The God of the Gospel of John
Overview
The God of the Gospel of John offers a comprehensive study of the concept of God in John’s Gospel. Marianne Meye Thompson shows that one must first grasp the importance of God to John before one can properly appreciate the Gospel’s Christology and overarching message. By arguing that John is rightly understood to be a “theocentric” work, Thompson challenges the prevailing theory that John is primarily concerned with Christology. While Thompson uses traditional historical and exegetical approaches to the New Testament and ancient sources, her study is mainly theological in scope. She asks how John portrays God and how, after reading the Gospel, we ought to speak of the identity of God.
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- Offers a comprehensive study of the concept of God in John’s Gospel
- Discusses the importance of God to John in appreciating the Gospel’s Christology
- Presents theological, historical, and exegetical approaches to the New Testament and ancient sources
- Introduction: The Neglected Factor in New Testament Theology
- The Meaning of “God”
- The Living Father
- The Knowledge of God
- The Spirit of God
- The Worship of God
- Concluding Reflections: The God of the Gospel of John
Top Highlights
“In terms of genre, the Gospel is a narrative of some aspects of Jesus’ life, written to persuade its readers to take up its perspective of the significance of that life as their own.” (Page 13)
“In John’s ‘realized eschatology’ what is present is not ‘the future’ but rather the life-giving presence of the living God.” (Page 86)
“the way that Jesus has and confers the Spirit differs from the way” (Page 175)
“‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ The second half of the statement—‘no one comes to the Father but by me’—explains the first half, the ‘I am’ saying. The next verse continues by way of explanation, ‘If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.’ That is, Jesus is the way to the Father because he mediates knowledge of the Father.57 Therefore, he is also the mediator of truth and life. Both the exclusive nature of Jesus’ claim and his function as the mediator of knowledge of God and so of life come to the fore.” (Page 88)
“Just as Jesus does not ‘replace’ the Father but rather makes the Father known, testifies to him, and discloses him, so the Spirit does not ‘replace’ Jesus but makes Jesus known, testifies to him, and discloses him to the disciples. In this manner, the Spirit does not replace Jesus, or even become the real presence of Jesus; the Spirit makes the presence of Jesus real.” (Pages 181–182)
Thompson provides sure-footed and wisely judged analysis of the subtle and sometimes complex way that the Gospel of John both presents Jesus with reference to God and emphasizes that God is truly revealed in Jesus. This distinctive and valuable study is important for any serious student of the New Testament and early Christianity, a ‘must’ for studies of the Gospel of John, and should be acquired by any serious library serving these fields.
—Larry W. Hurtado, emeritus professor of New Testament language, literature, and theology, University of Edinburgh
Characterized throughout by gracious, penetrating engagement with the Fourth Gospel and its modern readers and by maturity of reflection and insight, The God of the Gospel of John is a most welcome harbinger of the future of New Testament studies.
—Joel B. Green, professor of New Testament interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary
This monograph is an incisive, well-written, mature and valuable study of God in the Fourth Gospel. It should be on the desk of every Johannine scholar and on the shelves of any serious theological library.
—Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
- Title: The God of the Gospel of John
- Author: Marianne Meye Thompson
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 2001
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 279
- Era: era:Contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: God; Bible. N.T. John › Criticism, interpretation, etc
- ISBNs: 9780802847348, 080284734X
- Resource ID: LLS:GODGOSPELJOHN
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:18:37Z