This book presents a full-scale application of social identity approach to the Johannine writings. It reconsiders a widely held scholarly assumption that the writings commonly taken to represent Johannine Christianity - the Gospel of John and the First, Second and Third Epistles of John - reflect the situation of an introverted early Christian group.

1. Introduction 2. Johannine Christianity and the Mediterranean Diaspora 3. The Beginnings of a Tradition: The Relation between the Gospel and the Johannine Epistles 4. Collective Victimhood and Social Identity: The Counsel of Caiaphas Reconsidered (John 11:47-53) 5. Social Identity and the Lures and Threats of Being Similar: John and the Jews Who Believed in Jesus (John 8:31-47) 6. The Burden of Ambiguity: Nicodemus and the Social Identity of the Johannine Christians 7. Conclusion

Raimo Hakola is an Academy Research Fellow in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki, Finland