The Letters of John. Robert D. Cornwall
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Praise for The Letters of John: A Participatory Study Guide
The Letters of John are essential reading for today’s Christian. They reveal a Christianity in the making, defining itself, charting its ethical course, and seeking to articulate a life-changing theological vision of Christ, embodied in the world and in our lives. In our pluralistic and polaristic time, in which many Christians fear cultural, religious, and political changes, we need to remember that faith flourishes when we choose love rather than fear. Bob Cornwall’s text on the Letters of John invites us to engage first century Christianity in ways that will help us understand more clearly our vocation as Christians in our own time. The text is clear, articulate, and academically sound, ideal for congregational study groups and personal reflection. Bob Cornwall’s interplay of theology, biblical studies, and spiritual practices will inspire and guide us in creative responses to our post-Christian, pluralistic and contentious time.
Bruce Epperly, PhD
Pastor and Author
Robert Cornwall has written a guide for a Bible study that is needed in churches today. There is solid background material for study that anyone, regardless of Bible study experience, can use well. The breakdown of material with reading scripture, a lesson, meditation and discussion questions, and a time for prayer is designed for wonderful deep conversations. This Bible study is needed today as it reminds us of who we are as the Body of Christ while inspiring us to love one another, live in truth, and work towards restoration.
Shauna Hyde, PhD
Pastor, Counselor, Author
Tucked away near the end of the 27 books that make up the Gospels and Letters, it is easy to forget the Letters of John or to think of them as sweet little notes on love. Through the eyes of theologian, minister, and biblical interpreter Robert Cornwall , we see these letters as muscular theological statements that John directed to electric theological controversies concerning the nature of Jesus and concerning the nature of relationships in the church and mission in community that are still taking place in congregations of all sizes and theological stripes today. Cornwall initially outlines the model of participatory Bible study that can structure each class session and that includes both placing the text in its historical context and meditating on the significance of text in disciplined ways while also identifying points of contact with church and world today. Along the way, he identifies—and respects—the different ways passages might be interpreted. Individual readers and study groups receive a double blessing: (1) a study focusing specifically on the Letters and (2) a model for studying other biblical texts. This book would be an ideal resource for studies and sermons—the congregation studies a passage during the week as background for the sermon on Sunday. The eleven chapters in the book would make an ideal structure for such an effort.
Ronald J. Allen, PhD
Professor of Preaching, and Gospels and Letters, Emeritus
Christian Theological Seminary
In this commentary, Bob Cornwall integrates well his scholarly abilities with pastoral concerns. In the letters of John we have a “theology on the ground,” and Cornwall navigates us through the writer’s theological concerns that relate to the ministry of John’s community. This book is rich in its depth and practical in its application. Bob brings the message of the letters “that which was from the beginning,” and speaks to the concerns of Christians in the twenty-first century.
Allan R. Bevere, PhD
Pastor, Ashland First United Methodist Church
and Professional Fellow in Theology,
Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
The Letters of John
A Participatory Study Guide
Robert D. Cornwall
Energion Publications
Gonzalez, Florida
2019
Copyright © 2019, Robert D. Cornwall
Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scriptures marked CEB are from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2012, Common English Bible.
Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.Cover Design: Henry Neufeld
Stained Glass image: Adobe Stock, #64834710
ISBN13: 978-1-63199-688-7
LCCN: 2019940829
Energion Publications
PO Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
https://energion.com
Preface
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love.” Love is a central theme in the letters of John. The author of the first letter declares that “God is love.” Indeed, we are to love one another, because “love is from God” (1 John 4:7). There is more to these letters than a message of love, or perhaps I might put it this way. While love stands at the heart of these letters, there are disturbing elements to these letters that might raise questions about the nature of the love proclaimed. In any case, these letters, which likely date to the end of the first and perhaps well into the second century give us a glimpse of how early Christians struggled to live faithfully in difficult times.
This study guide is intended to invite users (whether individuals or groups) to dive deep into the biblical story. You may find this journey into the text difficult at some points. You may also find it to be liberating at other points. The Bible cannot be read flatly, as if everything is equally giving voice to God’s word. At the same time, when approached with care and reverence, I believe we can hear a word from God even in passages that shock and dismay us. We may decide to argue with the text, saying no to its implications. That is an appropriate way of engaging the text.
The series in which this study appears is intended to bring heart and head together. As the Shema, the Jewish confession of faith, invites adherents to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might,” not only keeping the commandments, but also reciting them to one’s children, talking about them, binding them on your hands, fixing them on the foreheads, and writing them on the doorposts and gates (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), so we will seek to love God with our entire being.
This book offers a study of the three Letters of John. It is part of the Participatory Bible Study series that was developed by Henry Neufeld, which seeks to build upon the devotional principles of the lectio divina model of reading scripture. It is an invitation to inhabit the text of Scripture, so that one might experience oneness with God. Although this has a strong devotional foundation to it, the method also invites critical investigation of the text.
The letters of John offer us an interesting opportunity to bring these two elements of biblical study together. There is much here that stirs the soul and draws one into the life of faith. There is theology and spiritual practice in these letters. These are pastoral messages that speak to congregations that may be experiencing spiritual challenges. In addition, it’s possible that 1 John, which has few marks of a letter, could have been a sermon that was later shared with different congregations. There are also important critical questions to be answered as one explores these texts. Because we don’t know the identity of the author(s) or the destination of these letters, it is difficult to read