LIFE IN THE SON:
Exploring Participation and Union with
Christ in John’s Gospel and Letters
By Clive Bowsher
IVP. 181 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 789 744 293
It is always a treat to receive one of these theological treasure troves in their distinctive silver covers; they are worth their weight in gold.
The recipe for the series is simple: an author immersed in the literature of their field, a mastery of that field, and the skill to communicate what they have discovered in a fresh way.
This book ticks all those boxes. It takes the distinctive message of how our participation with Christ relates to the unique relationship that exists between the Father and the Son in John’s Gospel and Letters. The author attempts, successfully in my view, to bring the concept of union with Christ in the Johannine literature out from under the shadow of the fuller treatment the subject receives in relation to Pauline studies.
The author is also motivated by a desire to bring this theme of union with Christ, so rich in the Reformed tradition, to greater prominence in contemporary spirituality and preaching.
‘Union with Christ intrigues us, sometimes beckoning with beauty and at other times proving challenging to understand.’
I like the way that the author teases out the implications of this Father-Son relationship for our spiritual experience and fellowship with the Trinity and with one another. The author concentrates mainly on John chapter 6, and chapters 13–17, helpfully putting this theme at the heart of what John is doing in his Gospel:
‘Interestingly, nowhere is the Father said to be in the disciples without the presence of the Son (or disciples in the Father without the Son); the Son in this sense mediates the in-one-anotherness of the Father and the disciples.’
At times it is as if the author is leading the reader carefully along a tightrope of understanding that gets us to the other side without falling on either side of some of the more complex arguments. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the centrality of this subject in the first letter of John, which is so helpful as a way of understanding how Christians experience fellowship with the triune God in every dimension of their lives.
The book concludes with four appendices that explore union with Christ in Paul’s letters, a tantalising glimpse of how it might play out in the Book of Revelation, and two more technical sections on Greek usage. Give yourself a treat and read this book, but don’t just stand on Clive Bowsher’s scholarship, take a couple of his sources, and explore the subject more fully by delving into the extensive bibliography.
