Reading John: The Bible's Transforming Storybook

Biblical scholar Gerald Borchert analyzes the Gospel of John by focusing on the fascinating nature of storytelling in the gospel as a prime example and model of early Christian storytelling. While the Johannine stories have come down to us in an exquisitely written theological document, Borchert believes this gospel clearly reflects its roots in the oral culture of the early church

In Reading John, Borchert walks the fine line between being sufficiently technical for scholars and sufficiently non-technical for interested laypersons and students so that both will find it enticing reading reflecting on how the Johannine storyteller has effectively captured the hearts of countless Christians throughout the centuries.

For many followers of Jesus, the Gospel of John has become their favorite book in the Bible. One reason for their attachment to this gospel is that it contains some of the best known and most quoted verses in the Christian canon. But the attachment for Christ-followers to this book goes far beyond quoting favorite biblical proof-texts. Borchert seeks to establish the contextual framework of these verses that will lead to an even greater zeal, love, and care for others.

This work of the Johannine author has been an effective resource for communicating the transforming power of the Son of God who came for a brief period into the world. Indeed, the Johannine storyteller possessed the amazing ability to encapsulate his ideas into vivid stories that lodge in the reader's memory and then become epitomized in catch words, phrases, or verses.