John and the Others

Andrew Byers is a gifted communicator whose scholarly achievement in this book is committed to challenging stereotypical perceptions of ‘the other’ that fracture social interactions today. In a welcome departure from the sectarian outlook often attributed to the Gospel and Epistles of John, Byers argues that their focus is on ‘oneness’ that recognizes difference, a process of ‘de-othering’ that begins with the Gospel’s declaration that the divine ‘Other’ became flesh. Thus seen as steeped in Israel’s scriptural tradition of the ‘Oneness’ of God, Byers proposes that the Johannine Literature offers ‘theological wealth for societies ancient and contemporary’ in an argument that spans the centuries and deserves to be read.

~Wendy E. S. North, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Durham

In this timely and thought-provoking study, Andrew Byers argues that the core of Johannine theology is found in an ultimate act of de-othering: the incarnation. In a new turn in Johannine studies, he further claims this theological heart has the potential for ameliorating division and marginalization. What was eclipsed by John’s previous interpreters may well be just the antidote needed in our contemporary times. Byer’s fresh hearing of the Johannine voice offers a scriptural theology of identity and alterity that gives life rather than restricts it. John challenges boundary construction, complicates ‘othering,’ and calls for unifying life ‘in his name.’ Our task is likewise to hear this summons in a new tenor.

~Sherri Brown, Associate Professor of Theology, Creighton University

By strengthening identity, biblical texts have the possibility to create otherness. Johannine Literature, with its dualistic language elements, has been both particularly efficient and dangerous in this respect: the concepts of the Jews, the world, and anti-Christs are often still misused by Christians to distance themselves from others with harmful projections.  John and the Others: Jewish Relations, Christian Origins, and the Secretarian Heremenuetic challenges our reading of John and the language of otherness. Andrew Byers provides a sensitive and readable up-to-date discussion and points to the complexities in the Johannine texts. The book points to the remedy of inclusion in the Johannine texts as provided by the ideas of incarnation, love, and mission.

~Jörg Frey, Professor of New Testament Studies, University of Zurich

Byers’s provocative study is not for lay readers but presupposes an audience who is familiar with scholarly debates around the Johannine literature. This book is a must read for those interested in an alternative reading of sectarianism in the Gospel and Epistles of John.

~Nicola E. Hayward, Review of Biblical Literature

...read this volume for its contributions to the sectarian debate and for Byers’s venture into the project of finding a place for the Gospel of John within modern divisive socio-political and religious discourse.

~Jo-Ann Brant, Goshen College, Interpretation: Journal of Bible and Theology