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Written That You May Believe: Encountering Jesus in the Fourth Gospel
Written That You May Believe has quickly become a standard text for the feminist-informed study of the Gospel of John. Scholars have hailed its publication and dedicated a session at the American Academy of Religion to discuss its message. Lay readers have welcomed it as a companion in opening up the meaning of the Fourth Gospel, and small groups have begun using it as a guide in their devotional reading. This revised edition, enriched with new chapters from Sandra Schneiders and a study guide prepared by John C. Wronski offers new ways to nourish faith through the rich symbolism of the Gospel of John and an invitation to "dwell in" the liberating truth of Jesus.
328 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 13, 2017
While I didn't make the connection with this book as being the "text for the "feminist-informed", I enjoyed Schneiders' unique translation of the Fourth Gospel and did find it hard to stop reading it from cover to cover. Reading from a "humanist" point of view, I found myself quickly identifying with the Fourth Gospel as described by Schneider in a way that I had never before.
Schneider wrote,
"[Jesus] Son of God, has been given God’s own life in all its fullness and has been authorized by God to give that life to whomever he wills (see Jn. 5:21, 26). In Jesus as Word incarnate that life of God blazes forth, becomes available, is manifested, as light shining in the darkness (Jn1:4–5). And those who receive it, who are enlightened by this light, who come to Jesus and remain in him, participate in the love-life between Jesus and God. As Jesus says in his final prayer, such disciples know that God has “loved them even as you [God] have loved me” (Jn17:23). –Schneiders “Written That You May Believe”
The salvation and grace given to ourselves, through self-reflection, allows us to put down our bags, forgive others, and in return, we begin to share in the “love-life” shared between Jesus and god. That love-life, like the life evolving from the union of two in marriage, where, the two no longer live their lives as separate individuals, but as two, "one" in marriage: this is what exists between Father and Son. That [space] love life between Father and Son is "the gift," the grace, The Spirit gifted to us when we choose to believe and follow The Holy Spirit. Discernment is not a simple matter of rational logic, but rather an understanding of how to read the signs of God's will.
Schnieders goes on to say,
"To participate in the love-life of Jesus and God through the Spirit whom Jesus gives to his disciples is what it means to be “born of God.” In the Fourth Gospel, this birth from God is not metaphorical or fictive. Those who believe in Jesus are not adopted but are actually given power to “become children of God, who [are] born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of a male [andros, i.e., male, not anthroμpos, i.e., person], but of God” (1:12–13). Like Jesus, his disciples are not of this world, even though, like him, they are in the world. Rather they are born from above, born of the Spirit (see 3:3)." (pg. 53)
We “choose” to believe, in Jesus and the word “and the word is God” [Jn 1:1 NIV]. In making this choice we choose to become God’s children, in fact, we have chosen to die to ourselves, pick up the cross of Jesus: we are “born again.” Our rebirth is not in the mind of delivery in the physical sense, though we do experience ourselves as a life renewed, newly born. The surge flowing through us as new in life, this rebirth, is not of the blood and flesh of humankind (man and woman) as we know it, driven by self and worldly desire. It is pure love, a power gifted to us through and born of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Schnieders’ says
"The ultimate realization of this mystery of loving union is friendship. Jesus says that he no longer calls his disciples “servants” but he calls them “friends” because he has shared with them everything he has received from his Father (see 15:15). This extraordinary union in friendship between." (pg. 53)
In “this” life, one may experience an epiphany, a subtle movement or vibration from within, or "its" movement, “its “sensation is more, a sudden burst, an explosion of awareness. One may realize a presence; it is dwelling from within from a source of unknown but curiously warm origin. "Its" source appears in the mind's eye as something new and different on the horizon. So compelling is its call, so radiant and intense, it seems the only thing to do is to pursue the source.
As Jesus’ called his disciples and asked them to follow and believe: Jesus asks us and invites us to the same: follow; believe. The ensuing relationship, unlike that between a master and his servant, Jesus bestows upon the disciples the Word, and all its graces, as promised to him from the Father. In return, no longer servants but deserving of more, they are worthy of all God's kingdom has to offer: Jesus befriends the disciples. Jesus invites us to the same.
For those of us who only know that we must answer this calling, for those who must follow the current, listen to music and sound that that calls us out from night, out from darkness, and into the warmth and glow on our horizon: the best is yet to come.
Light, Love, Life: All about John “The Fourth Gospel”
Schnieders’ “Written That You May Believe”: a spark that is certain to ignite.
Most sincerely,
CharInCincy
Schneider wrote,
"[Jesus] Son of God, has been given God’s own life in all its fullness and has been authorized by God to give that life to whomever he wills (see Jn. 5:21, 26). In Jesus as Word incarnate that life of God blazes forth, becomes available, is manifested, as light shining in the darkness (Jn1:4–5). And those who receive it, who are enlightened by this light, who come to Jesus and remain in him, participate in the love-life between Jesus and God. As Jesus says in his final prayer, such disciples know that God has “loved them even as you [God] have loved me” (Jn17:23). –Schneiders “Written That You May Believe”
The salvation and grace given to ourselves, through self-reflection, allows us to put down our bags, forgive others, and in return, we begin to share in the “love-life” shared between Jesus and god. That love-life, like the life evolving from the union of two in marriage, where, the two no longer live their lives as separate individuals, but as two, "one" in marriage: this is what exists between Father and Son. That [space] love life between Father and Son is "the gift," the grace, The Spirit gifted to us when we choose to believe and follow The Holy Spirit. Discernment is not a simple matter of rational logic, but rather an understanding of how to read the signs of God's will.
