Here’s an interesting book on the themes found in the beloved book of John. The themes covered are widely agreed upon among scholars, but they’re gathered here and presented in a well-written form.

The first chapter is an introduction such as might be found in a commentary. The next chapter starts turning more toward those themes as the theology of John is covered. The author believes that though Jesus is the central character, the center of John is God. I’ll at least say that Jesus speaks often of and to His Father in John. The spirituality of John is also highlighted and the famed “I AM” statements are discussed.

The balance of the book is six chapters on theological pairs. The first is “Word and Wisdom”. I must confess that I find that connection tenuous. It’s two great subjects, to be sure, but I’ve just never seen them interacting in John. Nevertheless, several scholars agree with Ms. Lee, so I might be missing something.

The next pair is life and light. Even in a casual reading of John these two jump off the page in John. She expertly guides us to see this line as working through the book. She makes some excellent points on blindness that I hadn’t thought of. After tracing through the Resurrection, she even uses the fire where Jesus was cooking for a troubled Peter.

I found the pair of Temple and glory keenly instructive. Over the last few years studying biblical theology I’ve noticed just how prevalent and encompassing the concept of Temple is. Next is witnessing and believing that is again apparent in John. Still, her discussion is not mundane and goes far beyond the obvious.

Birth/family and Law/Revelation round out the book. Again, I was sold on their significance in John.

This book gives you much to digest. Perhaps you’ll think a point occasionally stretched, but overall these are for the most part some of the great themes of John. It’s good enough that I’ll consult it going forward on any major studies of John.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.