Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Front Matter -- Introduction -- Pragmatics of Reading -- Lectors in Early Christian Communities -- A Method of Sound Analysis -- John 1—Introducing Jesus -- John 2—Jesus in Action -- John 3—Jesus in Discourse -- John 4—Jesus in Samaria -- Conclusions and Implications -- Transcription of Leaf 3 Verso of 𝔓66 -- Text from Appendix 1 without Distinctive Features -- Transcription of Leaf 48 Recto of 𝔓75 -- Text from Appendix 3 without Distinctive Features -- Transcription of Leaf 23 Verso of 𝔓46 -- Text from Appendix 5 without Distinctive Features -- Colometric Transcription of John 1:1–14 in 35 Cola -- Colometric Transcription of John 1:1–14 in 11 Cola -- A Summary of the Steps Used in Sound Analysis -- Aural Intensity in John 1–4 -- Bibliography -- Indexes.

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In Public Reading in Early Christianity: Lectors, Manuscripts, and Sound in the Oral Delivery of John 1-4 Dan Nässelqvist investigates the oral delivery of New Testament writings in early Christian communities of the first two centuries C.E. He examines the role of lectors and public reading in the Greek and Roman world as well as in early Christianity. Nässelqvist introduces a method of sound analysis, which utilizes the correspondence between composition and delivery in ancient literary writings to retrieve information about oral delivery from the sound structures of the text being read aloud. Finally he applies the method of sound analysis to John 1–4 and presents the implications for our understanding of public reading and the Gospel of John.