This book, a revision of the author's dissertation, describes the grounds on which knowledge about God is possible according to the Gospel of John. In response to modern questions and doubts about the possibility of religious knowledge, John's answers are identified and illuminated using standard historical method. A major part of this investigation is spent showing that, for readers of all persuasions, it is clear that certain parts of John's Gospel were never intended as either fiction or metaphor. From these parts, the basis on which John thinks that people can have religious knowledge is inferred and described.
The question of how to read the Bible is a perennial one. How do we interpret the God who claims to transcend our human categories? The difficulty is particularly acute in John's Gospel with its account of a man, Jesus, who claims to be God. Based on the principle that a text can present the radically transcendent only by disrupting itself, this book considers not just the sense of the Gospel, but also the breakdown of this sense. Focusing on its failure to humanly locate its central character and on the many misunderstandings which surround him, it presents a new approach to the Gospel's paradoxes. The result is a new definition of this sacred text based on a new hermeneutics.
This accessible, engaging work explores the major theological dimensions of John's Gospel, including God, the world and its people, Jesus, the crucifixion and resurrection, the Spirit, faith, and discipleship. Craig Koester's Word of Life is notable for its comprehensive treatment of themes and its close, careful focus on the biblical text, on the narrative itself. In his introduction Koester provides a succinct overview of the Gospel and shows how disputes about John's theology throughout history have significantly shaped the church and wider society. In the course of his discussion, such expressions as being “born again” and Jesus as “the way” -- which evoke both interest and uneasiness today -- become much clearer in the context of the Gospel as a whole. Koester interacts with the best of current research and makes creative proposals about how to understand the many aspects of John's theology. His clear and highly readable guide to the theology of John's Gospel will appeal to a wide range of readers.
Originally published in 1948, this now-classic study by Merrill Tenney treats the Gospel of John as a literary unit and provides a straightforward analysis of the text. Tenney first outlines the structure of the Gospel, then offers a careful exposition of John’s text according to six major periods of Christ’s life, and finally presents a topical analysis of the Gospel. Not a critical commentary but, rather, a well-organized guidebook complemented by helpful charts and diagrams, Tenney’s John: The Gospel of Belief, reissued in this new format, will continue helping pastors, teachers, students, and other Bible readers grasp the aim and major themes of John.
This commentary expands Johannine studies in two directions. First, drawing on the methods of literary criticism, it gives new force to a view which is both ancient and modern--that John's gospel, far from being a poorly-edited mixture of sometimes-conflicting traditions, is in fact a coherent unity, an account of Jesus which, however diverse its sources, is a finely-chiselled work of art. Second, it indicates that the unity of John's gospel is founded ultimately not on history or theology but on spirituality. This too corresponds to a view which is both very old--John was always known as the spiritual gospel--and very recent. The present study spells out that idea in new detail. It indicates that the account of Jesus is so written that the tensions and complexities of the text reflect the tensions and complexities of human life, providing the reader not only with an account of Jesus but also with an anthropology--a map of the development of the human spirit.
There are certain books of the Bible that just seem to stand out and the Gospel of John is surely one such book. It is frequently the first book of the Bible we encourage non-Christians to read in the hope that its message will lead them to faith in Christ. After all, that is the purpose of the book. See John 20:31.For Christians, the Gospel of John is a source of much truth about our Lord and the Gospel. But it is much more than that. It is an opportunity for us to follow Him as we read, and to identify with the disciples as their knowledge of Him continues to expand. It is our opportunity to get to know the heart of the Savior, and to fellowship with Him through His Word. If men of old found their hearts set on fire as they listened to Him teach in person (Luke 24:32), so we will find our hearts warmed as we seek to listen to Him through this Gospel.I challenge you to join me in making the Gospel of John the subject of your study. May God use it to help you see and serve Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
The true consolidation of this book and "The City of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Second Death According to Revelation of John"' are both consolidated in "The Way, the Truth, and the Light According to the Gospel and Revelation of John " which is FREE to download from here and other sources online. The book examines each statement in John's Gospel (KJV) and contains summaries sections. John the Beloved's Gospel does provide answers to help us understand: How we can believe in Christ and be saved by His Way, Truth, and Light (Way of Love, Spirit of Truth, and Light of God). Why Christ is a human, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Why Christ's death did not immediately make all Men sinless, and create a new world and kingdom. As a great teacher, why Christ did not write books for us to be saved with just an easy read. How Adam, Eve, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is still relevant in Christianity. How we can see the face of God in Christ and not perish. The Gospels and John's Revelation have not disconnected works, both contain the same end-time plot: Matthew [13:30-40 ] lays out Revelation's plot: “Let both [the good and the evil] grow together until the harvest:... He that sows the good seed is the Son of man [Christ]; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire [same as the second death's lake of fire in Revelation]; so shall it be in the end of this world.” Revelation [22:10-12] states: “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I [Christ] come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” My sequel book, "The City of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Second Death According to Revelation of John", is the second part of John's belief system.
This book provides original and controversial contributions into specific areas of Johannine studies, along with defenses of various traditional theological interpretations of John that are commonly overlooked in New Testament scholarship. Kirk R. MacGregor offers new insights into the authorship of the Fourth Gospel, the content of the underlying Signs Source, the meaning of the phrases “believe in him” and “believe in his name,” Jesus’ claim that Abraham saw his day, the significance of John 14.6, and why the resurrected Jesus upbraided Thomas. MacGregor employs the doctrine of middle knowledge to reconcile the seemingly paradoxical Johannine claims of divine predestination, genuine human freedom, and the universal divine salvific will. He defends the ontological equality but functional subordination of the Johannine Jesus to God the Father as well as the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit as presented by the Gospel of John.
