"The Gospel of John and the Religious Quest argues that at its origin the Fourth Gospel was part of a dialogue with various religious traditions, and that to this day it is being used in active dialogue with those who live in traditions other than the Christian. In the first part of the book, Johannes Nissen analyzes a number of texts selected both for their central importance to John's theology and for their special relevance in today's religious quests and encounters. These texts focus on John's images of Life--water, bread, light, way, and tree--but also treat concepts that are crucial to the Fourth Gospel--Word, Truth, and Love. In the second part, Nissen focuses on significant issues for current readers of the Gospel: the relation between incarnation and inculturation; models for dialogue with other religions; images of Christ; truth and love as criteria for dialogue; and the experience of faith in the light of the Fourth Gospel. "

The Gospel of John and the Religious Quest argues that at its origin the Fourth Gospel was part of a dialogue with various religious traditions, and that to this day it is being used in active dialogue with those who live in traditions other than the Christian. In the first part of the book, Johannes Nissen analyzes a number of texts selected both for their central importance to John's theology and for their special relevance in today's religious quests and encounters. These texts focus on John's images of Life--water, bread, light, way, and tree--but also treat concepts that are crucial to the Fourth Gospel--Word, Truth, and Love. In the second part, Nissen focuses on significant issues for current readers of the Gospel: the relation between incarnation and inculturation; models for dialogue with other religions; images of Christ; truth and love as criteria for dialogue; and the experience of faith in the light of the Fourth Gospel.

Teaching and researching the Gospel of John for thirty years has led author Mary L. Coloe to an awareness of the importance of the wisdom literature to make sense of Johannine theology, language, and symbolism: in the prologue, with Nicodemus, in the Bread of Life discourse, with Mary and Lazarus, and in the culminating “Hour.” She also shows how the late Second Temple theology expressed in the books of Sirach and Wisdom, considered deuterocanonical and omitted from some Bible editions, are essential intertexts. Only the book of Wisdom speaks of “the reign of God” (Wis 10:10), “eternity life” (Wis 5:15), and the ambrosia maintaining angelic life (Wis 19:21)—all concepts found in John’s Gospel. While the Gospel explicitly states the Logos was enfleshed in Jesus, this is also true of Sophia. Coloe makes the case that Jesus’s words and deeds embody Sophia throughout the narrative. At the beginning of each chapter Coloe provides text from the later wisdom books that resonate with the Gospel passage, drawing Sophia out of the shadows.

Newly issued in a series of part volumes, the OBC is now available in an affordable and portable format for the four canonical Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Includes a general introduction to using the Commentary, in addition to an introduction to study of the New Testament, and a detailed comparison of the four gospels in synopsis.

This book is a fully stocked toolbox for anyone interested in whether we can still trust the New Testament in the twenty-first century.

Throughout the Gospel of John Jesus poses a series of questions: "What are you looking for?" "Do you want to be healed?" "Why do I speak to you at all?" as well as the most poignant, addressed to Peter, "Do you love me?" Michael Crosby's reflections on these questions take us into the heart of John's gospel. He highlights an important theme: the tension between a model of the church that gives emphasis to the Petrine principle of apostolic authority and a model of the church -- characterized by the Beloved Disciple -- that gives greater emphasis to loving service and discipleship. As Crosby shows, it is in balancing the roles of both Peter and the Beloved Disciple that the church best reflects the spirit of Christ.

The highly popular Sheffield New Testament Guides are being reissued in a new format, grouped together and prefaced by one of the best known of contemporary Johannine scholars. This new format is designed to ensure that these authoritative introductions remain up to date and accessible to seminary and university students of the New Testament while offering a broader theological and literary context for their study. Alan Culpepper introduces the Johannine Writings as a whole, illuminating their distinctive historical and theological features and their importance within the New Testament canon.

Most experts who seek to understand the historical Jesus focus only on the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. However, the contributors of this volume come to an important consensus: that the Gospel of John preserves traditions that are independent of the Synoptics, and which are often as reliable as any known traditions for understanding the historical Jesus. As such, the contributors argue for the use of John's Gospel in Jesus research. The volume contains various critical approaches to historical inquiry in the Gospel of John, including new evaluations of the relationship between John and the Synoptics, literary and rhetorical approaches, comparative analysis of other early traditions, the judicious use of archaeological data, and historical interpretation of John's theological tendencies. Contributing scholars include Dale C. Allison, Jr., Paul N. Anderson, Harold W. Attridge, James H. Charlesworth, R. Alan Culpepper, Michael A. Daise, Craig S. Keener, George L. Parsenios, Petr Pokorný, Jan Roskovec, and Urban C. von Wahlde, who help to reassess fully the historical study of John's gospel, particularly with respect to the person of Jesus.