The gospel of John : a new history / Hugo Méndez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Méndez, Hugo, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. John--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (412 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

The biblical Gospel of John casts itself as a memoir of 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' - a mysterious figure who allegedly watched Jesus die on the cross and stepped into his empty tomb. But in this groundbreaking study, Hugo Méndez argues that the text is something else: a gospel written by a single disguised author that pioneered an entire library of falsely authored works in its wake.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Contents

Abbreviations

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

I. Key Terms and Concepts

II. A New History

III. Chapter Plan

Part I The Gospel

1 The Hidden Author

I. A Single Author

A. The Problem of the Aporiae

B. "We" Language

C. Later Scribal Additions

1. Pericope Adulterae (7:53-8:11)

2. The Final Chapter (21:1-25)

3. Author and Redactor as Community

II. Contexts and Influences

A. Initial Readers

1. Readers Devoted to Jesus

2. Non-Jewish Readers

B. Literary Networks and Worlds

1. The Synoptic Gospels

2. Other Influences

III. Conclusion

2 Why John Was Written

I. The Celestial Man

A. Divinity in Early Jewish and Christian Thought

B. God and the Logos in John

C. The Logos Becomes Flesh

1. Descent

2. Ascent

II. The Celestial Humans

A. Pneumatic Existence

1. The Celestial Body in Judaism

2. Early Christians on Celestial Bodies

3. Flesh and Spirit in John

B. Celestial Access and Divine Indwelling

1. Coming and Going

2. Early Christian Context

C. Eternal Life

1. Immortality

2. Reimagining Resurrection

3. Early Jewish and Christian Comparands

D. Exaltation

1. "Children of God"

2. "Gods"

3. "Angels"

Oneness with God

III. The "Word" and the "Words"

A. The "Words" as Divine

B. Immortalization through the Logos

1. Immortalization in Philo

C. Rereading John

IV. Conclusion

3 Symbols and Signs

I. Symbolism in John

II. Chapters 1-4

A. 1:19-51: Images of Following and Dwelling with Jesus

B. 2:1-11: Water into Wine, Flesh into Spirit

C. 2:13-25: Raising the Father's House

D. 3:1-4:42: Images of the Spirit

E. Historical Issues

III. Chapters 4 (Continued) through 6.

A. 4:46-5:47: The Word Saves Humans from Death

B. 6:1-14: Bread of Life, Words of Life

C. 6:15-21: Walking on the Sea as Celestial Access

D. Historical Issues

IV. Chapters 7-10

A. 7:1-8:59: Dramatizing the Departure and Hiddenness of Jesus

B. 9:1-41: Seeing the Light of Life

C. 10:1-42: Leading His Own to Eternal Life

V. Chapters 11-12

A. 11:1-53: Illustrating the Spiritual Resurrection

B. 11:55-12:11: The Servant and the House

C. Historical Issues

VI. Chapters 12 (Continued) through 17

A. 12:12-50: Leaving the World

B. 13:1-35: The Indwelling as "Love"

C. 15:1-8: Dwelling in the Vine

VII. Chapters 18 (Continued) through 20

A. 18:1-19:27: The Disciple Exalted

B. 18:1-19:27: The Spirit within Jesus

C. 20:1-21: Making the Pneumatic Life Visible

VIII. Conclusion

4 An Apocryphal Gospel

I. Revisionary Gospels

A. Gospel of Thomas

B. Gospel of Mary

II. How John Writes

A. Dubious Eyewitness Claims

1. Eyewitness Claims in Chapters 1-20

2. Eyewitness Claims in Chapter 21

3. A Serious Claim

4. Evaluating the Claim

B. Complementary Devices

1. Unrecorded Moments

2. Private Exchanges

3. Supernaturally Retrieved Memory

4. Spiritual Insight

5. Cryptic Speech

6. Strategic Overlap with the Synoptics

C. A Competitive Gospel

III. Publishing John

A. Correspondence

B. Tampering with Library Collections

IV. How John Emerged

A. Planning and Crafting the Gospel

B. Justifying the Product

C. Disseminating the Gospel

V. Conclusion

Part II Afterlives

5 Invented Letters

I. Literary Dependence

A. Verbal Similarities

B. Similarities in Form

1. John and 1 John

2. John and 3 John

3. 1 John and 2 John

4. 2 and 3 John

C. Direction of Influence.

II. A Common Authorial Claim

A. 1 John

B. 2 John and 3 John

C. Indirect but Effective Claims

D. Falsely Authored Texts

III. Motivations

B. 2 John

C. 3 John

6 Becoming John

I. Early Traditions of John

A. John, the Son of Zebedee

1. Revelation

2. The Gospel and Letters

B. Between Memory and History

1. The Problem with "Memory"

2. Textual Inferences

3. Responses to Pseudepigraphy

II. Other Second-Century Johannine Texts

A. Secret Book (Apocryphon) of John

B. Epistula Apostolorum

C. Revelation

1. The Date of Revelation

2. John and Revelation

3. An Early Identification

Notes

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Bibliography

Index of Bible References

Index of Subjects.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on May 6, 2025).

ISBN:

0-19-768614-1

0-19-768613-3

0-19-768615-X

OCLC:

1517863991