Identity Matters: John, the Jews and Jewishness. By RAIMO HAKOLA.

Abstract

This book is a slightly revised version of the author's dissertation, completed in Finland in 2003. The aim of the study is to challenge the current scholarly consensus concerning John's references to the Jews in two main ways: first, by suggesting that John's presentation of the Jews and Jewishness is not in response to any violent policy on the part of Jewish leaders in John's environment; and, second, by claiming that John's attitude to Jewishness is much more ambivalent than is often supposed. Thus, while the gospel undoubtedly originates from within Judaism, it also shows unmistakable signs of breaking away from key markers of Jewish identity. In other words, in certain crucial respects John can exhibit an outsider's viewpoint on Jewishness which was not prompted by external pressures but by the Johannine group's own perception of belief in Jesus as signifying discontinuity with the Jewish tradition. It follows that John's gospel can be said to have anticipated and contributed significantly to the development of a non-Jewish Christian identity.