Abstract
This book is the third in a series of aids for classroom teaching by Eugene Lemcio, who is Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Seattle Pacific University. He has already produced aids on Revelation and Mark. The ‘eagle’ of the book’s subtitle draws on the traditional symbolism for John’s Gospel. However, Lemcio is clear that this is not intended to suggest an ‘above it all’ view of the Gospel. Rather, he is looking at the text with an ‘eagle eye’ that can spot detail in relation to the landscape. In literary terms, this enables the reader to relate texts to their various contexts. In practical pedagogical terms this means helping students to develop literary and redaction critical skills. To this end, thirty-six short chapters (Lemcio calls them ‘flightpaths’) provide charts, notes and questions on selected topics and verses, which are designed to help students draw comparisons and contrasts within the gospel itself, as well as with the Synoptics, the OT, the Dead Sea scrolls and Cleanthes’ Hymn to Zeus. The bulk of the sections consider specific passages and verses; others cover topics such as OT background, distinctive terms and themes, and the death of Jesus.
In essence the book provides a distillation of Lemcio’s teaching notes. Behind it lies a wealth of experience and great erudition, and as such it is a treasure trove of ideas for use in the classroom. He is generous in providing useful questions to stimulate discussion and pointers for tackling various verses and themes. There is, however, a tendency for the notes to be overly compressed and cryptic which sometimes makes the treasure difficult to access. I found it odd to be confronted with a page of definitions before any explanation of the book’s methodology and aims is given. Whether you like the charts or not will depend on your personal preference. Some I found useful, some less so. Since the focus is on literary and redactional matters, there is little discussion of contemporary Johannine scholarship, of the Gospel’s Sitz im Leben, or of alternative hermeneutical approaches. Would I consult this book in preparation for a course on John’s Gospel? The answer to this question is ‘yes’—there is much to draw on —but it should be seen as a supplement to, rather than a substitute for, much wider reading.