Customer Reviews for Westminster John Knox Press Why John Wrote a Gospel: Jesus-Memory-History

The Beloved Disciple circulated stories about Jesus that eventually came to be written down. In this study, Tom Thatcher delves deeply into why the Fourth Gospel is so different from the Synoptics, how oral traditions become texts, and (drawing modern parallels) the kinds of memories stories help create among hearers. Thatcher builds on previous scholarship to ask new and exciting questions: Why was this Gospel written? Why would those followers of Jesus turn the oral stories into written Gospel? He uncovers how early Christians came into conflict with one another about which memories were best. Thatcher builds on previous scholarship to ask new and exciting questions: Why was this Gospel written? and Why would those followers of Jesus turn the oral stories into written Gospel?