A Modern Jewish Perspective on the Gospel of John

“Isbell takes the challenge of the ‘anti-Jewish’ language in the Gospel of John with utmost seriousness, engaging critical scholarship broadly and with an even hand. But the most notable characteristic of his study is its pastoral sensitivity. It deserves to be taken seriously itself, by Jewish and Christian readers alike.”


—Randy L. Maddox, Divinity School, Duke University, emeritus





“From a Jewish perspective, Charles Isbell wades into the hard problems of anti-Jewish polemics in the Fourth Gospel. He joins sharp issue with major Christian interpreters of that Gospel and finds Christian ‘solutions’ to the anti-Jewishness quite inadequate. . . . Isbell is a careful, knowledgeable scholar who does not shrink from the hard issues we all face in these texts. Attention must be paid!”


—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary





“This provocative yet eminently accessible book confronts head-on John’s defamatory depiction of Jews and its painful, centuries-long legacy in Christian-Jewish relations. Isbell’s forthright treatment invites Christian and Jewish readers alike to wrestle with the Fourth Gospel in new and promising ways.”


—Joshua D. Garroway, Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion





“Isbell, as a biblical scholar and a Jewish rabbi, is well qualified to write this book. It makes a significant contribution to Jewish-Christian dialogue. It brings into sharp focus the toxic anti-Jewish sentiment that permeates the Gospel of John, a sentiment that is troubling for the Jewish reader and should be troubling for Christians.”


—Delbert Burkett, Louisiana State University