John and Anti-Judaism

Reading the Gospel in Light of Greco-Roman Culture

Jonathan Numada

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781725298187
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

This study argues that the Gospel of John's anti-Judaism can be well understood from the perspective of trends apparent within the context of broader Greco-Roman culture. It uses the paradigm of collective memory and aspects of social identity theory and self-categorization theory to explore the theological and narrative functions of the Johannine Jews.Relying upon a diverse range of historical testimony drawn from Greco-Roman literature, inscriptions, and papyri, this work attempts to understand the social identities and social locations of Diaspora Jews as a first step in reading John's Gospel in the context of the political and social instability of the first century CE. It then attempts to understand John's theology, its portrayal of Jewish social identity, and the narrative and theological functions of "the Jews" as a group character in light of this historical context. This work attempts to demonstrate that while John's treatment of Jews and Judaism is multivalent at both social and theological levels, it is primarily focused upon strengthening a Christologically centered Christian identity while attempting to mitigate the attractiveness of Judaism as a religious competitor.

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Approaches to Creating and Maintaining Social Identities

Introduction

This study will employ methodologies from Collective Memory and Social Identity studies, namely Cultural Memory and Self-Categorization theory, to shed light on why the author of John selected οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι (the Jews) as representatives of unbelief. Treating Hellenistic Jewish texts as material artefacts of cultural memory, this study will reconstruct how Diaspora Jews socially categorized themselves relative to non-Jews. It will also examine evidence concerning their social locations in society, as well as evidence of what Hellenistic Jewish writers thought their social location should be. We will use this information interpret John’s portrayal of οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι and see that John is reducing the normative fit of aspects of Jewish social identity to reduce its salience for the Johannine audience.

Jewish Nationalism in the Greco-Roman Period?

One possible explanation for disaffection with Jewish identity in John that has not been sufficiently examined is Jewish “nationalism.” High amounts of enthusiasm for Jewish cultural identity (sometimes referred to in scholarship as “zeal”) before the Jewish Revolt could easily exacerbate social tensions with both Jewish-Christian and gentile Christian communities and broader Judaism. The disaster of the war with Rome would have offered opportunity for John to advocate for change.114

Jewish cultural identity in antiquity is the topic of countless articles, monographs, and essays.115 A common theme is diversity: some scholars argue that Jews were perfectly at home in Hellenistic culture and enjoyed a peaceful existence outside of Palestine.116 Others argue Jews were less at ease and envision a more precarious life among hostile gentile neighbours.117 It is known with certainty that Jews used their religion to maintain social distinctiveness and internal cohesion, but the case of Izates shows how some Jews placed more importance on Judaism’s ethnic aspects than others.118 God-fearers and converts to Judaism may have been regarded as less Jewish than ethnic Jews119 yet gentiles, some with other religious allegiances, are known to have been benefactors of Jewish synagogues.120 Further, while Jews as a group were not granted citizenship, some Jewish apologists went so far as to portray Judaism as the origin for the best of human civilization.121 Whatever the case, and while not all Jewish writers liked it, Jews in the Roman Empire constituted a distinct ethno-religious group and most Jews sought to keep it this way. However, this did not stop Jews from attempting to reinterpret their social identity to advance their position within broader gentile culture.

Self-made changes in Jewish identity are the basis for much of the discussion surrounding the New Perspective on Paul (NPP). Paul attributes himself a history of being “zealous for God and the Law” (Gal 1:14; Phil 3:6; Acts 22:3). Dunn links this to Paul’s having formerly been a nationalist122 and Martin Hengel is probably correct in characterizing these sentiments as a typical expression of Jewish piety in the NT period.123 There are instances in Acts of encounters with violent zealous Diaspora Jews (13:45; 17:5), indicating that just because certain Jews were “Hellenized” they were not necessarily more “liberal.”124 Although there is disagreement among scholars as to the exact nature of Paul’s program, it is generally agreed that Paul is using his theology of justification to make it possible for gentiles to receive the same salvific benefits as faithful Israelites—with potentially radical implications for redefining Jewish identity. A similar scenario of identity-redefinition through theology, as described by Dunn, could supply part of a well-documented and historically secure Sitz im Leben for John and explain its treatment of “the Jews.” However, this issue is neglected in Johannine studies because most nationalism scholarship focuses on the emergence of nation-s...