An Introduction to the Gospel of John

by Raymond Edward Brown

Publisher:

Doubleday

, 2003

Overview

When Raymond E. Brown died in 1998, less than a year after the publication of his masterpiece, An Introduction to the New Testament, he left behind a nearly completed revision of his acclaimed two-volume commentary on the Gospel of John. The manuscript, skillfully edited by Francis J. Moloney, displays the rare combination of meticulous scholarship and clear, engaging writing that made Father Brown’s books consistently outsell other works of biblical scholarship.

An Introduction to the Gospel of John represents the culmination of Brown’s long and intense examination of part of the New Testament. One of the most important aspects of this new book, particularly to the scholarly community, is how it differs from the original commentary in several important ways. It presents, for example, a new perspective on the historical development of the Gospels, and shows how Brown decided to open his work to literary readings of the text, rather than relying primarily on the historical, which informed the original volumes. In addition, there is an entire section devoted to Christology, absent in the original, as well as a magisterial new section on the representation of Jews in the Gospel of John.

Contents

Top Highlights

“First, there are differences of Greek style in the Gospel.” (Page 40)

“Mark/Matthew/Luke compared to John, are so different? Part of the answer may stem from the fact that Jesus had disciples who had different religious backgrounds.⁵⁴ (This observation reflects the principle that what is received is received according to the mind-set of the recipient.” (Page 65)

“By the first part of the twentieth century many critical scholars, centrist as well as radical, had given up the idea that the Fourth Gospel was written by John son of Zebedee,¹ and recognized that the Gospel as it now exists is a good distance removed from the theological atmosphere of the ministry of Jesus.” (Pages 27–28)

“In sum, then, I find that the span of time during which the final form of the Fourth Gospel may have been written is, at its outermost limits, a.d. 75 to 110, but the convergence of probabilities points strongly to a date between 90 and 110.” (Pages 214–215)

“commentary once he retired from his position as the Auburn Distinguished Professor” (Page 2)

Product Details

• Title: An Introduction to the Gospel of John
• Author: Raymond Edward Brown
• Series: Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Print Publication Date: 2003
• Logos Release Date: 2010
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. N.T. John › Introductions
• Resource ID: LLS:INTROGOSJOHN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:06:22Z

About Raymond Edward Brown

Raymond E. Brown was a Sulpician priest and bible scholar. He taught for many years at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and was professor emeritus of biblical studies at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. Over his lifetime he was awarded more than dozen honorary doctorates from American and European universities and was commended by Pope Paul VI for his “learning, prudence, and Catholic regard for the Magisterium of the Church.” Brown was the author of three books in the Anchor Yale Bible series on the Gospels and Epistles of John. He died in 1998.