Oἱ Ἰουδαῖοι (The Jews) in John’s Gospel: An African Reading

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the loving memory of Bénézet Bujo and Laurenti Magesa, two giants of African Theology. The portrait of the Jews in John’s Gospel has been the object of a great debate among Western scholars. The negative portrait of many of the Jews of the fourth canonical gospel has led some to qualify John’s Gospel as the most “anti-Jewish” writing of the New Testament. Recent Western history, in particular the Shoah, has certainly had a heavy weight on this negative interpretation of John’s Gospel. But another perspective, here African Biblical Hermeneutics, may give a different understanding of this disputed theme. Following this non-Western approach, we want to show that maybe it is not John’s Gospel’s characterization of the Jews which is problematic, but the hermeneutics used to interpret it. In the end, what is at stake, is not the Jews or Jewish people as such, but how one, Jew or non-Jew, responds to Jesus’ message and gift of abundant life.

Keywords

• the Jews
• Gospel of John
• African Biblical Hermeneutics
• African decolonial optic
• African reading