Adele Reinhartz has been studying and teaching the Gospel of John for many years. Earlier, she chose to ignore the love/hate relationship that the book provokes in her, a Jew, and took refuge in an "objective" historical-critical approach. At this stage her relationship to the Gospel was not so much a friendship as a business relationship. No longer willing to ignore the negative portrayal of Jews and Judaism in the text, nor the insight that her own Jewish identity inevitably does play a role in her work as an exegete, Reinhartz here explores the Fourth Gospel through the approach known as "ethical criticism," which is based on the metaphorical notion of the book as "friend"--not "an easy, unquestioning companionship," but the kind of honest relationship in which ethical considerations are addressed, not avoided. In a book as multilayered as the Gospel itself, Reinhartz engages in 4 different "readings" of the Fourth Gospel: compliant, resistant, sympathetic, and engaged. Each approach views the Beloved Disciple differently: as mentor, opponent, colleague, and as "other." In the course of each of these readings, she elucidates the three narrative levels that interpenetrate the Gospel: the historical, the cosmological, and the ecclesiological. In the latter, Reinhartz deals at length with the so-called expulsion theory, the dominant scholarly notion that the Johannine community, which included believers of Jewish, Gentile, and Samaritan origins, engaged in a prolonged and violent controversy with the local Jewish community, culminating in a "traumatic expulsion from the synagogue."

John the apostle must have thought he had seen everything. Having been with Jesus all the years of his ministry, John witnessed more miracles than he could count, saw more displays of power than he could comprehend, and experienced more love than he could fathom. And one unforgettable morning young John outran Peter to his Savior’s empty tomb. Just as Christ took John on a lifelong journey into the depths of His love, He will do the same for you. The bridegroom’s love is unmatched and inexhaustible, and He is waiting to lavish it on you, His beloved.

Adele Reinhartz has been studying and teaching the Gospel of John for many years. Earlier, she chose to ignore the love/hate relationship that the book provokes in her, a Jew, and took refuge in an ""objective"" historical-critical approach. At this stage her relationship to the Gospel was not so much a friendship as a business relationship. No longer willing to ignore the negative portrayal of Jews and Judaism in the text, nor the insight that her own Jewish identity inevitably does play a role in her work as an exegete, Reinhartz here explores the Fourth Gospel through the approach known as.

Modern readers sometimes view the Gospels and other biblical narratives as mere historical accounts of events that occurred long ago. Biblical narratives, however, are intended to do far more than teach us history. They are intended to change how we think and how we live. In The Making of a Disciple, Watson and Culy use insights from narrative criticism to show that the message of the Gospel of John is communicated not only through the teachings and deeds of Jesus, but also through the actions of the other main characters and the consequences of their actions. As readers observe characters interacting with Jesus, they are implicitly encouraged to either emulate or avoid their behavior. Coupled with the teachings and acts of Jesus, these characters serve as potent tools in the Gospel of John to showcase what it looks like not only to become a disciple of Jesus but also to grow to maturity and experience the fullness of joy that Jesus offers.