The Gospel and Letters of John

 

Nashville: Abingdon, 1998. Pp. 327, Paperback, No Price Available, ISBN 0687008514. M. C. de Boer Vrije Universiteit 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands According to the Foreword provided by the editors (Gene M. Tucker and Charles B. Cousar), the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is "to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting, to provide guides for their journeys into textual worlds." The series is thus less concerned with the world "behind the texts" than with "the world created by the texts in their engagements with readers." As the author of the influential narrative-critical study of John, The Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983), Culpepper is eminently suitable for the carrying out of this agenda for the Gospel (and the Letters) of John. In Part Two of the book (pp. 107-283), Culpepper leads the "serious" reader through the textual worlds of the Gospel and Letters of John, chapter by chapter and literary unit by literary unit. The strength of Culpepper's "notes" (as he characterizes this commentary) is the attention he gives to the literary composition and structure of the various narratives. The frequent and pertinent citation of parallel texts (mainly though not exclusively from the Old Testament) is another helpful feature. Culpepper himself recognizes that his "notes" are no substitute for reading the documents themselves. Indeed, some "serious" readers may not find Culpepper's commentary an adequate substitute for consulting a substantial critical commentary. Short overviews such as Culpepper's cannot enter into much detail, or must do so selectively, and the result tends to be uneven and unsatisfying, at least for this reader. In his brief introductory chapter (pp. [Full Review]