Beginning with New Testament reports of John as fisherman and extending through the most recent Johannine scholarship, Culpepper gathers stories from church fathers, the apocryphal acts of John, medieval sources, Victorian poets, and nineteenth-and twentieth-century historians of earliest Christianity about the exploits and the death of this apostle. Culpepper's sweeping study examines a multitude of sources, many of which are widely dispersed and not previously available in English.

Culpepper reveals images of John that suggest the power of historical tradition and legend. The resulting study is one of the most important sources of information about the development of Johannine legends, as well as one of the most successful efforts to overcome barriers that have traditionally separated New Testament exegesis from the study of the history of Christianity.