Caryn A. Reeder > Quotes

“Marriage was not fundamentally emotional or romantic. Marital respect and love were the consequence of a shared life rather than the reason for sharing life. This point is worth emphasizing. In the first century, marriage was not about relationship. It was not even about the two people who were married. Marriage was instead about family, community, and economy. To be married was to participate in and contribute to communal life.”
― Caryn A. Reeder, The Samaritan Woman's Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo

“This Gospel recenters the significance of Israel’s sacred times and spaces on Jesus.”
― Caryn A. Reeder, The Samaritan Woman's Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo

“The pairing of these stories challenges readers' expectations. The educated, powerful, Jewish man should understand who Jesus is and respond, yet Nicodemus’s choice to seek Jesus out at night associates him with darkness and unbelief. The Samaritan woman should not understand Jesus. But she holds her own in the conversation, and by the end she clearly sees who Jesus is. In a surprising twist, the Samaritan woman becomes the model for readers to follow.”
― Caryn A. Reeder, The Samaritan Woman's Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo