In the years after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the ensuing rift between Judaism and Christianity, the Fourth Gospel offers hope to Christians that the God of Israel's traditions can now be found in and through Jesus. Within this historical milieu, the Temple provides a major christological symbol for the Johannine community. The Temple, as the place of God's dwelling, reveals both the identity and the mission of Jesus.
Having shown how the Temple symbolism applies to Jesus, God Dwells with Us discusses how the Temple symbolism in the Fourth Gospel also applies to the Christian community. Thus in the absence of the historical Jesus, Christians still have access to a God who dwells in the midst of the community.

Mary L. Coloe, PBVM, is professor of New Testament at Yarra Theological Union, a college of the University of Divinity in Melbourne. Mary taught for over twenty years at Australian Catholic University and also at Boston College, the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and in Jerusalem. Mary has many academic publications on the Gospel of John, as well as books to help parents and teachers, such as A Friendly Guide to John, The Two Hands of God, and A Friendly Guide to the Birth of Jesus. Mary has also written an introduction to the Johannine literature for the new revised edition of the Jerome Biblical Commentary.