Designs for the Church in the Gospel of John

It was E. Kasemann who once said the Gospel of John is shallow enough for a baby to wade in but deep enough for an elephant to drown. Someone who spent the majority of his academic career doing a very good job of plumbing the depths of this Gospel in so many ways (its themes, its theology, its narrative structure, its social implications about and for the church, its relationship with early Judaism, its literary dimensions and more) is Alan Culpepper.  And we now have available a collection of some of his greatest hits, his best essays on John in one large (775 pages) volume, entitled Designs for the Church in the Gospel of John (WUNT 465 Mohr-Siebeck 2021). This volume has a depth and richness to it that is unmatched by other recent studies on the 4th Gospel and reflects a whole career devoted to better understanding the eagle-eyed Gospel.  The volume is not cheap, but well worth it, for as the old saying goes ‘if you think knowledge and learning costs a lot, it pales in comparison to the cost of ignorance’.  This book should be on the shelf of every serious scholar and student of the Johannine literature.