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Where do we go from here? A Disciple's Reading of First John
Where do we go from here? explores the New Testament epistle known as First John—its vocabulary and structure, its poetry, its purpose, its message, and its relevance for Christians today. Bottom line: First John was written to address a crisis. Back in the day, Christians were giving up on authentic Christian community—either to return to an old-time religion or to invent a new one. In our day, we are facing a similar crisis. Christians are busy doing religion—and are neglecting authentic Christian community. Where do we go from here? The answer is right there in the New Testament epistle known as First John.
Available from Holly House Publications, hollybooks. See Author Profile for the hollybooks website.
Available from Holly House Publications, hollybooks. See Author Profile for the hollybooks website.
- GenresChristian Living
88 pages, Paperback
Published November 26, 2018
1 person want to read
About the author
Dean Summers
10 books3 followersDean Summers, author of The Good Life, Marching to Zion, and To Sit at the Welcome Table, is the Consultant for Discipleship & Christian Leadership Development with Holly House School of Christian Ministry. Here at Goodreads, Dean’s bookshelves include three for books recommended in the School of Christian Ministry: scm1, scm2, and scm3 (a shelf for each SCM level).
Dean is an accomplished haiku poet, published in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, The Heron’s Nest, Cicada, and Brussels Sprout.
His work draws from his experience as a leader of an urban Christian kibbutz; as an executive director of an organization that facilitated partnerships between suburban and urban Christian congregations; as a college student in Japan, India, and Israel; and as a college teacher in South Africa.
For samples of Dean’s haiku, and to learn more about the School of Christian Ministry, visit Holly House Publications, www.hollybooks.com.
Dean is an accomplished haiku poet, published in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, The Heron’s Nest, Cicada, and Brussels Sprout.
His work draws from his experience as a leader of an urban Christian kibbutz; as an executive director of an organization that facilitated partnerships between suburban and urban Christian congregations; as a college student in Japan, India, and Israel; and as a college teacher in South Africa.
For samples of Dean’s haiku, and to learn more about the School of Christian Ministry, visit Holly House Publications, www.hollybooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 10, 2024
If you’ve ever read in the New Testament that curious little pamphlet titled First John, you’ll know it’s easy to get the gist of it, but not so easy to follow its line of thought. In English, in print, First John is five pages long, more or less, depending on type size and layout. The gist of it is spelled out in 1 John 3:23: “And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as [Jesus] commanded us” (NIV). But why does it take five pages to say that? What else is going on?
In Where do we go from here? I provide a very literal translation of First John so you can feel its rhetorical pulse and pick up on the recurring words and phrases that convey its major themes. In footnotes, I identify phrases that echo passages from the Gospel of John and from the Jewish Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament). And I provide a reconstruction of what I understand to be the urgent circumstances that prompted the writing of First John.
But I won’t leave you back in the first Christian century. Here in the twenty-first Christian century I’m eager for you to see how, as envisioned in First John, believing in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another as Jesus commanded, is a way out of a dog-eat-dog existence into the new humanity we’ve all been waiting for. As charted in First John, it’s a way both revolutionary and realistic.
In Where do we go from here? I provide a very literal translation of First John so you can feel its rhetorical pulse and pick up on the recurring words and phrases that convey its major themes. In footnotes, I identify phrases that echo passages from the Gospel of John and from the Jewish Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament). And I provide a reconstruction of what I understand to be the urgent circumstances that prompted the writing of First John.
But I won’t leave you back in the first Christian century. Here in the twenty-first Christian century I’m eager for you to see how, as envisioned in First John, believing in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another as Jesus commanded, is a way out of a dog-eat-dog existence into the new humanity we’ve all been waiting for. As charted in First John, it’s a way both revolutionary and realistic.
October 10, 2024
If you’ve ever read in the New Testament that curious little pamphlet titled First John, you’ll know it’s easy to get the gist of it, but not so easy to follow its line of thought. In English, in print, First John is five pages long, more or less, depending on type size and layout. The gist of it is spelled out in 1 John 3:23: “And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as [Jesus] commanded us” (NIV). But why does it take five pages to say that? What else is going on?
In Where do we go from here? I provide a very literal translation of First John so you can feel its rhetorical pulse and pick up on the recurring words and phrases that convey its major themes. In footnotes, I identify phrases that echo passages from the Gospel of John and from the Jewish Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament). And I provide a reconstruction of what I understand to be the urgent circumstances that prompted the writing of First John.
But I won’t leave you back in the first Christian century. Here in the twenty-first Christian century I’m eager for you to see how, as envisioned in First John, believing in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another as Jesus commanded, is a way out of a dog-eat-dog existence into the new humanity we’ve all been waiting for. As charted in First John, it’s a way both revolutionary and realistic.
In Where do we go from here? I provide a very literal translation of First John so you can feel its rhetorical pulse and pick up on the recurring words and phrases that convey its major themes. In footnotes, I identify phrases that echo passages from the Gospel of John and from the Jewish Scriptures (known to Christians as the Old Testament). And I provide a reconstruction of what I understand to be the urgent circumstances that prompted the writing of First John.
But I won’t leave you back in the first Christian century. Here in the twenty-first Christian century I’m eager for you to see how, as envisioned in First John, believing in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and loving one another as Jesus commanded, is a way out of a dog-eat-dog existence into the new humanity we’ve all been waiting for. As charted in First John, it’s a way both revolutionary and realistic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews