A CRITIQUE OF THE ANTI-SEMITIC FEATURES IN JOHN’S GOSPEL

ABSTRACT

This study was on a critique of the anti-Semitic features in John's Gospel, the research was motivated as a result of the popular claim by scholars that the Gospel of John is filled with many languages and statements that seem anti-Semitic in nature. The aim of the work was to examine and give a critique of the Anti-Semitic tendencies in the fourth Gospel.The biblical theological method and the historical approach were considered for this study and Secondary sources such as books, journals and internet materials also used. One of the findings from this study revealed that most of the anti Semitic languages and statements in the Gospel of John were as a result of the religious tension between the unbelieving Jews and the believing ones which made the author to brand the unbelieving Jews as opponents of Jesus. The study therefore recommended that the Gospel of John should be critically studied by Christians alike for it serves as a valuable material to understanding the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. More so, the notion that the Gospel of John is Anti-Semitic in nature should be disregarded because the attack was not racially motivated.