A guide to researching, writing, and preaching on the Fourth Gospel with attention to the textual, cultural, and literary contexts.

Accessible, comprehensive, and up-to-date, Interpreting the Gospel and Letters of John is an ideal text for students new to the discipline of biblical studies. Sherri Brown and Francis J. Moloney present a broad overview of the story of Christianity arising out of its Jewish foundations and proceed to guide readers expertly through the contents of the Gospel and Letters of John. Maintaining that Johannine literature is best understood against the background of the Old Testament covenant metaphor, Brown and Moloney focus on the central role of covenant in the narrative of John's Gospel and highlight the Evangelist's use of fulfillment language. Helpful sidebars, maps, questions for review, and further-reading lists are placed throughout the text, making this volume well suited for classroom use.

In this volume, R. Alan Culpepper considers both the Gospel and the Letters of John. The book begins with a close look at the relationship between John and the Synoptics and a summary of John's distinctive thought and language. The second chapter addresses the fascinating issues regarding the origins of the Gospel and the letters: authorship, sources, and composition. The history of the Johannine community is reviewed in chapter three. Chapter four interprets the plot of the Gospel and prepares the student to read John as literature by providing a brief orientation to narrative criticism. The fifth chapter turns to more traditional concerns: John as theology. This chapter provides a digest of the Christology, theology, and eschatology of John. The sixth through the eighth chapters, the heart of the book, guide the student through a reading of the Gospel. The ninth chapter serves as an introduction to the Letters, noting especially their relationship to the Gospel. Each letter is treated in turn. The final chapter examines the challenges and potential of the Johannine literature as documents of faith. "In previous writings Alan Culpepper has shown himself to be one of the best Johannine scholars of our time. He not only conveniently draws together his research but also shows himself to be an excellent teacher." --Raymond E. Brown

Come and Read explores four interpretive approaches (narrative, sociocultural, intertextual, and rhetorical) and applies them to three key passages in the Gospel of John. The combined work of top Johannine scholars, this collection illustrates the methods employed, the value of multiple approaches, and how method impacts the conclusions reached.

Essential classroom resource for New Testament courses In this book, a group of international scholars go in detail to explain how the author of the Gospel of John uses a variety of narrative strategies to best tell his story. More than a commentary, this book offers a glimpse at the way an ancient author created and used narrative features such as genre, character, style, persuasion, and even time and space to shape a dramatic story of the life of Jesus. Features: An introduction to the Fourth Gospel through its narrative features and dynamics Fifteen features of story design that comprise the Gospel of John Short, targeted essays about how John works that can be used as starting points for the study of other Gospels/texts

A nuanced study of early Christian exegesis Miriam DeCock analyzes four important early Christian treatments of the Gospel of John, including commentaries by Origen and Cyril from the Alexandrian tradition and the homilies of John Chrysostom and the commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestia, which represent Antiochian traditions. DeCock maintains that the traditional distinction between nonliteral and literal interpretations in these two early Christian centers remains helpful despite recent challenges to the paradigm. She argues that a major and abiding distinction between the two schools lies in the manner in which Alexandrian and Antiochian authors apply the gospel text to their respective communities. DeCock demonstrates that the Antiochenes find primarily literal moral examples and doctrinal teachings in John's Gospel, whereas the Alexandrians find both these and nonliteral teachings concerning the immediate situation of the church and of its individual members. Features An examination of each author's interpretations of a selection of texts Focused explorations of John 2; 4; and 9-11 in early Christian exegesis A study of early literal non-literal interpretations of John's Gospel

The Gospel of John heralds a unique call to discipleship. Unlike any other Gospel, the Fourth Gospel offers a multitude of benefits for following Jesus. John promises that discipleship is rewarded with adoption by the Father, royal friendship with the Son, and abiding with the Father and the Son through the Spirit. Nearly two dozen additional benefits fall under these three main categories as John persuades his readers to continuous belief in Jesus. Follow Me: The Benefits of Discipleship in the Gospel of John traces these rewards as incentives for disciples to remain loyal to Jesus in the context of hostility and opposition, in all times and all places, no matter the cost.