Schnieders goes on to say,
"To participate in the love-life of Jesus and God through the Spirit whom Jesus gives to his disciples is what it means to be “born of God.” In the Fourth Gospel, this birth from God is not metaphorical or fictive. Those who believe in Jesus are not adopted but are actually given power to “become children of God, who [are] born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of a male [andros, i.e., male, not anthroμpos, i.e., person], but of God” (1:12–13). Like Jesus, his disciples are not of this world, even though, like him, they are in the world. Rather they are born from above, born of the Spirit (see 3:3)." (pg. 53)
We “choose” to believe, in Jesus and the word “and the word is God” [Jn 1:1 NIV]. In making this choice we choose to become God’s children, in fact, we have chosen to die to ourselves, pick up the cross of Jesus: we are “born again.” Our rebirth is not in the mind of delivery in the physical sense, though we do experience ourselves as a life renewed, newly born. The surge flowing through us as new in life, this rebirth, is not of the blood and flesh of humankind (man and woman) as we know it, driven by self and worldly desire. It is pure love, a power gifted to us through and born of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Schnieders’ says
"The ultimate realization of this mystery of loving union is friendship. Jesus says that he no longer calls his disciples “servants” but he calls them “friends” because he has shared with them everything he has received from his Father (see 15:15). This extraordinary union in friendship between." (pg. 53)
In “this” life, one may experience an epiphany, a subtle movement or vibration from within, or "its" movement, “its “sensation is more, a sudden burst, an explosion of awareness. One may realize a presence; it is dwelling from within from a source of unknown but curiously warm origin. "Its" source appears in the mind's eye as something new and different on the horizon. So compelling is its call, so radiant and intense, it seems the only thing to do is to pursue the source.
As Jesus’ called his disciples and asked them to follow and believe: Jesus asks us and invites us to the same: follow; believe. The ensuing relationship, unlike that between a master and his servant, Jesus bestows upon the disciples the Word, and all its graces, as promised to him from the Father. In return, no longer servants but deserving of more, they are worthy of all God's kingdom has to offer: Jesus befriends the disciples. Jesus invites us to the same.
For those of us who only know that we must answer this calling, for those who must follow the current, listen to music and sound that that calls us out from night, out from darkness, and into the warmth and glow on our horizon: the best is yet to come.
Light, Love, Life: All about John “The Fourth Gospel”
Schnieders’ “Written That You May Believe”: a spark that is certain to ignite.
Most sincerely,
CharInCincy
April 26, 2019
This book is accessible to a non-academic reader but does not talk down to that reader. The book showed me things in John's gospel that I had never noticed before and helped me to understand them. For example I had never paid much notice to how the face cloth in the empty tomb was noted to be rolled up. The author's chapter on this detail gave me some fresh material to think about this Easter.
May 31, 2020
Difficult reading! But well worth the effort. This very different look at the gospel will challenge the reader and perhaps open some doors in one's thinking
January 31, 2026
The outrageous praise on the back cover proved accurate and no exaggeration at all. Perhaps one of my favorite theological books.
August 18, 2016
This book only misses that last star because it is a collection of essays, not a single developed argument. In that way, the first essay/chapter is very dense and somewhat difficult to get through, but has a very clear thesis and once you have that, you are on your way! The following chapters/essays have some redundancy, but also open up pieces of the overall argument and thesis.
Schneiders begins with the premise that the bodily resurrection of Jesus and of all believers is pretty near impossible for us to believe here in the 21st century. So how then can we understand the account of the resurrection in John's gospel? What is the nature and meaning of Jesus' glorified body-- as he appears to his disciples after the resurrection and as we relate to "him" today? This is an important question and her reading of the fourth gospel account is fresh, exciting, and still rooted in mystery, as it must be. How we join the ranks of Mary Magdalene and Thomas and the other disciples gives us an understanding that takes us forward to the more metaphorical "Body of Christ." How do we grow and develop into the real, glorified presence of Christ on earth? And so, of course, the question she asks is also a question of eschatology, and of establishing the kingdom here on earth.
Schneiders begins with the premise that the bodily resurrection of Jesus and of all believers is pretty near impossible for us to believe here in the 21st century. So how then can we understand the account of the resurrection in John's gospel? What is the nature and meaning of Jesus' glorified body-- as he appears to his disciples after the resurrection and as we relate to "him" today? This is an important question and her reading of the fourth gospel account is fresh, exciting, and still rooted in mystery, as it must be. How we join the ranks of Mary Magdalene and Thomas and the other disciples gives us an understanding that takes us forward to the more metaphorical "Body of Christ." How do we grow and develop into the real, glorified presence of Christ on earth? And so, of course, the question she asks is also a question of eschatology, and of establishing the kingdom here on earth.
February 21, 2010
Sandra Schnieders has written a very refreshing commentary onf the Fourth Gospel. Her research and knowledge of the material has enabled her to write not only an intellectual work but one that is also deeply spiritual. I fell in love with John's gospel once again. Schnieder's view of symbol and symbolism in John clears up many of the obscure passages in the book and her hypotheses as to the authro... quite a nice surprise.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews