@MLClark Yeah, I don't disagree that thematically, TBK hinges on the passage from the Gospel of John. I was just offering the observation that it's specifically Russian Orthodoxy that suffuses the novel, and not Roman Catholicism.

Between my first and second reading of TBK, I had begun learning about Orthodoxy: history, theology, practices. The second time through, I got a LOT more out of the experience.