John the Theologian and his Paschal Gospel: A Prologue to Theology

by John Behr

This study brings three different kinds of readers of the Gospel of John together with the theological goal of understanding what is meant by Incarnation and how it relates to Pascha, the Passion of Christ, how this is conceived of as revelation, and how we speak of it. The first group of readers are the Christian writers from the early centuries, some of whom (such as Irenaeus of Lyons) stood in direct continuity, through Polycarp of Smyrna, with John himself. In exploring these writers, John Behr offers a glimpse of the figure of John and the celebration of Pascha, which held to have started with him.

The second group of readers are modern scriptural scholars, from whom we learn of the apocalyptic dimensions of John's Gospel and the way in which it presents the life of Christ in terms of the Temple and its feasts. With Christ's own body, finally erected on the Cross, being the true Temple in an offering of love rather than a sacrifice for sin. An offering in which Jesus becomes the flesh he offers for consumption, the bread which descends from heaven, so that 'incarnation' is not an event now in the past, but the embodiment of God in those who follow Christ in the present.

The third reader is Michel Henry, a French Phenomenologist, whose reading of John opens up further surprising dimensions of this Gospel, which yet align with those uncovered in the first parts of this work.

This thought-provoking work brings these threads together to reflect on the nature and task of Christian theology.

Genres: Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian, Philosophy, Religion, History, Nonfiction

408 pages, Hardcover

Published May 20, 2019

About the author

Fr John Behr is Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He previously taught at St Vladimir’s Seminary, where he served as Dean from 2007-17; he is also the Metropolitan Kallistos Chair of Orthodox Theology at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Center for Orthodox Theology.

Fr John hails from England, though his family background is Russian and German – and clerical on both sides. From the Russian side, his great-grandfather was sent to London by Metropolian Evlogy to serve there as a priest in 1926; his father was also a priest, ordained by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), as are his brother (at St Paul’s Monastery on Mt Athos) and his brother-in-law (Sts Cyril and Methodius, Terryville, CT). His maternal grandparents met at Karl Barth’s graduate seminar in Basel, and served in the Lutheran Church in Germany, where his grandfather was a Lutheran pastor.

After completing his first degree in Philosophy in London in 1987, Fr. John spent a year studying in Greece. He finished an M.Phil. in Eastern Christian Studies at Oxford University, under Bishop Kallistos (Ware), who subsequently supervised his doctoral work, which was examined by Fr. Andrew Louth and Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury. While working on his doctorate, he was invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in 1993, where he has been a permanent faculty member since 1995, tenured in 2000, and ordained in 2001. Before becoming Dean in 2007, he served as the editor of St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, and he still edits the Popular Patristics Series for SVS Press.

His doctoral work was on issues of asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria, and was published by Oxford University Press (2000). After spending almost a decade in the second century, Fr John began the publication of a series on the Formation of Christian Theology (The Way to Nicaea, SVS Press 2001, and The Nicene Faith, SVS Press 2003). Synthesizing these studies, is the book The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (SVS Press, 2003). In preparation for further volumes of his Formation series, Fr John edited and translated the fragments of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, setting them in their historical and theological context (OUP 2011). More recently Fr John published a more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (SVS Press, 2013) and a full study of St Irenaeus: St Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity (OUP, 2013). Most recently he has completed a new critical edition and translation of Origen’s On First Principles, together with an extensive introduction, for OUP (2017), and John the Theologian and His Paschal Gospel: A Prologue to Theology (OUP 2019). He is currently working on a new edition and translation of the works of Irenaeus.

His other passion is cycling, especially restoring and riding vintage bicycles including a historic Hetchins and a Dursley Pedersen. The Tour de France dominates the Behr family life during July, dictating the scheduling of important family events. Fr John’s wife, a Tour de France enthusiast and armchair cyclist, teaches English at a nearby college, and their two sons and daughter are being taught to appreciate the finer points of French culture: the great “constructeurs” of the last century, La Grande Boucle, and … cheese.

