Hugo Méndez

I was thrilled to see Publishers Weekly profile my two latest books in the study of the Gospel and Epistles of John (publication pages here and here). From the article:

“Is John having a moment? Yes,” says Beatrice Rehl, publisher at Cambridge University Press, which in December published The Epistles of John: Origins, Authorship, Purpose by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill associate professor of religious studies Hugo Méndez.

Rehl attributed this surge of attention to “a new generation of scholars that is challenging the entrenched views of older generations about who wrote these texts, why, and how.” She said she received several proposals in 2025 for books about the Gospel of John and commissioned one for the publisher’s Cambridge Companion series.

Méndez also had a book on John published by Oxford University Press in July 2025, The Gospel of John: A New History. In his books with both publishers, Méndez argues that John was “a made-up character,” says Steve Wiggins, senior editor at Oxford, who acquired and worked on the title. Wiggins, who calls Méndez “a rising star,” says his novel idea opens up new ways to “approach constantly-shifting assessments about the composition of the New Testament.”