Abstract
Sherri Brown, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Creighton University, and Francis Moloney, Emeritus Professorial Fellow on the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at Australian Catholic University, have co-written this volume, which introduces students to the Gospel of John and the Johannine epistles. The book is meant for students who have little to no familiarity with these biblical writings, or, for that matter, the Bible as a whole. As such, it provides its intended audience with a commendable overview of these documents.
Brown states the purpose of the book in the preface: “… I determined to compose a ‘full-service’ textbook that attempts to provide all the steps needed for a beginning student to approach the biblical literature in general with a focus on the Gospel and Letters of John in particular.” The structure of the book proves this; before any analysis of the text of the gospel or epistles, several chapters discuss the formation of the canon, biblical exegesis in general, the meta-narrative of the OT, and the story of Jesus and the church (as well as the world behind the text, including ancient Judaism and the Roman imperial context). The authors then turn to the Johannine literature, first introducing their readers to the critical issues (authorship, genre, provenance, etc.) concerning the Johannine documents, then examining the particular Johannine style (the world in the text).
Only after these six chapters (basically one half of the book) do the authors give attention to the text of the Fourth Gospel (chaps. 7–15) and the Johannine epistles (chap. 16, which is very short). From this it is obvious that the authors focus primarily on the Gospel; they perform a literary analysis of its contents, arguing that the Johannine Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. The epistles then call on those who are followers of Jesus to continue to live in community with one another.
There is a great deal to commend in this volume. It certainly fulfills its stated purpose of being a text for those unfamiliar with the Bible. The most basic terms, such as B.C.E./C.E., monotheism, and Israel, are defined in textboxes. The authors lead their readers through the history of New Testament interpretation, first explaining text and source criticism, then moving to the interpretive methodologies of form, redaction, narrative, rhetorical, and audience-oriented criticism. The literary analysis of John’s Gospel is well done; the authors are careful to describe the structure on a macro-level as well as a more detailed view of each sub-section. Literary connections within the narrative, and especially with the prologue, are noted. Within the analysis, the authors successfully cover the major critical issues without weighing readers down with tedious arguments. The result is a fairly mainline understanding of the gospel and letters.
The book is clearly written and well-structured for student learning. Each chapter begins with a statement of purpose, which is followed by a brief introduction to the subject matter of that chapter. Following the body of the chapter is a review that is sub-titled, “What Have We Learned So Far?” Each chapter then ends with a listing of key terms, questions for discussion, and a short bibliography.
I have little to no criticism of the contents of the book. It is straightforward and clear, offering an excellent introduction to someone unfamiliar with these NT documents. My only problem with the book is one of application, i.e., what market niche does the textbook fill? Admitting that I may be biased because of my own context, it seems that the average student who is taking a class that uses this textbook is an upper-level religious studies student. This hypothetical student has most likely already taken a New Testament survey course, during which she studied the content of the first half of this book. For such students, who in my mind would constitute most, if not all, of the students in a class covering the Johannine literature, the first half of this book is superfluous. For those students, however, who have never had a biblical studies class and want to test those waters through a study of the gospel and letters of John, this book is superb.