Reviews

[Caleb Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be chewing on this one for a while. Behr utilizes a plethora of disciplines from biblical studies, Patristic scholarship, theology, and philosophy to give a fresh reading of John's Gospel. Central to his thesis is that the incarnation is not a "moment in the biography of the Word" (a phrase he often repeats from Rowan Williams) but is an apocalyptic revelation of the one and same eternal Word, Jesus Christ. In his words, the "'Incarnation' is not a past event, reconstructed by a historicizing reading of Scripture, but a participation in the life-giving flesh of Christ, incorporated as his body in the life of witness or matyria" (323). It is the historicizing reading of Scripture that Behr is reacting against. Rather than reading Scripture (in the case of the apostles and evangelists, what we now call the "Old Testament") as a historical narrative that leads to the next historical installment (the New Testament), Behr wants us to read Scripture as two equal revelations of the one subject, Jesus Christ, where the New Testament functions as an unveiling of that glory.

Behr's reading of John's Gospel, and for that matter, all of Scripture, is nothing short of inspiring. It'll be difficult to read portions of Scripture (especially John's Prologue) the same way again. Behr has a mastery over the sources that he deploys, ranging over centuries, each contributing unique insights to John's Gospel. He helpfully combats the overtly historicizing reading of John (where historical tends to mean what we as moderns can account for through modern/critical methods), where the historical always stands in a dialectic with the theological. Though I think he emphasizes the theological at the expense of recognizing that the revelation of the Son in the Incarnation is historical revelation, and therefore occurs at a temporal moment, he is right to bring out the apocalyptic elements that readers tend to miss.

Though dense, and a bit challenging to read, given the swath of detail and information that he covers, Behr's "John the Theologian" is a gift for any reader who wants to grow not only in their understanding of John's Gospel, but Scripture itself.

[JonM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of Fr Behr’s best. If you are studying John’s Gospel, you ought to have this in your library. It’s top shelf research with many brilliant insights.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behr's book is part of an exciting new way of biblical scholarship which revisits how the earliest generation of Christian scholars interpreted the scriptures - it is trying to see the world as they saw it, and what questions they believed the scriptures answered, rather than relying on how later generations used these same scritpures. Behr focuses on the prologue of John's Gospel and reads it as the key to understanding the rest of John's Gospel. But the twist is that the prologue completely assumes and accepts the death and resurrection of Christ so that the book isn't to be read as a biography following historical order, but rather is written as Gospel - it has a very particular message it is conveying and John the Theologian carefully crafts that message to give it full impact and meaning. Behr brings up many interesting points in the text using both the post-apostolic writers and modern scholars to weave together his presentation. He also brings into the interpretive process a modern philosopher (Behr is quite excited about how phenomenology fits into the interpretive picture - I probably could not appreciate the points he is making as I in general am not taken by philosophy). For example, Behr bringing together all his various sources focuses on "the Word became flesh" - the word doesn't become human or a body, but flesh. This seems quite profound to me, yet I was not sure I could understand where Behr goes with it. What is clear is that in the early church many did not focus totally on the death of Christ as being the price paid for our sins. Some of the early writers saw in Christ good news in the glory of Christ on the cross - there in his death, both divinity and humanity are revealed. God has a much closer relationship to humans that is admitted in some forms of Christ being the substitutionary death for us. The emphases is not on the suffering of Christ but his glory, on what he reveals to us and about us. The text is thus not about an angry God desiring to punish sinners, but the God of love who is working to restore His creation to all that God created it (and us) to be.

