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Life in the Son

Exploring participation and union with Christ in John’s Gospel and letters

Life in the Son

Exploring participation and union with Christ in John’s Gospel and letters

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£14.99

Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
ISBN: 9781789744293
Number of Pages: 208
Published: 16/03/2023
Width: 13.8 cm
Height: 21.6 cm
The New Testament writers use spatial language and imagery to portray our relationship with God, speaking both about God or Christ in us, and us in them. Believers are also described as possessing and participating in divine qualities such as life and glory. Both aspects are prominent in John's Gospel and letters. However, outside the Pauline writings, union with Christ has hardly been addressed in New Testament scholarship. Dr. Clive Bowsher seeks to redress this balance in Life in the Son. In John's Gospel, the oneness of the Father and Son is described as the Father and Son being 'in-one-another.' Clive Bowsher's study shows that union with Christ in John's Gospel and letters is the in-one-another relationship of believers with the Father and Son by the Spirit - the intimate, loving, relational participation of the believer and God, each in the life, affections, ways and work of the other. Insightful and accessible, Bowsher's study also explores connections with the shape of sonship, and with covenant and the life of the age to come. This new volume in the NSBT series fills a significant gap in the literature and promises to be a blessing to pastors, preachers and scholars alike.
Illustrations x Series preface xi Author's preface xiii Abbreviations xv Introduction: Johannine oneness and participation with Christ 1 Importance of the present study 1 Approach of the present study 3 1 'In Christ' in John: setting the scene 7 Introduction 7 Important themes from previous scholarship 8 Methodology and overview of this study 20 2 Oneness, participation and life in the Fourth Gospel 25 Introduction 25 Oneness and participation in John 6:32 - 40, 47 - 59 26 Oneness and participation in John 13 - 17 30 'In-one-another' language in John 6 and 13 - 17 47 Oneness and participation with the Son in John 6 and 13 - 17: an exegetical synthesis 52 3 Oneness, participation and life in the Johannine epistles 55 Introduction 55 2 and 3 John 56 Fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:1 - 2:2) 57 In-one-anotherness, knowing God in fellowship, and loving one another (1 John 2:3 - 17) 59 In-one-anotherness and birth, life, sin, righteousness and truth (1 John 2:18 - 3:10) 62 In-one-anotherness, life and the Spirit of truth (1 John 3:11 - 4:6) 70 In-one-anotherness, loving one another, Christological confession and the Spirit (1 John 4:7 - 5:4a) 71 In-one-anotherness with the true God and life in the Son (1 John 5:4b - 21) 74 Oneness and participation with the Son in 1 John: an exegetical synthesis 77 4 Oneness and participation with Christ in the Johannine Gospel and epistles: a synthesis so far 81 Begotten of God and the Spirit of truth in the Fourth Gospel 81 Towards a Johannine theology of oneness and participation with the Son 85 5 Participation in the journey of Jesus 93 Introduction 93 Participation in Jesus' journey in the Fourth Gospel 93 The prologue: the journey in outline 97 John 1 - 12 100 John 13 - 17 105 John 20 and the epilogue 111 Participation in the journey of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel: an exegetical synthesis 114 6 Oneness and participation with the Son in the Johannine Gospel and epistles 117 Introduction 117 Participation in Jesus' journey in 1 John 117 Participation in Jesus' journey in 1 John: an exegetical synthesis 124 Johannine participation with Christ: a consideration of filiation and theosis 125 Oneness and participation with the Son in the Johannine Gospel and epistles revisited 127 7 In-one-anotherness with Christ: the eschatological culmination of covenant 131 Introduction 131 In-one-anotherness and covenant relationship 132 In-one-anotherness and eschatology 141 In-one-anotherness and relational presence 144 Summary 145 8 In conclusion: Johannine oneness and participation with Christ 147 Appendix 1: Pauline union with Christ 152 Appendix 2: A preliminary look at oneness and participation with Christ in Revelation 156 Appendix 3: An analysis of the Greek discourse of John 14:15 - 24 161 Appendix 4: Hortatory-imperatival use of the third-person indicative in New Testament Greek outside 1 John 163 Bibliography 165 Index of authors 175 Index of Scripture references 177

Dr Clive Bowsher

The recent resurgence of scholarly attention given to the theme of union with Christ has primarily focussed on Paul, making the lack of attention to the theme within Johannine literature all the more striking. Clive Bowsher has addressed this gap with his insightful, probing, and informative volume, demonstrating the centrality of in-one-anotherness of Father-Son and believers in John's Gospel and Letters. Bowsher highlights John's focus on this loving, intimate, and relational participation between God and his people, making his book essential reading for anyone wanting to understand union with Christ and/or John's writings. * Constantine R. Campbell, Professor and Associate Research Director, Sydney College of Divinity * Clive Bowsher persuasively demonstrates the centrality of what he calls "in-one-anotherness" - or the reciprocal relationship between believers and God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit - to the Gospel and Epistles of John. This entails participation in God's ways, work, and character as the fulfillment of the Bible's covenant motif, as sharing in the story of Jesus, and as experiencing proleptically the life of the age to come. Everyone interested in the Johannine literature, or in the themes of union and participation, should engage this significant volume. * Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Chair in Biblical Studies and Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA * Many Protestants are familiar with the one-anotherness of the Christian faith; we are called to a life of selfless love for each other in Christ's body, the church. But few are aware that the one-anotherness between believers is based on something even more fundamental, the fact that the Father and Son are eternally in one another and that we as Christians are in the Father and the Son. Bowsher's illuminating research expertly explores the contours of in-one-anotherness between God and believers in the Johannine writings of the New Testament. His book is eye-opening, faith-enriching, and heart-warming; it will affect every aspect of your relationship to God and to his people. I recommend it enthusiastically. * Donald Fairbairn, Robert E. Cooley Professor of Early Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary * Given that union with Christ is central to how Christ's work becomes ours, and given the diverse interpretations of it in theology, we need to return anew to Scripture to grasp properly this glorious truth. In this groundbreaking work, Clive Bowsher does precisely this. He offers careful biblical and theological reasoning that clarifies what union with Christ is, and in so doing, we are indebted to him. This work is must reading to understand and glory in what it means to be united to Christ and thus to be in covenant relationship with our triune Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. * Stephen Wellum Professor of Christian Theology, Editor SBJT The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary *

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