The Gospel of John

The Gospel of John has been examined from many different perspectives, but a comprehensive treatment of the theme of worship in this Gospel has not yet appeared. John Paul Heil offers a contribution toward a remedy of this deficiency by analyzing the entire Gospel of John from the perspective of its various dimensions of worship. The aim is to illustrate that three different but complementary dimensions of worship--confessional, sacramental, and ethical--dominate this Gospel. Indeed, these different types of worship represent the ways one expresses and demonstrates the faith that includes having divine life eternal, which is the stated purpose for writing the signs Jesus did in this Gospel--""that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, you may have life in his name"" (John 20:31).

""This engaging and very accessible work draws the reader deeply into the Gospel of John through the trajectory of the hitherto neglected motif of worship. Carefully distinguishing three dimensions of worship (the confessional, the sacramental, and the ethical) John Paul Heil convincingly shows the motif to be so pervasive in the gospel as to render the entire document an invitation to a life-giving worship of God in, with, and through Jesus.""
--Brendan Byrne, Emeritus Professor of New Testament, University of Divinity, Melbourne

""Heil's important study guides the reader through the entire text of the Gospel pointing out various aspects of 'worship.' Individuals profess faith in Jesus as an act of 'confessional' worship; symbols of water and bread allude to later 'sacramental' worship; and Jesus' self-sacrificial death models the 'ethical' worship expected of believers willing to live out the love-command. The Gospel of John: Worship for Divine Life Eternal adds a neglected approach to Johannine studies and will be valuable for scholars and pastors.""
--Mary Coloe, Associate Professor, Yarra Theological Union, Melbourne


John Paul Heil is Professor of New Testament at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is the author most recently of 1-3 John: Worship by Loving God and One Another to Live Eternally (2015).