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This book examines the divine-human union of Jesus Christ in the Gospel and the Epistles of John in light of ancient Mediterranean models of how gods were believed to appear on earth. While the two primary models, metamorphosis and possession, are found by the author to be more complex than has been previously acknowledged, the book argues that the possession model provides the basis for the Johannine contribution to incarnation, which Kinlaw terms the “indwelling” model. This Johannine model adapts the concept of the temporary possession of a human being by a god to a model of permanent possession, thus making clear to that ancient audience how the divine and human can coexist in the person of Jesus.

Pamela E. Kinlaw is Assistant Professor of Theology at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, West Virginia.