Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles and the Apocalypse

by Paul A. Rainbow

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. While not proclaiming a definitive position on the question of authorship, this work seeks to shed light on the theology common to all the New Testament authors. John's root beliefs concerning God, humanity, sin, the world, and the significance of the Christ-event on eschatology unite the examined books with the rest of the New Testament canon. The Johannine corpus also highlights the important areas of christology, soteriology and ecclesiology in a manner that is worth exploration. Organizing John's ideas by the main characters around whom they revolve, the Johannine universe consists of persons divine and human, and their relationships with each other. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, faithful believers and the rest of the world are the main cast of characters that make up the rich set of writings considered in this exhaustive analysis.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies

496 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2014

Reviews

[Bob]

Summary: A comprehensive treatment of the Johannine corpus that assumes a common source and explores the theology of these books in light of the major relationships between persons divine and human, and of those persons with regard to the church and the world.

Of the books that have been written . What Paul Rainbow has done in this volume is to summarize some of the most significant scholarship and questions in this area of biblical theology. A basic assumption of the book is a common authorship of the Gospel and Epistles of John and the Apocalypse (Revelation). Rainbow adopts as his "working assumption" that the Apostle John is the common author of these texts. In fact, one of the later discussions in the book argues strongly that John was a churchman and not a sectarian, against the "Johannine sectarian" approach to this corpus.

Rainbow takes the interesting approach of delineating the theology of this corpus as a theology of personal relationships, and he synthesizes the teaching of all parts of the corpus under these headings. Following his introduction in chapter 1 where he outlines approaches to Johannine theology and scholarship, including his own, he follows this plan, which he summarizes in chapter 10, which considers the relationship of the church to the world:

"God the Father (chap. 2) loves God the Son eternally (chap. 4) and is united to him by God the Spirit (chap. 6). He also loves the world that he made, despite its rebellion toward him (chap. 3). He sent his Son to show his love supremely by making propitiation for the world's sin on the cross (chap. 5). The Son, on returning to glory, sent the Spirit to indwell his disciples (chap. 6) so that they might abide in the Son, both individually (chaps. 7-8) and corporately (chap. 9) until he comes again (p. 399).

There are times where the reading of this work is heavy going when the author is summarizing passage after passage as it contributes to a particular theme. My suggestion here is that such material is probably most helpfully read by looking up the passages and giving careful thought and reflection to their import. What is clear is that this process often leads to insight on the part of the author who may "zoom out" with insights on the relations of the divine persons, discussions of the procession of the Spirit and the controversy of churches East and West, a defense of propitiation, the blessedness of eternal life and union in Christ, the life of abiding in Christ, and the nature of the Church and its relationship with a World that often hates the followers of Christ as it does Christ.

What is interesting is that rather than provide a separate chapter on "eschatology" the author weaves eschatological concerns throughout the book, as he considers the relation of the Triune God to a fallen world, explores the redemptive work of Christ, the hope of the believer, and the mission of the Church. This is consistent with his approach that integrates consideration of The Apocalypse with the rest of the Johannine material, rather than bracketing it off to itself.

One comes away from this work with the sense of having sat with someone who has soaked deeply in the Johannine material and seen connections most of us may miss in our readings or studies of the separate books. More than simply biblical study, however, this is truly biblical theology in the sense that it works from the biblical material to explore what this material discloses of the character and workings of God, and how humans may indeed relate to him and to one another through Christ. Rainbow's careful and extensive study lays out a banquet for any who will come to the table!

[Thomas]

This is a clear, thorough synthesis of the Johannine corpus (including Revelation). Some notable aspects of Rainbow's treatment is: (1) his elucidation of John's latent trinitarianiasm; (2) his argument for the reading "only begotten God," rather than "only begotten Son," in John 1; (3) his argument for a via media between Calvinism and Arminianism, i.e., that particularism is paradoxically set alongside universalism for John; and (4) his intriguing treatment of John's view of works in relation to justification (or, more broadly, salvation). The main draw backs are that it is a bit repetitive at points (though with 400+ pp. that is somewhat expected) and the writing, while clear, is not always particularly engaging. Worth the read for anyone interested in a helpful summary of the apostle John's theology as found in his writings.

