Title: A Great Read that has been unfairly rated
Product review: Charlesworth's careful study on the identity of the Beloved Disciple (BD) has been grossly under-rated by many of the other Amazon.com reviewers. While this monograph is anything but a influential and momentous study, it serves as a nice introduction to the sub-field of the identity and role of the BD in the Gospel of John. Charlesworth does a great job of introducing the problems and perplexities of the BD as well as offers a great overview of various speculations on the identity of the BD throughout history.Some criticisms of the work are indeed justified. Charlesworth theorizes that Thomas Didymus was the Beloved Disciple of John and offers marginal and controversial evidence to support his claim. This is a rather liberal view for the BD and one that many conservative scholars (Brown, Dodd) would probably have rejected. In spite of this, "The Beloved Disciple: Whose Witness Validates the Gospel of John?" is a great read and is highly recommended.
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