Print's First Kiss: A Rhetorical Investigation of the Implied Reader in the Fourth Gospel Book

(from the back cover) A study of the rhetorical strategies employed in the fourth gospel. Informed by Reader Response Criticism and theories of narratology, Staley argues that the text succeeds in making the reader a victim of its irony, by turns leading the reader into errors of judgment and surprising him/her with startling information and new perspectives. This work begins with the notion that the best way to understand the theology of John is by treating the gospel as a story. To a remarkable extent, Staley's work demonstrates the fruits pursuant to making that assumption.