Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel: Narrative Approaches to Seventy Figures in John

Using various narrative approaches and methodologies, Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel offers probing essays related to individual characters and group characters in the Gospel of John from an international team of forty-four Johannine scholars.

These essays not only present fresh perspectives on characters who play a major role in the Gospel—Peter, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, Thomas, and many others—but they also examine characters who have never before been the focus of narrative analysis— the men of the Samaritan Woman, the boy with the loaves and fishes, Barabbas, and more. This collection of essays sheds new light on how complex and nuanced many of these characters are, even as they stand in the shadow of Jesus. Readers of this volume will be challenged to consider the Gospel of John anew.