The conflict between Christianity and Roman Imperial theology manifested at very early stages in Christian history. Richard Cassidy argues that ignoring or downplaying such political-theological implications because of some supposedly manifest separation between spiritual belief and politics is both shortsighted and unbiblical. In this fascinating and original reading of the Gospel of John, it becomes clear that Christology is not merely theological theorizing, but a matter of immense political import.

The conflict between Christianity and Roman Imperial theology manifested at very early...

If John 6 can be considered ""the Grand Central Station of Johannine Critical issues,"" Peder Borgens 1965 monograph, Bread from Heaven, proved to be one of the most incisive and important monographs on that difficult chapter. With extensive implications for addressing a host of other New Testament issues--including the unity and disunity of Johns narrative, relations between Johannine and Synoptic traditions, and the socio-religious context of the Fourth Gospel--Borgens work argues hard for a unitive view of the Johannine text. Rather than seeing Johns story of Jesus as an amalgam of...

Among modern analyses of the origin and development of John's Christology, the socio-religious analysis of Wayne A. Meeks advances one of the most compelling and suggestive theses in recent years, addressing the riddles pertaining to the puzzling presentation of Jesus as a prophet-king like Moses in John 6:14-15. Whereas the Logos motif of the Johannine Prologue and the Father-Son relationship in the Johannine narrative convey high-christological thrusts, his receptions as a rabbi, teacher, and prophet elsewhere in John's story of Jesus are far more mundane and earth bound. Was the origin and...