Creation Imagery in the Gospel of John - (Library of New Testament Studies) by Carlos Raul Sosa Siliezar (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Sosa Siliezar investigates the presence and significance of creation imagery in the Gospel of John. He argues that John has intentionally included only a limited (albeit significant) number of instances of creation imagery and that he has positioned them carefully to highlight their significance.

Sosa Siliezar contends that the instances of creation imagery used in varying contexts function collectively in a threefold way that is consonant with John's overall argument. First, John uses them to portray Jesus in close relationship with his Father, existing apart from and prior to the created order. Second, John uses creation imagery to assert the primal and universal significance of Jesus and the message about him, and to privilege him over other important figures in the story of Israel. Third, John uses creation imagery to link past reality with present and future reality, portraying Jesus as the agent of creation whom the reader should regard as the primal agent of revelation and salvation. The book concludes by underscoring how these findings inform our understanding of John's Christology and Johannine dualism.

Review Quotes

[Sosa Siliezar] offers a careful, even-handed evaluation of the evidence.
Religious Studies Review

Sosa Siliezar's work is admirably clear and methodologically consistent. He has brought a needed measure of order to the interpretation of this theme in John, and his work has the great strength of resisting the temptation to press an interpretation or thesis beyond the evidence that supports it ... [He] has provided us with a valuable standard ... and his method might profitably be adapted to other readings of symbolism and double meaning in John also.
Review of Biblical Literature

This is a commendable study, primarily because of the clear methodology [Sosa Siliezar] employs.
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

About the Author

Carlos Raúl Sosa Siliezar (PhD, University of Edinburgh, UK) is a lecturer at several universities in Guatemala City, Central America.