Characteristically scholarly examination of the origin and authorship of the Fourth Gospel, within the context of the community to which it relates. Skilful detective work traces the trail back to a figure who witnessed the death of Jesus in Jerusalem.

The hypothesis that the Fourth Gospel is a theological response to the Gospel of Thomas is a recent development in the study of the New Testament and early Christianity. Assuming an early date for the Gospel of Thomas, the proponents of this hypothesis argue that the supposed polemical presentation of Thomas in the Fourth Gospel is evidence of a conflict between the early communities associated respectively with John and Thomas. However, a detailed narrative study reveals that the Fourth Gospel portrays a host of characters--disciples and non-disciples--in an equally unflattering light where an understanding of Jesus's origins, message, and mission are concerned. The present study attempts to demonstrate that the Fourth Gospel's presentation of Thomas is part and parcel of its treatment of uncomprehending characters. If this thesis is correct, it poses a significant challenge to the assumption that the Fourth Gospel contains a polemic against Thomas, or that it was written in response to the Gospel of Thomas or the community associated with Thomas.

In this magisterial synthesis, Paul A. Rainbow presents the most complete account of the theology of the Johannine corpus available today. Both critical and comprehensive, this volume includes all the books of the New Testament ascribed to John: the Gospel, the three epistles and the book of Revelation.

How were the Johannine books of the New Testament received by second-century Christians and accorded scriptural status? Charles E. Hill offers a fresh and detailed examination of this question. He dismantles the long-held theory that the Fourth Gospel was generally avoided or resisted by orthodox Christians, while being treasured by various dissenting groups, throughout most of the second century. Integrating a wide range of literary and non-literary sources, this book demonstrates the failure of several old stereotypes about the Johannine literature. It also collects the full evidence for the second-century Church's conception of these writings as a group: the Johannine books cannot be isolated from each other but must be recognized as a corpus.

Text, Context and the Johannine Community adopts a new approach to the social context of the Johannine writings by drawing on modern sociolinguistic theory. Sociolinguistics emphasizes language as a social phenomenon, which can be analysed with reference not only to its broad context of culture, but also, through the use of register analysis, to its narrower context of situation. The Johannine writings have increasingly been seen as the product of a distinct Johannine Community, depicted by some scholars as a sectarian group, opposed both to wider Jewish society and to other Christian groups. This model has largely been constructed on historical-critical grounds, yet given our lack of reliable external information about the origin of the Johannine writings, a more fruitful approach may be to examine their lexico-grammatical and discourse features to determine what these imply about interpersonal relationships. This study compares selected 'narrative asides' from the Gospel of John with a passage section from 1 John and with the two shorter Johannine Epistles. It concludes that register analysis of these texts does not support the idea of a close-knit sectarian group.

Argues that the Fourth Gospel has “political dimensions” which offer both meaning and challenge to contemporary Christians.

A resource written from a distinctively Pentecostal perspective, primarily for pastors, lay persons, and Bible students, based upon the best scholarship, written in popular language and communicating the meaning of the text with minimal technical distractions.In keeping with the ethos and spirituality of the Pentecostal tradition, to which at least 400 million Christians belong, the writers explore how their scholarship might be contextualized within their own local church body and strengthened by the dynamic interaction between the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ, and the Word of God. The series is conceived of as part of the ministry of the body of Christ, for the glory of God.The structure of the commentaries reflects the dialogical way in which the tradition tends to approach the biblical text. Each volume begins with a series of questions designed to identify corporate and individual issues illuminated in the biblical book. An introduction proper then discloses the need, process, purpose, time, and place of composition, and a detailed discussion of the genre and structure of the book forms the basis of organization for the exposition that follows.This commentary on the Johannine Epistles, by a leading Pentecostal scholar and editor of the commentary series, provides a running exposition on the text, extended comments on texts of special significance for Pentecostals, and acknowledges and interacts with major options in interpreting individual passages. It also provides periodic opportunities for reflection upon and personal response to the biblical text.