[Drake]

This was outstanding. Unlike virtually every other Johannine theology out there, Rainbow actually includes Revelation in the Johannine corpus and makes a strong case for ascribing all the Johannine writings to John the Apostle. His work is both extremely well-written and theologically rich; I greatly appreciated the skill with which he dived deep into areas like Trinitarianism, sanctification, and ecclesiology, which he could have avoided with the excuse that those are only the concerns of systematic theologians. His insights into John's theology are simultaneously sensible and profound. I plan on referring back to this volume frequently over the coming months and years.

[Matthew Rawlings]

Rainbow's work has much to commend it but he holds to a later date for the Johannine corpus, which I do not think is warranted.

[John Kight]

Paul A. Rainbow is Professor of New Testament at Sioux Falls Seminary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Rainbow has a M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a Th.M. from Harvard Divinity School, and a D.Phil. from Oxford University. Rainbow is a distinguished and published Biblical scholar, having written and/or contributed to several books, journals, and other publications during his nearly three decades at Sioux Falls Seminary. Still, his most recent publication, Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles and the Apocalypse (IVP Academic, 2014) remains at the top of his academic accomplishments—and for good reason.

Johannine Theology opens with an excellent introduction on Johannine literature and the task of constructing a biblical theology of the Johannine corpus. Rainbow does the reader a great service by surveying the landscape of methodology when it comes to biblical theology, and firmly positions his present endeavor organized around personal entities—namely the relation among the divine persons and the world made up of its various constituents (p. 28). This Trinitarian approach to the Johannine corpus is both unique and helpful in the overall analysis of Johannine theology. The latter portion of the introduction is dedicated to typical preliminary matters, such as date, authorship, etc. Among other things, Rainbow’s discussion concerning Johannine authorship of the corpus, ultimately concluding that it was John the son of Zebedee, will be a clear high point for most readers.

Following the introduction, Rainbow beings Johannine Theology with the person of God the Father (ch. 2), the world-system (ch. 3), and God’s self-revelation in the Son (chs. 4-5). The reader will be confronted with a number of excellent and thoroughly investigated subsections within each chapter, and the high points are many. Furthermore, Rainbow explores the Johannine understanding of the Spirit-Paraclete (ch. 6), the believers united to the risen Christ (chs. 7-8), and believers relationship to one another (ch. 9) and to the world (ch. 10). Again, each section has a number of subsections, and Rainbow does a wonderful job guiding the reader across the entirety of the Johannine corpus as he surveys each. Each chapter is well-written and meticulously documented, and Rainbow presents himself as one well-acquainted with the literature at hand.

The work that has been done on the Johannine corpus is numerous. In fact, as Rainbow rightly acknowledges, it is nearly impossible to have read everything that has been written about the canonical works attributed to John. As one with a longstanding interest in the Johannine corpus in general and Johannine theology in particular, I found Rainbow’s treatment and organization very helpful. I was especially interested in, and even excited about, the chapter (ch. 3) devoted to the Johannine understanding of the world and its usage across the corpus. Rainbow helpfully positions the conversation as having a deep-seated dependence on the Hebrew Bible and the Judaic tradition, and his survey of such was helpful. However, I was surprised that there wasn’t more discussion dedicated to eschatology, but it in no way detracted from the usefulness of the book as a whole. Lastly, I always appreciate a good index, especially in a book like Johannine Theology, and I found the threefold index (authors, subjects, and principal scripture passages) at the conclusion of the book to be intentionally curated for future reference.

To the writing of Johannine theology there appears to be no end in sight. Of course, this is far from a negative reality. Both new insight and understanding of perspectives are imperative to the life of the conversation, especially when it comes to something as difficult to understand as the Johannine corpus. Nevertheless, Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles and the Apocalypse by Paul A. Rainbow demonstrates itself to be a remarkable resource, and one that lends to the conversation in ways unlike many of its predecessors. Rainbow is both exegetically and theologically sensitive in his treatment of the Johannine literature, and his insights are carefully guided by a keen historical and hermeneutical awareness. In other words, Rainbow is consistently resilient in all the right places. If you are looking for a well-executed engagement with Johannine theology then Johannine Theology: The Gospel, the Epistles and the Apocalypse should be one of the top resources on your list. It comes highly recommended!

I received a review copy of these books in exchange for and honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

[Michael]

Comprehensive in scope, concise in depth. Good resource for Johannine studies.

See full review here.