What do you think?
Rate this book
The Gospel and Letters of John: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series
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 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 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
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 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 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
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
About the author
R. Alan Culpepper
42 books4 followersDean of the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the author of numerous works including Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design (Fortress)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 15, 2012
This was an easier read than most commentaries, when means I liked it. I have a deep respect for professors and writers, such as culpepper who can talk about deep things and yet communicate them in word or voice. A lot of commentary writers have a hard time doing this. If your wanting to take the johannane text to a deeper level this is the place to start.
July 14, 2013
Culpepper’s book stimulates curiosity and intrigue into the Gospel of John even while he answers questions and synthesizes evidence—leaving you with many of your previous questions answered satisfactorily, but with many other questions now floating in your mind; I suppose that is the paradox that surrounds all passages of the Bible, however. This book is not a commentary, but it does comment on much of the material. This book is not a survey, but it does cover the beginning to the end in comparatively short space (305 pages). This book is somewhere in between, written in easy-to-follow prose, highlighting key details without getting technical in the Greek or in textual variant issues, etc. However, unless one is extremely familiar with the Gospel of John already, it would be wise to read the chapter in the Bible before reading from this book. (That may be obvious, but to others it might not be—Culpepper does not include enough of the text in his own work for the reader to know precisely what he is talking about without having a Bible opened nearby in space, or recently in time.)
(Series Thesis: The series is meant to serve as a resource, alongside other resources such as commentaries and specialized studies, to aid students in the exciting and often risky venture of interpreting biblical texts; the authors offer their own understanding of the issues and texts, but are more concerned about guiding the reader than engaging in debates with other scholars. )
Book thesis: I hope this book…will launch them on a lifelong love affair with the Gospel and that it will be for [the reader] a constant source of intellectual fascination and spiritual direction.
Although the book thesis is rather informal (it is the personality of a professor coming through), I believe that Culpepper does achieve what he sets out to do. I, personally, have been stimulated to further study this Gospel in depth and understand it deeper. It has been said before that the Gospel of John is a puddle for a child to wade in and a pool for an elephant to swim in (I do not recall the source). Culpepper reveals this through and through—revealing the essential point of the Gospel quickly enough, but casting the anchor down and showing just how deep the message goes. Culpepper deals with the essential critical issues apart from his treatment of the text itself: issues of authorship, community, and canonization. He reveals themes that are present throughout the writing. He shows plot developments and contrasts between pericopes. And although as one reviewer has noted, the final chapter seems to undermine much of what Culpepper has established throughout the book, the chapter should be seen as a point for further contemplation and wrestling with true, contemporary issues—those who would disagree with Culpepper’s arguments in the final chapter (and I would, mostly) must deal with the issues within the scope of the writings of John. Disagreement can be healthy as long as it spurs the parties on to further study and discovery, and I believe that is precisely what Culpepper does from start to finish.
Some brief treatment is also given to the letters of John, and Culpepper’s insight here is helpful albeit not extensive.
Ultimately, I believe that this book is an helpful addition to anyone’s library. To those who would like to pursue studying the Gospel of John more, this is a phenomenal starting place and will allow the reader to glean things they probably would not have otherwise. For those who have spent in-depth time in the Gospel already, this will be a welcome read as it will quite quickly put the entirety of the Gospel in view and tie together themes that were fragmented prior.
(Series Thesis: The series is meant to serve as a resource, alongside other resources such as commentaries and specialized studies, to aid students in the exciting and often risky venture of interpreting biblical texts; the authors offer their own understanding of the issues and texts, but are more concerned about guiding the reader than engaging in debates with other scholars. )
Book thesis: I hope this book…will launch them on a lifelong love affair with the Gospel and that it will be for [the reader] a constant source of intellectual fascination and spiritual direction.
Although the book thesis is rather informal (it is the personality of a professor coming through), I believe that Culpepper does achieve what he sets out to do. I, personally, have been stimulated to further study this Gospel in depth and understand it deeper. It has been said before that the Gospel of John is a puddle for a child to wade in and a pool for an elephant to swim in (I do not recall the source). Culpepper reveals this through and through—revealing the essential point of the Gospel quickly enough, but casting the anchor down and showing just how deep the message goes. Culpepper deals with the essential critical issues apart from his treatment of the text itself: issues of authorship, community, and canonization. He reveals themes that are present throughout the writing. He shows plot developments and contrasts between pericopes. And although as one reviewer has noted, the final chapter seems to undermine much of what Culpepper has established throughout the book, the chapter should be seen as a point for further contemplation and wrestling with true, contemporary issues—those who would disagree with Culpepper’s arguments in the final chapter (and I would, mostly) must deal with the issues within the scope of the writings of John. Disagreement can be healthy as long as it spurs the parties on to further study and discovery, and I believe that is precisely what Culpepper does from start to finish.
Some brief treatment is also given to the letters of John, and Culpepper’s insight here is helpful albeit not extensive.
Ultimately, I believe that this book is an helpful addition to anyone’s library. To those who would like to pursue studying the Gospel of John more, this is a phenomenal starting place and will allow the reader to glean things they probably would not have otherwise. For those who have spent in-depth time in the Gospel already, this will be a welcome read as it will quite quickly put the entirety of the Gospel in view and tie together themes that were fragmented prior.
August 17, 2011
This is a solid, introductory treatment of Johannine literature. He discusses the possible historical context of the community which produced the writings, examined the gospel as literature, as biography and finally went through the entire thing in a relatively meticulous manner, pointing out significant features. The upshot of Culpepper's argument is that the community was from the late 1st C, had a rather high christology, had some tension with synagogue officials (speaks highly of Martyn), and likely did not have access to the writings of the synoptic gospels, though did have access to some common traditions.
February 13, 2013
Awesome book. Deals with narrative criticism and applies it to John. While I don't necessarily agree with all the commentary, the book is extremely beneficial for influencing ones way of reading and interpreting the Gospel of John.
February 13, 2013
Very good informative book. Culpepper offered many insights to John's writings. I believe you will learn from this book and grow deeply in the Word.
November 28, 2013
Culpepper does a phenomenal job at balancing depth with accessibility. For introductory students of John this is the place to begin. This is the gold standard for readable commentaries on John.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews