The author explores commonly held Christian beliefs and shows us how we can understand them in new ways. In this next book, Spong turns his attention to the Gospel of John, the fourth Gospel in the Bible. Contrary to common belief, the book of John is written against the background of a three-year Jewish liturgical lectionary of the first century synagogue and written by a Jewish mystic who did not consider God an external being who invaded the world through Jesus. Because of this context, The Fourth Gospel develops a very different and relatively modern Christology about heightened consciousness, inner being and an immanent sense of God. The Fourth Gospel will be a fresh way to read the Gospel of John and a unique primer on how to be a Christian in the post-Christian 21st century. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark for twenty-four years.