Was the Gospel of John written in critical response to the Gospel of Thomas, an early collection of Jesus's sayings? Or was it directed to the Christians among whom Thomas originated? Ismo Dunderberg challenges these views, arguing that the two gospels were written at about the same time but without knowledge of each other. He also offers a thorough discussion of the identity and functions of the enigmatic Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John, throwing new light on this figure by comparing it to other `beloved' disciples of Jesus in early Christian literature. This part of Dunderberg's analysis also helps to evaluate the portrayal of Judas in the recently published Gospel of Judas, although this text was not yet available, when this study was completed.

Could it be that the Gospel of John was written in response to the Gospel of Thomas, an early collection of Jesus's sayings? Or was the enigmatic Beloved Disciple in John's Gospel in fact Thomas? Ismo Dunderberg provides a critical examination of these theories.

"This study in Johannine ecclesiology reconstructs the history of one Christian community in the first century -- a community whose life from its inception to its last hour is reflected in the Gospel and Epistles of John. It was a community that struggled with the world, with the Jews, and with other Christians. Eventually the struggle spread even to its own ranks. It was, in short, a community not unlike the Church of today. This book offers a different view of the traditional Johannine eagle. In the Gospel the eagle soars above the earth, but with talons bared for the fray. In the Epistles we discover the eaglets tearing at each other for possession of the nest" -- Back cover.

The common supposition that the Fourth Gospel presents a rivalry between Peter and the Beloved Disciple, in which Peter is subordinated to the hero of the Johannine Community, is here subjected to fresh scrutiny. After establishing working hypotheses regarding the Johannine Community and the function of representative figures in the Fourth Gospel, the author first examines the function of Peter independently of the Beloved Disciple. Here, he is the exemplary leader of 'the Twelve'. In those passages where the two characters are juxtaposed, it is evident that the Beloved Disciple is not inordinately exalted above Peter, who in fact enjoys a comparable status. Peter and the Beloved Disciple have complementary roles to play in relation to Jesus and his unfolding 'hour'. John 20 shows the Beloved Disciple as the example of a true believing disciple of Jesus, while concerned to give appropriate respect and support to the 'Apostolic' stream of traditions associated with Peter. The Gospel appendix, ch. 21, is concerned to hold together both sorts of traditions and allegiances. Finally, the author shows how the Gospel as a whole works coherently to encourage a wider view of Christian 'intercommunity' unity after the death of the Beloved Disciple.

"The Beloved Disciple" is the trade book adaptation of the bestselling, video-based, interactive Bible study "Beloved Disciple." It shows readers that John was uniquely chosen to be the one who received the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and that Christ still desires to reveal Himself to His disciples today.

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."

Follow the author on his worldwide adventures as he learns the mysterious identity of the Emissaries of Light, an ancient community of spiritual masters said to have existed for thousands of years.