An Exegesis of Apostasy Embedded in John’s Narratives of Peter and Judas: Against the Synoptic Parallels
Kim, Dongsu

Description

This study of apostasy in the Johannine writings contributes to filling in the vacuum of scholarship regarding apostasy in the New Testament. The perennial debate between the Arminians and Calvinists over the question has been based on their respective systematic theological presupposition whether it emphasizes freedom of human will or God’s predestination. This study serves to show how John would have understood them in his historical context, and thus affirms a well-known hermeneutic principle that a historical reconstruction must be born out from within the text rather than by imposing the interpreter’s own frame of presuppositions.

Reviews

"The sage had aptly said that 'to read only books with which you agree is an exercise in arrogance.' We are most often stretched and informed by significantly thorough and well written works with which we might find areas of disagreement ... I was immediately impressed with the consistency of thought and significant comprehensiveness of the coverage of [the author's] chosen research ... Dr. Kim's coverage of the acts of Peter and Judas toward the end of Jesus' life is intriguing. The fine tuninge exegesis of the passages related to these records is quite exact ... The academe is nothing without informed collegiate argumentation. It is in this spirit that I accept the work of Dr. Kim, and recommend it to a wider audience." - Dr. Jeffrey A. Mackey, Nyack College

"It is now widely recognized that the Gospel of John is not just presenting a picture of Jesus. It is also addressing a community ... One of the principal threats to the nascent community's integrity was the social and religious pressue to abandon the new faith, to apostasize, and so John, in his Gospel as well as his letters, is concerned to help his readers deal with this problem ... Dr. Kim's painstaking and thoroughly researched study into the theological purposes of the Fourth Gospel focuses on this question, by way of examining the author's literary treatment of Judas, the archetypal apostate, and Peter, an ambiguous believer. Along the way, much is gleaned from a wide range of secondary literature, and Dr. Kim also provides an extensive survey of how apostasy was viewed in early Judaism. This book should prove of value to any serious student of the Gospel of John." - Dr. Daniel G. McCarthy, Westminster Theological Seminary, Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Foreword
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Peter in the Gospel of John
3. Judas Iscariot in the Gospel of John
4. The Anti-Apostasy Polemic in the Gospel of John
5. The Anti-Apostasy Polemic in the Epistles of John
6. Apostasy in the Jewish Writings
7. Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

ISBN10:  0-7734-6404-2   ISBN13:  978-0-7734-6404-9    Pages:  416    Year:  2004   

Series: Studies in Bible and Early Christianity Number: 61

Subject Areas:  Bible Studies - Religion, Patristics, Early Christianity, Ancient Near Eastern Studies - Religion,

Imprint: Edwin Mellen Press

USA List Price: $149.95 UK List Price: £ 99.95  

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