AbstractThe Community of Eternal Life is a work which employs a peculiar exegetical methodology of a four-level reading of the text to demonstrate the fact that the vision of eternal life played a key role in holding together the disparate groups that lie behind the Fourth Gospel and the three Johannine epistles. To demonstrate this claim, David A. Ihenacho embarks on an in depth consideration of the thematic nature of the Johannine idea of eternal life, an examination of the integrative power of the Johannine concept of eternal life and the implication of its exegetical and theological contents. Ihenacho then advances from a historical consideration of the eternal life texts, to sociological and literary considerations, and finally to a theological consideration.

AbstractThis work sets out to demonstrate that the sectarian Qumran document The Rule of the Community, provides linguistic clues which illuminate our understanding of how the author of the Fourth Gospel used truth terminology and expected it to be understood. It establishes that there are significant linguistic similarities shared by these two corpora. While these may be attributed to a development of the common tradition shared by both, as well as the influence ideology, the semantic continuity with the Rule of the Community makes it likely that the author of the Fourth Gospel was familiar with the mode of thought represented in the linguistic matrix of the Qumran literature and that he followed this in articulating his ideas in certain parts of his Gospel.

AbstractWhile the message of the Bible remains the same, different insights may add new light. In this commentary attempt is made to interact with the text of the letters of John, especially as we have it in the Greek New Testament. The meaning of the word is not seen as the end but only as the basis upon which to relate the message to the present needs of the church. The church is both guardian of truth and instrument of love. These two themes are repeatedly found in the epistles of John, and as they are discussed in this commentary the writer seeks to provoke the reader to reflect on how he/she can keep on improving in them. In our times, with so many displaced persons, hospitality is increasingly becoming an aspect of Christian love the church cannot run away from. These are matters that this book calls attention to, as they are raised by the biblical text itself. I am grateful to others who have also given their time and energy in providing their insights on the same epistles. May the Lord use all the efforts to build a strong church for our time and many years to come!

AbstractThis accessible guide to the Gospel and Letters of John introduces readers to key issues arising from historical, literary, and theological approaches to the Johannine literature, also discussing the methodological rationale underlying each of these approaches. After introducing the reader to the development of the narrative structure of the book, the message (theology) is discussed in detail, with the aim of introducing the reader to the interrelatedness of the multiple theological ideas in this Gospel. Similarities, but also differences between the Gospel and Letters are constantly considered. Familiar with the content of the Gospel, readers are then confronted with questions about the origin, development and socio-cultural nature of the Gospel and letters. In each case the scholarly field is briefly reviewed and major solutions are discussed. Thorough discussions on different issues are presented in different chapters, each time referring to the relevant methodological approaches. How do the Gospel and Letters relate to the synoptics, or the Old Testament? Do we have a Gospel composed of multiple sources or is it a seamless document. How was this influential document written and where do the ideas found in the Gospel come from? Since the aim of this book is to form a solid and comprehensive basis for future study of the Johannine literature, readers are placed firmly within the scholarly currents and streams of the Johannine literature. In terms of a metaphor: after reading the book, explorers will know what is out there and why. Now they can start to dig deeper for themselves without feeling lost in an uncharted land.