Otherness and Identity in the Gospel of John - by Sung Uk Lim (Hardcover)

From the Back Cover

In this book, Sung Uk Lim examines the narrative construction of identity and otherness through ongoing interactions between Jesus and the so-called others as represented by the minor characters in the Gospel of John. This study reconfigures the otherness of the minor characters in order to reconstruct the identity of Jesus beyond the exclusive binary of identity and otherness. The recent trends in Johannine scholarship are deeply entrenched in a dialectical framework of inclusion and exclusion, perpetuating positive portrayals of Jesus and negative portrayals of the minor characters. Read in this light, Jesus is portrayed as a superior, omniscient, and omnipotent character, whereas minor characters are depicted as inferior, uncomprehending, and powerless. At the root of such portrayals lies the belief that the Johannine dualistic Weltanschauung warrants such a sharp differentiation between Jesus and the minor characters. Lim argues, to the contrary, that the multiple constructions of otherness deriving from the minor characters make Jesus' identity vulnerable to a constant process of transformation. Consequently, John's minor characters actually challenge and destabilize Johannine hierarchical dualism within a both/and framework.

Review Quotes

"Sung Uk Lim's Otherness and Identity in the Gospel of John challenges the popular reading of the Gospel's dualistic framework. This monograph comes as a revision of the author's dissertation at Vanderbilt University, under the supervision of Fernando Segovia. ... Lim provides a new look at the Gospel's dualism and helps readers recognize that not everything or everyone within the Gospel fits neatly into these binary oppositions. ..." (Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Studies in Christian Ethics, Vol. 37 (2), May, 2024)

"Lim's revised Vanderbilt dissertation reads the Fourth Gospel through the lens of postcolonial criticism. ... For those not invested in literary deconstruction and postcolonial criticism, Lim's work may be challenging. But beyond the methodological questions and assumptions, there are important insights for all readers of the Gospel ... ." (Kent E. Brower, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol. 45 (5), 2023)

"This book will appeal to and benefit readers interested in studies of character and characterization and postcolonial biblical readings of John's Gospel. ... L. is to becommended for this study, which aims to reclaim the suppressed voices of marginalized people in terms of gender, ethnicity, and religion. ... Readers will appreciate L.'s articulation of and advocacy for an interpretative approach that can lead to respect, tolerance, and inclusion of difference in our increasingly globalized yet fragmented world." (Vien V. Nguyen, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 84 (4), October, 2022)

About the Author

Sung Uk Lim is Assistant Professor of New Testament at the College of Theology and United Graduate School of Theology, Yonsei University, South Korea.