Gospel of Glory: Major Themes in Johannine Theology

by Richard Bauckham

Throughout Christian history, the Gospel of John's distinctive way of presenting the life, works, teachings, and death of Jesus have earned it labels such as "the spiritual gospel" and "the maverick gospel." It has been seen as the most theological of the four canonical gospels. In this volume Richard Bauckham, a leading biblical scholar and a bestselling author in the academy, illuminates several main theological themes of the Gospel of John. Bauckham provides insightful analysis of key texts, covering topics such as divine and human community, God's glory, the cross and the resurrection, and the sacraments. This work will serve as an ideal supplemental text for professors and students in a John course or a Gospels course. It will also be of interest to New Testament scholars and theologians.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, New Testament, Christianity, Christian, History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

Richard Bauckham (PhD, University of Cambridge) is senior scholar at Ridley Hall, Cambridge University, in Cambridge, England, where he teaches for the Cambridge Federation of Theological Colleges. He is also a visiting professor at St. Mellitus College, London, and emeritus professor of New Testament at the University of St. Andrews. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the author of numerous books.

Reviews

[Matthew Le Croissette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! So many sentences and paragraphs that unlocked new things in John for me. Glory, Individualisms and ‘Dimensions of Meaning’ are particular highlights. A reassuring (if at times intimidating) amount of data too…

[Mike Vowels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book explaining the major themes of the Gospel of John. I would recommend to anyone wanting to study this amazing Gospel in a deeper way.

[Eric Abisror · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read on the Gospel of John. Brought out several points that were very interesting and thought provoking. His chapter on "individualism" was particularly helpful.

[Yajaira Marmolejo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great easy to read book about the Gospel of John. Bauckham points out great connections to the OT that will bring greater meaning and understanding of the Gospel.

[Audra Spiven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just so we're clear from the start, Goodreads itself says that 2 stars means "it was okay," and that is how I felt about this book. I think it really deserves 3 stars because in my mind, 3 stars out of 5 would be the neutral position "it was neither great nor terrible." But Goodreads says that position is at 2 stars, so I'm following what Goodreads says.

As I'm sure those who follow my reviews regularly can imagine, this was an assigned book for one of my seminary classes. I sincerely doubt I would've read it otherwise.

I will make this review brief and simply say that Bauckham failed to retain my attention on multiple occasions. He piqued my interest occasionally but more often bored me, and sometimes he annoyed me with his academic preening and critiquing of other John scholars with whom he disagrees. One can disagree without being pompous about it. It regularly felt as if Bauckham failed to do that.

There ARE some great nuggets in here, at least two separate lengthy paragraphs that I found fascinating and thought-provoking, but probably not enough to recommend the entire book.

[Caleb Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always love reading Richard Bauckham. He has the rare ability as a biblical scholar to navigate the anti-doctrinal tendencies of the biblical studies guild while maintaining rich theological awareness. This book is no exception, and it certainly reflects a careful and attentive study of John's Gospel. The book reads a little disjointed since the chapters are broken up into studying major themes in John's Gospel rather than revolving around a singular thesis, but this does not take away from treasure trove of insights to be taken from this book. For my money, the chapters on Glory (ch. 3), Cross, Resurrection, and Exaltation (ch. 4), Sacraments? (ch. 5), and Dimensions of Meaning in the Gospel's First Week (ch. 7) are worth the price of the book alone.

Sadly, I think too many evangelicals have become over-familiar with the Gospel of John. How often do we read the same stories that we grew up learning about and never stop to think if there is something there that we never thought of before? Well if you're wanting an easy read that is theologically jam packed with inter-biblical allusions to cure that curiosity, then Bauckham's "Gospel of Glory" is a good place to start.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really excellent survey of major themes in John's gospel. Bauckham has provided masses of detail, charts and tabulations of material that is worthy of further study and consideration. In this way he approaches themes, such as "Individualism", where Bauckham notes that there are 7 one-to-one discussions in the gospel with individuals.
He discusses baptism and the communion in the gospel, avoiding simplistic sacramental interpretations, whilst not neglecting to see secondary associations with the sacraments. He analyses and tabulates 100 or so "dualisms" in John - there is a huge amount to consider further here.
The in depth exegesis and discussion of John Chapter 1 is very stimulating, showing us how to read with depth, subtlety and with an abundance of stimulating observations and how these themes relate back the OT background.

[Daniel MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great work of Bauckham’s on the Gospel of John. I found that the book starts off slow, but ends in an eruption of how the Gospel needs to be read, along with how it harmonizes beautifully with the Synoptics. Tons of amazing sermon material as well.

One of my favorite parts is Bauckham’s organization (not originally from himself) of a great argument for John’s Gospel having the same level of Christology as the Synoptics. This is another fantastic book to read if you’re wanting more on John.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays on The Gospel of John by an important biblical scholar. I find this an insightful read, and gained a deeper understanding of John through it, complimenting a recent study in our Bible study group. Some sections I found particularly profound. It did suffer from its origin as a collection of essays/lectures, with the feel of a slight disjointed read in style. I will return to it, though, for further reflection now I have read the whole.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at the Gospel of John, but unlike most commentaries, it is focused on overall themes, rather than individual passages. The author does focus more on individual passages near the end. Overall, I thought it was a good explanation of the Gospel, although many of the themes that the author presented I wouldn't have predicted.

[Tyler Keele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauckham is a brilliant mind. Reading his uncanny, profound scholarship makes me slow down and ingest the work he has done. That being said, I still am working on having a full-understanding of all the work he does in a single book. Sometimes what he articulates goes right over my head. But, the insights I do comprehend are phenomenal and helps me view Jesus in a new, amazing way.

[Brent Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe like 3.75? It felt like disproportionate treatments of different themes and passages in John without exactly giving good justifications for overloading or skimming over. The essay on glory is (unsurprisingly) the best. I wish the last essay was 50 pages instead of the treatment of the first week.

[Douglas Mccall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly I was amazed on the in depth and intricate the detail and intertwining of knowledge the themes were in the story of John. This was put in the top ten of my favorite books of knowledge that I have. Will read more of Bauckham in the future.

[Ryan Lian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really cool insights - especially on individualism, the theme of glory, signs and in-another-ness. Was quite sane most of the time, but slightly lost me with the “gematria” of the Hebrew word for “ladder” being equivalent to the Aramaic word of “Son of Man” when you add all their letters up… Really helpful overall!

[Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauckham is the man. This collection of essays on some major themes in Johannine theology was a lot of fun to read. I definitely had some favorite and less favorite essays, but the essay 7, “Dimensions of Meaning in the Gospel’s First Week” was amazing.

[Joseph Blissett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very compelling

This was a digestible and compelling explication of the themes and features of the gospel of John. Helpful take on dualism in chapter 6.

[Jack Hayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic.

[Adam Balshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars [Theology]
(W: 2.97, U: 2.9, T: 2.7)
Exact rating: 2.86

[Andrew Goode · Rating 3 out of 5]

First two essays 5/5, the rest are good, just nothing groundbreaking.

[Benjamin Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed every chapter in this book except for the one about sacraments. I thought he didn't satisfactorily answer the Traditions argument and instead opted for artificial metrics to determine whether or not he thought there were sacramental allusions. Otherwise, I learned a lot from this book and it will definitely be an important resource for me moving forward.

[Guilherme Nunes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difícil concordar com tudo, mas Richard Bauckham é fera demais!
Em breve colocarei a resenha, que será para minha cadeira de Teologia do Novo Testamento

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenging insights.

[Tommi Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read, I gave "only" four stars because some of the sections are simply borrowed from his earlier works.