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103 pages

English

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Christians from diverse cultural, religious, and political contexts have been studying the Gospel of John for almost two thousand years. In this insightful reflection on the Fourth Gospel, Rev Yohanna Katanacho invites us to encounter the text anew, this time from the perspective of a twenty-first century Palestinian Christian.
Challenging the claim that Christ belongs to a particular denomination, nation, or race, Katanacho presents the Gospel of John as introducing a new world order. In John’s account of Jesus’s life, the rich history of Judaism is reinterpreted in light of the inclusive Christ, the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, teachings, and promises. Walking us through the reinterpretation of holy space, holy time, holy history, holy community, holy land, and life itself, Katanacho demonstrates how John’s gospel establishes a new identity for the people of God – an identity defined not by race or nationality but by suffering and love. Containing questions for reflection designed with preachers in mind, this accessible book will be a great help for Christians seeking to mine the beautiful riches of spiritual truth in this often-complicated gospel.

Informations

Publié par	Langham Creative Projects
Date de parution	29 février 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781783687930
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0020€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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As the skilled New Testament scholar that he is, Yohanna Katanacho does not insist that perspective is everything. Yet he does suggest that perspective matters a lot, and that as a Palestinian Christian citizen of Israel he reads a text like John’s gospel best when he reads it with clarity regarding his own identity and context. The result is a delightful and moving take on the fourth gospel that manages to touch matters of identity, salvation, justice, and peace with a pen that moves both soberly and irenically. Palestinian Christians are painfully well placed to teach the rest of us how to speak truth in love. Katanacho does so here in an accessible volume that belongs on the shelf of every reader of English who cares about the Gospel of John.
David A. Baer, PhD
Director, Theological Education Initiative
Professor, Old Testament & Biblical Languages,
Seminario Bíblico de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia
Dr Yohanna Katanacho’s insightful and accessible commentary on the Gospel of John is a feast of rich theological insight into the apostle’s message for his day and our own. A faithful and careful interpreter of the biblical text, Katanacho reads John’s story against the backdrop of the apostle’s own time and within the setting of the contemporary Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This is biblical interpretation done from the road where life is tensely lived and not from the balcony. Reading along ancient and contemporary grains, Yohanna Katanacho offers Christians everywhere a fresh vision of the Fourth Gospel’s universal message of hope and reconciliation in the one vine, who is Christ Jesus.
Gene L. Green, PhD
Professor Emeritus of New Testament,
Wheaton College and Graduate School, Wheaton, Illinois, USA
This book is a reflection on the Gospel of John that is rooted in the Word and relevant to the contemporary world. The insights are profound, provocative, and prophetic! This book deepens our understanding of our identity in Christ and how we, as his followers, ought to embody his love and justice in this world.
Theresa Roco-Lua, EdD
General Secretary, Asia Theological Association
To the sarcastic question, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46), I answer: “Yes, a book on biblical interpretation!” Yohanna Katanacho, a Palestinian Christian, helpfully reminds us that we all read the Bible through perspectives influenced by our respective places and times. Yet Reading the Gospel of John through Palestinian Eyes is not a paean to postmodernism, nor does it bow the knee to relativistic pluralism. Rather, Katanacho’s reading is his humble and reasonable offering that both derives from and enriches the whole church, a distinct testimony – that of a Palestinian Christian citizen of Israel – to the Jewish Messiah who is Lord and Savior of every tribe and nation.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, PhD
Research Professor of Systematic Theology,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

Reading the Gospel of John through Palestinian Eyes
Yohanna Katanacho

© 2020 Yohanna Katanacho
Published 2020 by Langham Preaching Resources
An imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-78368-780-0 Print
978-1-78368-793-0 ePub
978-1-78368-794-7 Mobi
978-1-78368-795-4 PDF
Yohanna Katanacho has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Requests to reuse content from Langham Publishing are processed through PLSclear. Please visit www.plsclear.com to complete your request.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78368-780-0
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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To the faculty of Trinity International University who shaped my life and taught me to love God with all of my heart and mind, with special gratitude to Drs Willem VanGemeren, Richard Averbeck, D. A. Carson, Kevin Vanhoozer, John Feinberg, the late Grant Osborne, and John Woodbridge.
I also dedicate this book to the amazing ministries of Langham Partnership and Scholar Leaders International. I am eternally thankful for their support and sacrificial love.
Contents

Cover

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 A New Beginning

Discussion Questions

2 The Sign of the Wedding of Cana

Discussion Questions

3 Holy Space

Discussion Questions

4 Holy Time

Discussion Questions

5 Holy History

Discussion Questions

6 The Holy Nation

Discussion Questions

7 The Holy Land

Discussion Questions

8 Better Life

Discussion Questions

9 An Introduction to the Book of the Hour

Discussion Questions

10 The People of Love

Discussion Questions

11 The People of the Spirit

Discussion Questions

12 The Persecuted People

Discussion Questions

13 The People of the Vine

Discussion Questions

14 The People of Unity

Discussion Questions

15 The People of the Cross

Discussion Questions

16 The People of Resurrection

Discussion Questions

Conclusion

Bibliography

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to Dr David Baer who examined the whole manuscript and provided many helpful suggestions. Special thanks to my colleague Mr Pierre Tannous who helped me in complex formatting issues. Dr Philip Sumpter graciously provided an in-depth theological discussion that shaped my thoughts. Dr Ron Fay, who is an expert on the Gospel of John, introduced me to important resources. Ms Beverley Timgren graciously edited the whole manuscript. Ms Janet Mikhail provided a second editorial opinion that helped me to smooth out the rough edges. The English professor Dr Evelyn Reynolds provided very helpful input.
I have taught the Gospel of John for more than twenty years. There is no doubt that most of my ideas have been shaped by my students at Bethlehem Bible College and Nazareth Evangelical College. These bright and godly students have challenged me to be more accurate and more contextual. Thank you.
I cannot thank my wife and boys enough. My wife Dina and my children, Immanuel, Jonathan and Christopher, allowed me to spend endless hours reading, praying, and studying the word of God. Their sacrifice made it possible for me to write this book. I am eternally thankful for their love and support. Last, but definitely not least, I thank God for empowering me to finish this book. Soli Deo Gloria !
Introduction
All of us read the Gospel of John from a particular perspective. Let us imagine that this perspective is a mental lens that we use in order to look at the text. For example, when we look at our hands, we see specific things such as our skin or perhaps some dirt, but, with a microscope, we see things that were invisible to the naked eye. In fact, the more lenses we use, the more perspectives we encounter. If we use yellow lenses or red lenses, what we see looks different because we see different colors. If we use a magnifying glass or a glass that reduces size, then the size of the text is not the same. Put differently, certain perspectives exaggerate particular features while others minimize specific traits.
People have been studying the Gospel of John for almost two thousand years. It is not my goal to address the numerous publications in the twentieth century, let alone throughout history. [1] But we must ask ourselves some important questions: What is the lens that we use when we look at the text? What are the factors that shape our mental lenses? Do we have a Christian or a Muslim or a Jewish lens when we look at the text? Is our lens Catholic, Baptist, Coptic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, or Greek Orthodox? Obviously, the lenses about which I am talking are part of our mindset and are the fact