A Theology of John's Gospel and Letters

Finished this wonderful book today, Kostenberger is a gifted communicator but much more than that makes this an incredible book. Kostenberger says in the very last thought that his intention as a scholar is not to master the book of John but  that he is as a worshiper and disciple seeking to be mastered by it. That is the way this book feels, it is theology as devotion and his enthusiasm for John and for John's LORD is catching. Yet it is also scholarly,  Kostenberger has a firm grasp on trends within Johannine scholarship and as a conservative evangelical he is not afraid to engage with them. He is appreciative of Richard Bauckham's  Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (as am I) but takes him to task for not following the early church in affirming the writer of the fourth Gospel as the Apostle John when the best evidence leads us to that conclusion. Kostenberger rightly points out that Bauckham's book has moved scholarship beyond the now outdated idea of a Johannine community to see that there is weighty evidence within the gospels themselves to point to eyewitness testimony. 

I am not sure where Kostenberger stands on the whole sovereignty of God, human responsibility issue but he is very clear where John stands, while John affirms both, it is the sovereignty of God that is paramount which is one of the reasons I came to a reformed understanding as John's gospel did its work on me.

An interesting chapter in the book shows Kostenberger taking on those who would challenge John's ethics as a sectarian document. He points out that while John presents the world as a dark place,'alienated from God, nontheless it remains an object of his love' both in the sending of Jesus, John 3:16 and in the mission of the disciples, for John this is not just for the Apostles but all who come after. The mission of the church is also a key theme for John and Kostenberger draws this out in one chapter and it is reverberates through the whole book. I commend this book to to you.

I am taking a break from Kostenberger for a couple of books but I am already looking forward to reading his ECNT commentary on John.

God Bless

Stephen <><