Jesus the Word according to John the Sectarian: A Paleofundamentalist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, Especially Its Elites, in North America

by Robert H. Gundry

Few have failed to notice the increasing accommodation of evangelicalism to worldly culture. Unless this trend is corrected, evangelicalism will soon lose the distinctives that have catapulted it to unparalleled success in the religious marketplace. This bold work by Robert Gundry finds a powerful and much-needed antidote to worldliness in John's Gospel. Built on a unique combination of biblical exegesis, sociological analysis, and contemporary application, the book traces the influence of Word-Christology throughout the Gospel of John, unpacking its implications for North American evangelicalism. Sure to generate discussion-even controversy-are Gundry's adoption of a sectarian interpretation of John and his evaluation of contemporary North American evangelicalism. Seeing the evangelical tradition as having moved far down the road from sect to mainline church, he argues that it now needs a strong dose of John's logocentric sectarianism to avoid losing the edge that has made it successful.

Genres: Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Robert Horton Gundry is Westmont College's Scholar-in-Residence after retiring from a teaching career of nearly forty years. His various areas of expertise include New Testament Greek, Eschatology (end times studies), the Gospels, and New Testament Theology. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Manchester University in 1961. He has been honored with the Teacher of the Year Award three times, the Faculty Researcher of the Year Award, and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award. His many publications include Jesus the Word according to John the Sectarian: A Paleofundamentalist Manifesto for Contemporary Evangelicalism, Especially Its Elites, in North America, First the Antichrist, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross, A Survey of the New Testament, Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art, Soma in Biblical Theology with Emphasis on Pauline Anthropology, The Church and the Tribulation, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew's Gospel with Special Reference to the Messianic Hope, as well as numerous articles and book reviews in New Testament studies.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

reviewed at:
http://thatjeffcarterwashere.blogspot...

[Jrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Jesus the Word according to John, the Sectarian, Gundry argues that North Americans must return to the fundamentalism based on John’s sectarian portrayal of Jesus the Word. Through christological exegesis of pertinent passages in the Fourth Gospel, Gundry, in the first chapter, demonstrates how Jesus presents himself as the Word (cf. John 1:1). The second chapter focuses on John’s sectarian portrayal of Jesus as the Word who calls his sheep. The last chapter provides the application, which is a call for North American evangelicals to return back to a “Paleo-” fundamentalism found in John’s sectarian portrayal of Jesus the Word.

Gundry provides a biblical-theological argument on presenting a major theme in the Fourth Gospel: Jesus as the Word who divides sons of light from sons of darkness. This work serves as a prototype of how to use biblical theology as a method of study with Gundry’s great care, observation, and proper handling of the data of the biblical text. While some may see his application as extreme (as he expects his readers to say) and others may view it as not far enough, yet he provides a very sound, fair, and balanced application for the Northern evangelicals of his time. Regardless of what issues the church may face at the present time, the understanding of Jesus the Word dividing people between believers and non-believers remain a principle that affects the church until Jesus the Word himself returns.

[Brian Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the exposition of Jesus the Word largely convincing. If at times Gundry may have stretched to show how the Logos theme runs throughout the book, the number of actual connections is substantial enough for his thesis to stand. Furthermore, I'm in agreement that Word refers to the revelatory aspect of Jesus's ministry.

The exposition of John as sectarian I found less convincing. He pits the theology of John against the synoptics, and tries to mount an argument that John does not intend for Christians to love the world in any sense, John 3:16 notwithstanding. I have a hard time seeing fundamentalists, paleo or otherwise affirming an approach that sees diverse theologies among the Gospel writers.

I was of a mixed mind of his paelofundamentalist manifesto. As a fundamentalist, I found aspects of the critique, especially those aspects about theological assimilation and worldly living, pertinent. I resist the idea, however, that fundamentalism should is only about churchly and heavenly life and not about earthly life. Not least because at those points Gundry is setting different parts of Scripture against each other.

[Charles Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent Book. The fist half of the book could be a little difficult if a person did not have a background in Greek. However, the second half has his conclusions and it alone is well worth the cost of the book. I will keep this book as one of my favorites