Maynard, Arthur H.

Understanding the Gospel of John

1992 0-7734-9640-8
Makes significant contributions to the scholarly understanding of the Gospel in three areas: understanding the Beloved Disciple not as a historic person, but as any person in the bosom of Christ as Christ is in the bosom of God, and such persons are the source of church authority; studies the dialogues which Jesus has with the "spiritually dull" as a way by which Jesus shows his divinity; and sees John as a midrashic development of the Synoptic Gospels. Important to the general reader is the attention given to the literary form of the Gospel, its understanding of Jesus as divine, the discussion of key concepts -- such as light and darkness, and abiding in Christ -- and a discussion of the realized eschatology of the Gospel. The book will be useful as a text for college or church classes.