Discovering John

The Gospel of John has been the subject of intense scrutiny for centuries. It has profoundly shaped Christian doctrine and inspired artists, musicians, theoligans and ordinary Christians. Despite the Gospel's ability to communicate the good news to the simple believer while plumbing the depths of Christian faith for the sophisticated, it has been sharply criticised as 'world-denying', 'androcentric' and 'anti-Jewish'. What should we make of a Gospel that provokes such diverse reactions? Does John still have meaning for the Church and contemporary society? Does it need to be reinterpreted for today's world? Is it anti-Semitic? In this masterly study, Ruth Edwards seeks to help those interested in this provocative Gospel decide for themselves the answers to these and other questions. "Ruth Edwards has written a lucid and concise introduction to the Gospel of John. Her book manages to condense a generation of scholarship into a highly readable account which will be a great boon to all students of this profound if enigmatic book." Christopher Rowland, Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford