{"id":4593,"date":"2020-01-08T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4593"},"modified":"2020-01-08T11:45:54","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T11:45:54","slug":"book-review-gospel-of-john-a-universalistic-reading-johnson-thomaskutty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/book-review-gospel-of-john-a-universalistic-reading-johnson-thomaskutty\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Gospel of John: A Universalistic Reading – Johnson Thomaskutty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A Brief Review of the Book<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fourth Gospel functions as a literary masterpiece that facilitates a narrative beyond the time and space aspects. The Gospel\u2019s linguistic phenomena and stylistic aspects are peculiar as they attune the attention of the reader toward a dramatic and ideological world of its own. The connection between the narrator and the historical\/implied\/contemporary reader is established from an eternal vantage point as the narrator directs the reader toward atemporal and universal realities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The author as a classicist encompasses the socio-cultural and religio-political realities of the Greco-Roman world, incorporates the hope of the Jewish society, foregrounds the contextual realities and the struggles of the Johannine community, and fulfils the various demands and requirements of the future generations of readers and believers. The peculiar linguistic and idiosyncratic techniques of the narrator have the power to absorb the attention of the reader not only from a \u2018there and then\u2019 and \u2018here and now\u2019 senses but also from an \u2018everywhere and ever\u2019 perspective. In that sense, the Fourth Gospel functions as a gnomic and universalistic artistry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John\u2019s Gospel can be considered as a commentary in its own terms. The extended episodes of the Fourth Gospel, different from the Synoptic style of pericopes, foreground the ideas of the author through the exchange and episode developments. The Logos-Christology and the poetic demonstration of the coming of Jesus (1:1-18) reveal its universalistic aspects. John interprets history in the form of a quasi-poem, an interpretation, or ultimately a commentary in its own way. This style of the Gospel is designed with a gnomic perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fourth Gospel\u2019s \u2018vertical\u2019 and \u2018realizing\u2019 eschatology and the \u2018ever-continuing\u2019 present aspect support its gnomic and universalistic development. The Gospel\u2019s pre-existent Christology and the emphasis on life\/eternal life take the reader\u2019s attention toward the everlasting perspective. The maxims like the \u201cI AM Sayings\u201d and the symbolic presentation of the Signs attune the attention of the reader toward the universal significance of the Gospel. The narrator and the implied reader dynamism of the text enable the modern reader to understand the narrative world of the gospel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contemporary readers find the unique dynamism of the text as an interpretative means to get engaged with the text. The purpose statement of the Gospel (20:30-31; cf. 21:25) makes the implied reader aware of the logic behind all the events and the coherence of the discourses units. The narrator is fully concerned to inspire readers in<\/em>\/with<\/em> the text to believe\/continue to believe in Jesus that he is the Messiah and the Son of God and that through believing they may receive \u2018eternal life\u2019 and be saved. Thus from the soteriological point of view, the Gospel promises eternal guarantee and protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dialogues as active voice and direct speech units influence the reader to be a \u2018believer\u2019 and to be saved. This feature of the dialogue enables it to be a performative act in itself. It provides pleasure to the reader and helps her\/him to be persuaded, provoked and transformed. Thus the text works with all the characteristic features of rhetoric. The text, in that sense, cannot be reckoned as a \u2018passive\u2019 treatise rather as an \u2018active\u2019 counterpart to the modern reader. It happens only when the narrator takes extra effort to tell the story dramatically through the means of showing<\/em> and telling<\/em> (cf. Quintilian, Inst<\/em> 10.1.19-27, 10.2.1-2, 10.2.27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifteen essays in this book analyse some of the key ideas and characters with a universal perspective. In that process, the Gospel as a whole is treated as a timeless and space transcending narrative that encompasses the feelings and aspirations of the people from an eternal and universal perspective. The fifteen essays of the book are dived into three sub-sections like \u201cUniversalistic Linguistics and Literary Characteristics in John,\u201d \u201cUniversalistic Nature of Themes and Characters in John,\u201d and \u201cDynamic Localization: Johannine Texts and the Contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pre-existent\nChristology is engraved within the general, simple and deep structures of the\nFourth Gospel with a focus on people\u2019s response. The family metaphor of the\nGospel portrays the integral connectivity of the Triune God in the affairs of\nthe Johannine community and that in turn enables the reader to associate its\nstory with the contemporary realities. The literary devices and the figures of\nthought provide an impression and aesthetic to the modern realities of the\nreader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel has the\npower and potential to absorb the local realities (like Indian, Nepali, and\nBangladeshi) through its peculiar situational details and characterization.