Professor Emeritus Kari Syreeni discusses the inspiration and goals behind one of our most recently published Library of New Testament Studies works, Becoming John: The Making of a Passion Gospel.
1. How would you describe your book in one sentence?
Obviously, a new hypothesis about the redaction - or the BECOMING - of the Gospel of John.
2. What drew to you writing about the Gospel of John, and how long has it been a part of your research?
I come from synoptic studies. My doctoral thesis was about the Sermon on the Mount, and since then I have studied Matthew and Luke in particular. I have been fascinated by John for more than ten years and have written several articles on John before the opportunity came to prepare a whole monograph. One intriguing problem which I confronted when studying Luke was how to explain the striking parallels between Luke-Acts and John. I hesitated long before finally making up my mind about the direction of the Luke-John influence. Moreover, I have always been interested in hermeneutics, and John was very much inviting of such issues.
3. What does your book focus on that hasn't been explored elsewhere in research on John's Gospel?
Reaction critical studies of John are many, though in recent years scholars have mainly been interested in other aspects of the Gospel. What is new here is that I argue for an earlier non-passion gospel behind the present John, and a thoroughgoing, passion-oriented re-examination of that work.
4. What did you find most surprising and interesting in the creation of this book?
I was surprised to see how well the various observations I had made earlier in separate essays made sense when put together. The most interesting result was perhaps the affinities of the pre-passion John with other strands of early Christianity: Markan non-passion traditions, Corinthian enthusiasts, to some extent the epistle of James, and certainly the Gospel of Thomas as well as later Valentinian texts.
5. What do you hope readers and scholars will gain from reading this book?
I hope that not only Johannine scholars but also those interested in early Christianity at large read the book. Even if the reader is not ready to accept the main thesis of the book, the unusual approach to Johannine theology may trigger new ideas - not just about John but more generally about early gospel traditions.
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