The Gospel of John, George Herbert and a Gift to Myself.

Book johannineTwo of my happy research areas come together in one book; Seventeenth Century poetry and the Gospel of John, brought into conversation by an author steeped in both. If you're going to buy yourself a book for Christmas make it a good one!
 
The influence of the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John on the poetry, theology and spirituality of the 17th Century English Church remains mostly unexplored in detail. That is perhaps because the Fourth Gospel and 1 John have largely been eclipsed by scholarly concentration on Pauline theology as the paradigm for theological construction and as the primary lens for viewing, indeed inspiring, Christian soteriological experience.
 
Cefalu argues for a substantial adjustment of perspective, and an important revisiting of some of the most important voices in English religious literature. The flip side of this is a rich exposition of Johannine theology as co-opted into some of the greatest devotional poetry in the English language.
Every once in a while the right book comes along, the one you hoped someone might write. In my wee world, this is one of them

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