Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel

Koester thoroughly presents the symbolism in John. He discusses some of the different symbols in John, such as light, darkness, and water, as well as the representative figures and symbolic actions (i.e. the "miracles") in the Fourth Gospel. His work is near exhaustive and applicable to the work of the preacher, teacher, or scholar. While at times Koester's Lutheran heritage wins the day (for instance, in finding countless examples of Eucharistic language all throughout John, even where common sense says there is none), for the most part this book stays the course of scholastic neutrality. Only one serious complaint about the book (and this has more to do with Fortress Press than Koester): The binding of the book came completely apart the third time I opened it. Hoping this was not my fault, I contacted several others fellow-students who have the book and they complained of the same problem. Other than this one small downfall, Koester's book is quite good!

A work of impressive scholarship by Craig R. Koester (Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota), and now in its second edition, Symbolism In The Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community is a seminal study of the Christian Gospel's "literary dimensions, social and historical context, and theological import". From exploring representative figures; to symbolic actions; to views of light and darkness, water, and crucifixion, and more, Symbolism In The Fourth Gospel is an extensively detailed, thoughtful, insightful, and strongly recommended contribution to Biblical Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Approaches to the symbolism in the biblical texts is a thorny issue for many readers. That is why this book is so wonderful. Koester stands more-or-less in the evangelical camp, so gives an honest historical reading of John. On his reading, there really was a Samaritan woman, there was a wedding in Cana, there was a Lazarus, etc. This is good, of course: to strip away the historical underpinnings (however tenuous, especially in John) of the pericopes is to eviscerate them. On the other hand, a coldly historical approach to John misses the point(s) of the text completely. The most symbolic of the gospels deserves a thorough symbolic reading in its historical setting. That is what Koester gives. "Balanced" is an overused word, but this book is balanced in its presentation of the Johannine material and the debates surrounding its interpretation.

Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel is an examination of the way the Gospel of John works with symbols and real people. Koester takes the stance that just about everything in the Gospel of John functions not only as a real event, but also as a symbol. For example, when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and they talk about her having five husbands and the man she is with now is not her husband, this is also a discussion of how the people of Samaria have been unfaithful to the people of Israel.Theologically, Koester is somewhere between mainline and evangelical. He does a very nice job of keeping these events as both real factual events (water was turned to win) and at the same time examining the symbolism in that event (renewal). The book reads well and is not written so densely to be incomprehensible. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a commentary on John and want to look deeper into the background and the symbolism. I would not recommend it if you are just starting to read the Bible. Overall, I would give it a week four star rating.