\nThus an interlocking between the narrator and the reader is demonstrated\nthrough the narrative annals from a gnomic and universalistic perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endorsements<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Just as the Fourth Gospel spoke powerfully across faiths and cultures two millennia ago, it continues to speak to audiences today in globalizing and localizing ways. Along these lines, Johnson Thomaskutty\u2019s new book furthers a growing number of internationalizing biblical studies, lifting our understandings of ancient texts beyond their western interpretations, which have all too often missed the sociological and grounded nuance of a passage. Especially within the contexts of India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, as well as other nations, John\u2019s cross-cultural and multivalent thrust of Jesus and his ministry is especially welcome.<\/p>Paul N. Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon, USA; Extraordinary Professor of Religion at the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Afric<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This collection of essays on the Fourth Gospel will provide interesting reading to anyone who appreciates the distinctiveness of the portrait of Jesus found in it. The chapters are wide-ranging, and Johnson Thomaskutty seeks to delve into John\u2019s material from various perspectives\u2014its literary and linguistic features, deeper exegetical insights and its contextual relevance here in South Asia and beyond. So we have in this book a rich mine of information on the Fourth Gospel, ready to be excavated by all who want to gain a deeper understanding of its message. I warmly recommend it to all serious readers of the Word.<\/p>Brian C. Wintle, former Professor of New Testament and Principal of Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India; former Regional Secretary (India) of Asia Theological Association, Bangalore, India<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Johnson Thomaskutty, Ph.D.<\/strong>, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Holland, teaches New Testament at the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India<\/a>. Formerly, he served as Lecturer of New Testament and College Chaplain at the Serampore College, Hooghly, West Bengal. He is the author of Saint Thomas the Apostle: New Testament, Apocrypha, and Historical Traditions<\/em> (New York\/London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2018) and Dialogue in the Book of Signs: A Polyvalent Analysis of John 1:19-12:50<\/em> (Leiden\/Boston: E. J. Brill, 2015). His forthcoming works include An Asian Introduction to the New Testament<\/em> (Fortress Press), India Commentary on the Gospel of John<\/em> (Fortress Press), and Asia Bible Commentary on the Gospel of John<\/em> (Langham Press). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contents<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Foreword, Paul N. Anderson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preface, Johnson Thomaskutty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I. Universalistic Linguistics and Literary\nCharacteristics of John<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Universalistic Language and Literary Style\nof the Fourth Gospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Re-reading the Gospel of John in the Light\nof William Carey\u2019s Linguistic Methods<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Dialogical Nature of John\u2019s Prologue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Dialogue as a Literary Genre in the Book of\nSigns (John 1:19-12:50)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

II. Universalistic Nature of Themes and\nCharacters in John<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Glo[b\/c]alization and Mission[s]: Reading\nJohn\u2019s Gospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Missional-Pneumatology of the Fourth Gospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Explorations of Prosperity<\/em> in the Fourth Gospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Characterization of Thomas in the Fourth\nGospel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

III. Dynamic Localization: Johannine Texts and\nthe Contexts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Biblical Interpretation in the Global-Indian\nContext: Reading John 4:1-42 as a Paradigm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Religious Freedom and Conversion in India\nToday: Reading John\u2019s Gospel as a Jewish-Christian Conflict Narrative<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. Johannine Women as Paradigms in the Indian\nContext<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. The Event of Foot Washing in John 13:1-20\nas a Paradigm for Witnessing Christ in the Indian Context<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13. Faith and Theology in the Johannine\nCommunity and in the Reformation: A Paradigm in the Indian Context<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14. Reading John\u2019s Gospel in the Nepali Context<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. Reading John\u2019s Gospel in the Bangladeshi\nContext<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ancient Texts Index<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author Index<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product\nDetails<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paperback: 322 pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher: Christian World Imprints<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edition: First Edition (1 January 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language: English<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN: 978-93-5148-400-4 (HB)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISBN: 978-93-5148-401-1 (PB)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price: Rs. 1250 (HB); Rs. 450 (PB); \u00a318<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n