Revelation: its understanding of God, Christ and the Spirit, the role of the Church in the world, and the hope of the coming of God's universal kingdom. Close attention is paid both to the literary form in which the theology is expressed and to the original context to which the book was addressed. Contrary to many misunderstandings of Revelation, it is shown to be one of the masterpieces of early Christian literature, with much to say to the Church today. This study offers a unique account of the theology and message of Revelation." - CUP -
The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation
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The Book of Revelation holds a special fascination for both scholars and the general public. The book has generated widely differing interpretations, yet Revelation has surprisingly not been the focus of many single-volume reference works. The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Revelation fills a need in the study of this controversial book. Thirty essays by leading scholars from around the world orient readers to the major currents in the study of Revelation. Divided into five sections-Literary Features, Social Setting, Theology and Ethics, History of Reception and Influence, and Currents in Interpretation-the essays identify the major lines of interpretation that have shaped discussion of these topics, and then work through the aspects of those topics that are most significant and hold greatest promise for future research.
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