[Brody Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

John the Theologian and His Paschal Gospel is, to use the image with which Fr. John Behr concludes this book, "a symphony." That is to say, it is "the coming together of many distinct voices, each heard only when attended to with all due historical discipline" (331). The sheer diversity of distinct voices in this volume is staggering, including contemporary biblical scholars (e.g., John Ashton), ancient Christian writers (e.g., Irenaeus), and even a French phenomenologist (Michel Henry)! Still more staggering is the historical discipline with which Fr. Behr engages these distinct voices, evaluating each author's contribution within the context of their respective scholarly domains, then drawing them all into harmonious support of Behr's overarching melody—namely, "that the Gospel of John is a paschal gospel, proclaiming the fulfillment, in the Pascha of Christ, of the construction of the Temple and the manifestation of the glory of God in, or rather as the living human being, the completion of God's project" (245). Such a thesis inevitably draws the (seemingly-) disparate domains of philosophy, theology, exegesis, anthropology, and liturgy into a cohesive and compelling vision of reality. This accomplishment alone makes John the Theologian a masterpiece.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking to have the Gospel of John unveiled to see the gospel in a whole new light, then this book is for you. Fr. John Behr explores how different people have read and understood the Gospel of John, from the ancient world through today. Specifically, he examines how they've understood various themes within the Gospel, including: Jesus as the Temple, what it means to be human (and how to become human), and what is meant by "the Word becoming flesh" (Incarnation). As he has in his previous books, Fr. John shines when explaining how everything comes together. However, for those who aren't used to academic books, Fr. John spends a lot of time in conversation with other "readers" of John, which makes this a dense--though invaluable--contribution to Johannine studies. So, if you thought John the Theologian was straightforward, think again! This is a great guide to looking behind the curtain to see how John reveals mysteries that are no longer hidden.

[Christian Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work on the Gospel of John “is not a commentary.” I think that’s appropriate to start with, for if one thinks it is they will miss the depth and value of the book when it comes to theology proper. This book takes on the task of looking at John’s Gospel through traditional lens, exegetical, and philosophical with the goal of showing how this particular Gospel points readers to the whole understanding of Scripture, which is the passion. The book covers the issues of authorship, incarnation, transformation, economy of Christ, and provides value to the discourse concerning the prologue hymn in John 1. This resource is not for all, but for those looking to understand varying views on the Gospel of John and how it unlocks an understanding to Christology that is seen in all of Scripture I would encourage readers to pick up a copy.

[Danielle Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a challenging read. I felt like it seemed disjointed to me somehow, and I was waiting for things in each chapter to come together better. There were many profound thoughts, and I enjoyed being exposed to ideas I am not fluent in. Hearing the early church fathers' expound on John was fascinating. It has led me down so many rabbit trails of other books added to my tbr.

[Luke Eshleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behr's work is as exhilarating as it is challenging. This is not an easy read but it is worth the effort. Behr develops many of the themes and insights of his earlier work on early Patristics (especially Ireanaus) in relation to the Gospel of John.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible and deeply challenging book. Has forever altered the way I will read the fourth Gospel and the other writings of John. At times it was difficult to grasp a passage in one go, but the content is worth the patience required. It will certainly necessitate re-reading, at least for me.

[Carson Harraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to stop giving ‘decent’ books 5 stars so that when books like this come along that radically change my worldview I can actually demarcate them from the rest with a ‘5 star rating.’

I mean, wow, my mind is blown, gonna have to think about this for a while

[Amanda Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep and complicated book, and a lot went over my head, but the gems I did pull out are irreplaceable. Glad I read it.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow! I have read many commentaries on Saint John in "my previous life", but this totally blew me away. Hoping to be able to put a few thoughts together about this one this week.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes books come along and just make everything make sense.

Everytime I read this book, I come away with more. Father Behr is brilliant and he brings so much of John to light

[w gall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is written for scholars, which I am not. Questions led me to read books like these 25 years ago, so I could follow Fr. John's train of thought, but not all the details. The Passion of Christ is the central theme and our life in Jesus Christ, in the fellowship of His sufferings, follows. Frequent references to the views of other scholars can be found on the vast majority of the pages in the book. But while I'm not a scholar, I am not convinced of certain conclusions Fr. John has come to, and I also am somewhat disappointed with the narrow focus of the book. The conclusion that "the disciple Jesus loved" was John the Elder rather than the Apostle John because of certain patristic phrases cited I did not consider convincing; would the Christian community of the time really accept a narrative in which John the Elder leaned on Jesus breast at the Last Supper, rather than the apostle? Also, I wish he had given more attention to the entire text of the Gospel of John, and to the various kinds of "martyrdom" that should characterize living human beings (in Christ). The book would have then been more helpful to readers other than scholars. But this was clearly not the intention. He is writing for fellow scholars specifically. Fr. John has written a small, illustrated book entitled "Becoming Human: Meditations on Christian Anthropology in Word a Image," which summarizes the theme of this book for those of us who are not scholars.