The Gospel of John - not being afraid of deep water

Since College days when I patiently and conscientiously worked through C K Barrett's commentary on the Gospel of John I have loved this New Testament text. And alongside those evenings slowly turning the pages and making notes I still have in neat handwritten, pre-computer script, we were walked through the text by our New Testament teacher, R E O White. It was an immersion in text that taught me to swim, and not to be too afraid of deep water. In the years since I've slowly worked through numerous commentaries and monographs and tried to stay current with Johannine scholarship. Some big names are familiar companions - Barrett, Brown, Schnackenburg, Morris, Carson, Beasley-Murray ( a scandalously restricted volume in the Word series given the three volume sprawlers on Luke and Revelation) - more recently Moloney, Lincoln, and monographs by Ashton, Koester, Robinson, Bauckham et al.

And then there are those books which use John for spiritual formation, from Jean Vanier, to William Countryman to Francis Moloney. I have to say I'm less enamoured of such attempts to feed the Gospel of John through a Christian spirituality grid. Lesslie Newbiggin's The Light Has Come is a different category altogether. A theological gem.

But the reason for all this Johannine enthusiasm is the imminent arrival of John Ramsey Michael's commentary on John. I met him once when i was teaching in Hanover, New Hampshire. He is a wise, shrewd and deeply learned man, whose scholarship range is wide and deep. I was teaching on Julian of Norwich, George Herbert and Charles Wesley - he was teaching on John Bunyan. His literary sensitivity, theological resourcefulness and open minded interest levels made him a source of much fun and much learning. His commentary is already being described as readable, progressing Johannine scholarship, and a gift to the preaching of the church. Not surprised. And it will be the commentary I'll saunter through for the next few months - if it arrives by Advent it'll be fun reading him on the greatest advent hymn of them all - "In the beginning was the Word.....and the Word became flesh..." So swimming at the deep end, standing at the edge of the reservoir, not being afraid of deep water - my theological hero James Denney had his own take on the deep water metaphor - about Jesus and his passion he urged that we hear 'the plunge of lead into fathomless waters'. That's what happens when I dive into the text of John's Gospel.

Comments

[Ian K. Gray]

Jim,

Your memories of being "walked throught the text" of John brings to mind something that I've often wondered. When people talk about "bible college", the impression that comes to mind is just that - a place where one is systematically taught the bible. That doesn't seem to happen today - although it sounds from your post that it might have done in the past.

Now, I know that we're now taught principles for doing that in-depth bible by ourselves; and I know that we couldn't possibly hope to cover the whole bible; and I know that in any case what we're taught today goes well beyond "just" the bible in scope; and I know that a two/four year course can only cover a certain amount. Nevertheless... something in me longs to be able to spend some time in a group/teacher environment, simply getting to grips with some really in-depth study of the bible - such as working through a gospel as you describe.

Do you think I'm alone in this? Are there creative ways in which this could be achieved?

Ian

[Jack Napiare]

That's an interesting tapestry.

[Will Edwards]

The carpet page looks as if it might be from The Books of Kells. I remember seeing it once on a visit to Dublin.

Your love of the Johanine text has inspired me to take another look.

Best wishes,

Will :)