The Genesis of John

Do you think commentaries can be dry, overly technical, or boring? If so, at least two things are true. First, you're right! Second, you've not read a Novel Commentary. Please consider this an invitation for cultural immersion in the first-century world of historical fiction to experience the transcription of the scrolls of Scripture. This first book in the series covering John the apostle, The Genesis of John, allows the reader to live alongside John and his amanuensis, Polycarp, while putting the Gospel account to parchment. This ten day real-time account provides an original outline for the Gospel based on John's references to Genesis, a new Hebraic translation from the Greek, and fresh scriptural observations captured within the dialogue of the five main characters. Spend over a week in Ephesus and be both entertained and illuminated by The Genesis of John! John is often considered the most 'Greek' Gospel for linguistic and philosophical reasons. Steven Grant, however, identifies traits and patterns that continue Old Testament thoughts and structures, not just culturally and historically, but philosophically and theologically as well. . . . Grant paints a picture of John living a very Jewish Christianity by combining dialogue, narrative, and expository commentary, transcending and transforming what readers may have come to expect from historical fiction.--Thomas Hoffman, Covenant Theological SeminaryThis book will help you think about the Jewish background of John's gospel. But also, this book helps us not to think of John sitting at a nice desk in an office writing with a pen and paper. Grant helps us understand how John wrote his Gospel in a specific first-century community and all that went into writing, eating, drinking, and living faithfully in the ancient world.--George Goldman, Lipscomb UniversityThe Bible, of course, is full of story and drama, so it is unfortunate that so few works of biblical scholarship engage the imagination. The Genesis of John, by contrast, introduces readers to many important theological themes and structural elements of John's Gospel, but in a wonderfully creative and engaging way. Along the way, readers are reminded that this Gospel is a document written by real people, with histories, stories, and personalities of their own.--Steven R. Guthrie, Belmont UniversitySteven Grant has a BA in Theology/Greek from Moody Bible Institute and an MDiv from Luther Rice Seminary. Over the past fifteen years, Steven has immersed himself in Rabbinic and Hebraic literature in order to satisfy his passion to accurately interpret Scripture from a century-contextual perspective. As a perpetual student, he will finish another master's degree (MTS) in 2020 while working toward a DMin at Lipscomb University.