New Testament Theology: John

The overall objective of this course is to lay the foundation for a lifetime of work in John’s writings, introducing the student to all of the essential processes and resources necessary to frame in a biblical theology of the Johannine literature and to a process of moving from biblical theology to theology in culture.  Specifically, this means that each person studying the course will:

• Develop an overall understanding of John’s writings—including the development of a canonical intent statement that integrates the overall intention and literary design for the Johannine literature as a canonical section and the role that John’s writings play in relation to the other sections of the New Testament canon.

• Develop skill in handling the special literature of John—majoring on the gospel genre and the interpretation of apocalyptic literature.

• Develop an author’s intention statement for each book—that pays careful attention to the literary design; develop a theology of each book—that develops the author’s emphasis of crafting his theological ideas.

• Develop a theology of the Johannine literature as a whole—that, again, respects the literary design of John as a section of the New Testament canon and identifies the careful crafting of the author’s theological ideas, identifying both themes and rhemes.

• Develop a framework for beginning to use the Johannine literature in both life and ministry—including framing in a couple of ideas for preaching from John’s writings in future series.