John Through the Centuries

This pioneering commentary embraces the full scope and themesraised in John's Gospel, offering an engaging and perceptivereading. Mark Edwards explores a diverse range of excerpts andcreative responses, with particular emphasis on the treatment ofthe Gospel in English poetry. * * Explores the diverse themes and issues raised in John'sGospel, and considers its influence on figures from SaintAugustine, to Dorothy Sayers and Bob Dylan. * Treats well-known interpreters such as Thomas Aquinas alongwith lesser-known figures such as the Gnostic Heracleon, and thesixth-century hymn-writer, Romanos. * Brings ancient and modern commentators into dialogue with eachother, and takes a critical stance towards some parallels drawn bymodern scholars between the Gospel and the surrounding paganculture. * Features excerpts from a wide variety of poets who give acreative interpretation of John's Gospel, and considers manyartistic representations. * Suggests that imaginative response can illuminate a reading ofthe Bible where purely critical and historical analysis has provedunsatisfactory. * An accessible introduction and extensive section notes addressinterpretations of the Gospel from antiquity to the present. * Published as part of the ground-breaking Blackwell BibleCommentaries series. More information about this series is available from theBlackwell Bible Commentaries website athttp://www.bbibcomm.net/