Life in the Son: Exploring Participation and Union with Christ in John's Gospel and Letters

The New Testament writers often use spatial language and imagery to describe believers' relationship with God, speaking both of God or Christ in us, and of us in them. Furthermore, believers are said to possess and to participate or share in seemingly divine properties such as life and glory. These features are prominent in the Johannine Gospel and Epistles. However, outside the Pauline corpus, union with Christ has hardly been addressed in New Testament scholarship. Dr. Clive Bowsher seeks to readdress this in Life in the Son.

In the Johannine literature, the oneness of the Son and Father is described using 'in-one-another' language. Clive Bowsher's study shows that the 'in-one-another-ness' of Christian believers and the Father and Son exhibits considerable similarity to the oneness of the Father and Son themselves. Johannine union with Christ consists of 'in-one-another-ness' that describes relational intimacy with Christ, a participation both present and future in the Son's life, work, character and love. Insightful and accessible, Bowsher's study also explores connections and comparisons with the Pauline notion of union with Christ.