The Voices of the Fourth Gospel: Characters in an Emerging Christian Community - Hardcover

by Hemchand Gossai (Editor), Erbey Galvan Valdez (Author)

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.

Author Biography

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.