Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-325) and indexes.

Introducing the Fourth Gospel. Setting the stage ; John : one Gospel, more than one author ; Separating John from the other Gospels ; The work of a Palestinian Jew ; Tracing the Jewish roots of the prologue ; Permeating wisdom : the doorway into Jewish mysticism ; John the non-literalist -- The Book of Signs : mythological characters wrapped inside history. The Mother of Jesus : introduction to the Book of Signs ; Nicodemus : what it means to be born of the Spirit ; The Samaritan woman by the well : a new dimension of the Jesus experience ; The Gentile official's son : the meaning of God and faith ; The man crippled for thirty-eight years ; Andrew and Philip : the Red Sea and manna ; The brothers of Jesus: a debate on origins ; The man born blind : the split from Judaism is complete ; Lazarus : breaking the final barrier -- The Farewell Discourses and the High Priestly Prayer. Peter and the commandment to love ; Not atonement, but glory! John clarifies Jesus' death ; The analogy of the vine : God is indwelling, not external ; The Prayer of Jesus : Gethsemane transformed -- The Passion narrative : from darkness to light, from death to life. A brief introduction to the climax of this Gospel ; Judas : the figure of darkness ; Peter : the struggle within the soul ; Pilate : the conflict between survival and truth ; At the cross : the Mother of Jesus and the Beloved Disciple ; It is finished : water and blood flow together -- Resurrection : mystical oneness revealed. Introducing John's story of Easter ; Magdalene : do not cling to what is, journey into what can be ; Peter and the Beloved Disciple : resurrection dawns without a body ; Pentecost : the Second Coming of Jesus : it was "a little while" ; Thomas : the final witness, the ultimate claim ; The epilogue : resurrection is not physical, but it is real.

Reveals how John's teachings in the Gospel of John, which centered around heightened consciousness, inner being, and an immanent sense of God, are more relevant in today's post-Christian world than ever before.

John Shelby Spong, bestselling author and popular proponent of a modern, scholarly and authentic Christianity, argues that this last gospel to be written was misinterpreted by the framers of the fourth-century creeds to be a literal account of the life of Jesus when in fact it is a literary, interpretive retelling of the events in Jesus' life through the medium of fictional characters, from Nicodemus and Lazarus to the "Beloved Disciple." The Fourth Gospel was designed first to place Jesus into the context of the Jewish scriptures, then to place him into the worship patterns of the synagogue and finally to allow him to be viewed through the lens of a popular form of first-century Jewish mysticism. The result of this intriguing study is not only to recapture the original message of this gospel, but also to provide us today with a radical new dimension to the claim that in the humanity of Jesus the reality of God has been met and engaged.