Acknowledgments Preface Note on Abbreviations Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Nicholas of Lyra and the Narrative of John's Gospel The Gospel's Visionary Basis The Narrative Quality of the Gospels John's Visionary Authority Methods Gospel Structure and Literal Meaning Circumstances: the Wedding at Cana Psychology and the Literal: the Samaritan Woman Narrative Control and History The Logic of Narrative Incident: the Woman Taken in Adultery Miracles and Divine Rhetoric: Lazarus Structure, History, and the Teaching Purpose of Christ: the Pool at Bethesda Incarnate Meaning and the Legend of the Cross The Meaning of Christ's Weakness Chapter Three: The Cursor Mundi, Narrative and Sacred History Religious Purpose and Esthetic Pleasure Narrative and the History of the Universe Peter Comestor, Eden, and the Tree of Life The Vision of the Wands Allegories The Legend of the Cross The Infancy Miracles and the Harshness of the Visible Presence The Ministry of Christ, the Gospel of John, and Herman of Valenciennes The Passion and Self-Revelation Judas and the Prophesying Chicken Chapter Four: The Four Daughters of God, the Last Judgment, and the Scope of the Real The Last Judgment and Literalism The Four Daughters of God and Wisdom Literature The Meditationes Vitae Christi and Apocrypha The English Mystery Cycles and the Gospel of John The Towneley Last Judgment The Mixed Mode of Piers Plowman Notes Bibliography Index