Through all of John's works, a consistent message is woven: being a Christian is about abiding in Christ and in his words. The Gospel of John, the epistle of 1 John, and the Apocalypse all begin in the same way: by pointing to the importance of knowing the Word, both written and incarnate. Using an artistic, storytelling approach to spirituality, John relies heavily on readers' imaginations to help them see what it takes to become disciples by abiding in Jesus.
Rodney Reeves combines exegesis with spiritual reflection to explore how the only biblical writer to employ three different genres presents a consistent vision of Christian spirituality. Rather than focusing on detailed instructions, John uses evocative metaphors and illustrations so that readers can envision how to follow Jesus-as disciples, in community, and even at the end of the world.
Filled with stories and implications for today's readers, Spirituality According to John provides an accessible introduction to the rich spiritual world of the Johannine literature that makes up much of the New Testament. In John's era and now, anyone who has ears to hear can learn to truly abide in Christ.
"Studies about the writings of the apostle John have been abundant throughout church history. Spirituality According to John represents this extensive literature responsibly, sifts it, and then offers its best insights for practical use. The book's value lies in its easy accessibility, its insights, and its wisdom designed for students, teachers, and pastors. Reeves is doing exactly what John was doing for his own churches: bringing the deepest insights about Jesus into the church. Spirituality According to John succeeds in every respect."
Gary M. Burge, Calvin Theological Seminary
"The Gospel of John traps us. We open it, we read it, we get lost in it; we learn its vocabulary and themes and movements and sudden bursts of claims; we meet characters we've never met before, and we hear conversations up close and personal, and we get lost in this Gospel's time and place-and we are trapped. In a good way. Never to be the same again. When we look up from this Gospel's pages to see the world around us, it's a little like the Pevensie children finding themselves again in the wardrobe, tumbling back on the floor of reality. As they wanted to return to Narnia, so we want to return to John's world. He first trapped me in 1974, and I've not been the same since. Rodney Reeves leads us to the door of the wardrobe, he opens thedoor, and he guides us long enough to get lost in the Gospel itself. What a wonderful book!"
Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary
