I am reading through Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design by R. Alan Culpepper. This is one of those books that makes you want to read the Gospel of John over and over again. While I am all for reading the Scriptures “historically” with an eye for the historical underpinnings of a particular gospel or epistle I have found that reading a book literarily allows you to better answer questions regarding the intent of the author.

In his book, first printed in 1983, Culpepper introduces his readers to things like the narrator and the point of view provided by the narrator, narrative time, plot, characters, and so forth. I have found the section on characters especially interesting, especially how Jesus, the Beloved Disciple, Peter, and Judas are portrayed. Other characters such as Thomas are very interesting as well.

As I said, this book makes me want to read the Fourth Gospel again and again. Do you have a book that has made you want to go back to a particular book of the Bible and read it with fresh eyes?