The Death of Jesus and the Politics of Place in the Gospel of John

by Peter Claver Ajer, Jean-Francois Racine (Foreword by)

Overview

This book's findings are rich and intriguing: In his death, Jesus--the chief architect in the production of space in the Christian realm--founds an alternative community that reorders space and creates a new reality for believers. This new community, which dwells in this radical new space, successfully resists the domination of oppressive regimes and mindsets, such as the Roman Empire. Suffering is transformed here. Many recent biblical studies have utilized various methodologies and historical-critical viewpoints, which have been helpful. However, drawing on theories of space and postcolonial approaches, Dr. Ajer breaks new ground in Johannine studies, a new terrain that will yield much fruit. The new understandings of "space" provide a key with which we may unlock more of the mysteries of the Fourth Gospel, as Ajer here demonstrates with powerful new discoveries and insights into John's Passion narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498279635
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	214
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Peter Claver Ajer holds a PhD in biblical studies (New Testament) with a complementary concentration in the allied field of political science (peace and conflict studies). He is currently adjunct faculty in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at University of San Francisco. He has been a visiting lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at University of the Pacific, and guest speaker in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jean-Francois Racine ix

Abbreviations xi

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Previous Studies on the Death of Jesus 5

Introduction 5

The Death of Jesus as Completion of Mission and Return to the Father 6

The Death of Jesus as Non-Atoning Sacrifice 8

The Death of Jesus as Atonement and Glorification Event 15

The Death of Jesus as a Sacrifice 17

The Death of Jesus as an Atoning Event 19

The Death of Jesus as a "Sign" 23

The Death of Jesus as a Revelatory Act 24

The Death of Jesus as a Cosmic Battle 26

The Death of Jesus as a Noble Death 28

The Death of Jesus as Eschatological Gathering 29

The Death of Jesus and Politics 31

Conclusion 36

Chapter 2 Methodology 38

Place Scholarship in John's Gospel 38

Theoretical Framework for a Postcolonial Spatial Reading 60

Conclusion 76

Chapter 3 Spatializing the Decision to Kill Jesus 77

The Socio-Political Context of Jesus' Signs 78

Positioning Jesus' Signs 81

Roman Space: The Power in the Name 86

Sanhedrin Space 88

Caiaphas' Space 92

The Fear of Losing Space 95

Gathering Scattered Children of God 99

Ephraim as Secondspace 103

Conclusion 104

Chapter 4 Locating the Place of Gathering 106

The Greeks and Philip from Galilee 107

Transforming the Crucifixion Space 112

Dethroning the Ruler of This World 120

Founding a Political Community at the Cross 124

Conclusion 132

Chapter 5 Spaces of Struggle and the New World Order 134

The Garden Space 135

Anna's Courtyard and Caiaphas' House 140

The Praetorium Space 142

Golgotha: A Thirdspace 160

Conclusion 164

General Conclusion 166

Bibliography 171

Name/Subject Index 189

Scripture Index 193

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"With a carefully formulated hermeneutical strategy employing the spatial theory of political geography, Dr. Ajer in this book provides a new insightful interpretation of the death of Jesus in the Gospel of John that cracks open a possibility of construing a politically charged, anti-imperial message of liberation from a seemingly innocuous and overly spiritualized text of the Johannine gospel."
—Eugene Eung-Chun Park, Dana & David Dornsife Professor of New Testament, San Francisco Theological Seminary

"The scholarly conversation on the significance of Jesus's passion in the Fourth Gospel had, until recently, focused mostly on the historical, literary, and theological aspects of this narrative. Few studies had discussed its political and spatial aspects. The present study by Peter Ajer takes these less-travelled roads with a political reading of the passion narrative in John that is also sensitive to spatial questions."
—Jean-Francois Racine, Associate Professor of New Testament, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University and Graduate Theological Union

Editorial Reviews

"With a carefully formulated hermeneutical strategy employing the spatial theory of political geography, Dr. Ajer in this book provides a new insightful interpretation of the death of Jesus in the Gospel of John that cracks open a possibility of construing a politically charged, anti-imperial message of liberation from a seemingly innocuous and overly spiritualized text of the Johannine gospel."
—Eugene Eung-Chun Park, Dana & David Dornsife Professor of New Testament, San Francisco Theological Seminary

"The scholarly conversation on the significance of Jesus's passion in the Fourth Gospel had, until recently, focused mostly on the historical, literary, and theological aspects of this narrative. Few studies had discussed its political and spatial aspects. The present study by Peter Ajer takes these less-travelled roads with a political reading of the passion narrative in John that is also sensitive to spatial questions."
—Jean-Francois Racine, Associate Professor of New Testament, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University and Graduate Theological Union

From the Publisher