Kinship Relations in the Gospel of John – By Joan Cecelia Campbell

The author of this volume correctly suggests in his postscript, "Many of the specialists in the field of ancient Near Eastern studies have steadfastly eschewed the sort of synthesis that has been presented in this book," and for understandable reasons: it is difficult.Trying to introduce and assess what constitutes ancient Near Eastern thought (and the author includes in ancient Near Eastern: Canaan, Egypt, Hittite sometimes, and Mesopotamia) is a difficult task multiplied by trying to connect it with the Old Testament in a way that does not offend overly critical or confessional scholars.Despite the difficulty of the task, this volume is well worth the endeavor despite some of the complications.The book is divided into five main parts: Comparative Studies, Literature of the Ancient Near East, Religion, Cosmos, and People.The writer's style is inviting for students, because an effort is made to clarify concepts without overly simplifying them.This is done through summarizing some issues, such as the main goals of the comparative endeavor to bullet points, and the inclusion of sidebars entitled "comparative exploration."While the book is designed for students and nonspecialists, the attempt to synthesize the material in such a thorough fashion should intrigue scholars

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