Three in one

FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT
The Trinity and John’s Gospel
By Andreas J. Kostenberger & Scott R Swain. IVP (Apollos). 224 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978-1-84474-253-0

As John’s Gospel reminds us, eternal life consists in knowing the only true God (17.3); and it is John’s Gospel in particular which reveals God as triune. We are to know and enjoy fellowship with each person of the Trinity. This book is part of the IVP series New Studies in Biblical Theology; while it is not ‘easy reading’, as with so many volumes in this series, it includes plenty of helpful and edifying material.

The book is in three parts. First, John is set in the context of Jewish monotheism. While the Jews saw Jesus’s claims to deity as blasphemous, the early Christians were able to grasp that they could be monotheistic and believe in both Father and Son as God, i.e. relationships within the Godhead. Even the first verse of the Gospel reveals the Word as God, and with God.