The Shema in John’s Gospel

Born 1959; 2005-15 Greek language instructor and teaching assistant at Duke Divinity School; 2015 PhD; since 2016 Assistant Professor of New Testament and Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Theological Studies, St. Louis University.

The Shema (Deut 6:4-5) is the lens through which Lori A. Baron explores Johannine Christology and the fraught relationship between John's Gospel and Judaism. She begins by examining the use of the Shema in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple literature, where it is frequently evoked in scenes of covenant renewal; to support adherence to Jewish law; and in prophetic oracles of restoration. The Shema functions similarly in John's Gospel, where Jesus' unity with God is expressed in terms of the "oneness" of the Shema (e.g., 10:30; 17:21-23): Jesus is within the divine unity. While the Synoptic Gospels cite the Shema explicitly and while Paul uses the Shema Christologically, in John, the Shema is an apologetic foil against accusations of bitheism; it is used polemically against Jesus' opponents; and it signals that followers of Jesus represent the promised restoration of Israel.