Life in the Son

Clive Bowsher is Provost of Union School of Theology, where he teaches and researches in New Testament and Biblical Theology. Previously, he served as lead minister of a local church and co-mentored Union’s Learning Community in Oxford, UK. He has held positions at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Bristol.

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