The Voices of the Fourth Gospel

Throughout history, the Fourth Gospel has been an enigma to its readers, and most notably in the way that it shapes its characters. Although traditional approaches to gospel characterization have often confined its characters to the pages of the text, The Voices of the Fourth Gospel presents a fresh, interdisciplinary approach that reveals the characterizations of the Fourth Gospel as vibrant, literary products based on eyewitness testimony of their encounters with Jesus of Nazareth. As such, the characters of the Fourth Gospel emerge as unique "voices" that speak to both the realities of their narrative world and the context of the emerging Christian community in Ephesus at the end of the first century. Based on the Fourth Gospel’s chronological and geographical distinctions, The Voices of the Fourth Gospel challenges its readers to hear the voices of each character from the historical memory of the Johannine church through five character case-studies: (1) the Disciple whom Jesus Loved, (2) Jesus of Nazareth, (3) John the Baptist, (4) Nicodemus, and (5) the Samaritan woman. Written for scholars, pastors, and serious students of Scripture, The Voices of the Fourth Gospel is an ideal source for readers who seek to better understand the Fourth Gospel from within its own cultural world.

Erbey Valdez's fascinating study of John's Gospel sheds fresh light on John's presentation of Jesus as the Son of God through the testimony of characters in the Gospel. Using a blend of narrative, socio-rhetorical, and historical approaches, Valdez investigates how characterization and voice help us understand the characters of John’s story as eyewitnesses who reveal various aspects of Jesus’ ministry. In this work, Valdez offers an opportunity to reevaluate John’s Gospel and to hear the story of Jesus afresh through the voices in the narrative. This book will provide significant impetus for future research of this popular Gospel.Leo PercerAssociate Professor of Biblical Studies, John W. Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty UniversityCharacter Studies in John’s Gospel flourished in the 2000s and 2010s, so it is good to see that Valdez keeps the subject alive. In this stimulating study, Valdez presents five case studies—on the Beloved Disciple, Jesus, John the Baptist, Nicodemus, and the Samaritan woman—to showcase an effective use of socio-rhetorical criticism that takes seriously both the narrative world and the real world of John’s first audience to which the characters’ “voices” speak. I warmly welcome this book as the latest contribution to an ongoing, fruitful area in Johannine Studies.Cornelis BennemaLondon School of TheologyIn this interdisciplinary analysis of characters' voices in the Fourth Gospel, the author brings together two fields of research in Johannine studies: historical memory and rhetorical analysis. Given that alternative attempts to explain the origin and development of the Johannine tradition have failed overall, Valdez reformulates the traditional view of the evangelist's eyewitness account, applying it with innovation toward appreciating his narrative goals within a Socio-Rhetorical analysis, illuminating its relevance in post-70 Asia Minor. Thus, seeing the Beloved Disciple as an apostolic eyewitness with his own story to tell connects the relevance of earlier memory with the needs of later audiences as a critical advance in Johannine studies.Paul N. AndersonProfessor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University, and author of The Christology of the Fourth Gospel, The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus, and The Riddles of the Fourth GospelAs a novis to the search for socio-rhetorical indicators imbedded in John’s narrative, I am pleased to recommend The Voices of the Fourth Gospel: Characters in an Emerging Christian Community. It is probably safe to say that babies hear a voice long before they see the face of the mother who bore them; voices are elemental, and no less so in this significant work of NT interpretation.Rudolph D. GonzalezProfessor of Biblical Studies, Asssistant Director Spanish Studies, Midwestern Baptist Theological SeminaryVoices of the Fourth Gospel uses a nouvelle approche to characterization that allows the reader to ‘hear’ John’s characters better than ever. For those studying characters in John, you’ll want this book to ‘hear for yourself’!Douglas EstesFriends University, and author of Questions and Rhetoric in the Greek New Testament (Zondervan)

Erbey Galvan Valdez currently serves as Senior Pastor at New Spirit Church in San Antonio, Texas. He holds multiple degrees, including Master of Education from Angelo State University, Master of Theological Studies and Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,Master of Theology from Liberty University, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in NT Biblical Studies from Columbia International University. Dr. Valdez holds multiple publications, including On the Shores of Perga (2020), Jonah & Nineveh: Beyond the Great Fish (2017), and Possible (2012). He has presented for the Evangelical Theological Society (2020) and published in notable journals such as The Expository Times (2022), Nuestro Tiempo in Missions and Ministries (2020), and the Texas Study of Secondary Education (2008). Erbey and his wife, Maricruz Valdez (LPC), have served as directors of Possible Marriage Ministries since 2010.

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