The Fourth Gospel in Four Dimensions: Judaism and Jesus, the Gospels and Scripture

by Smith, D. Moody

• ISBN13: 9781570037634
• ISBN10: 1570037639
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-20
• Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Pr

Summary

"This multidimensional volume from the leading American scholar of Johannine studies brings together D. Moody Smith's germinal works from the past two decades along with some original articles published here for the first time. The resulting collection augments current understanding of the Gospel of John with fresh insights and research and points the way toward opportunities for new inquiry." "The collection is structured around four focal issues that define contemporary studies of John. In the first section, Smith places the book within its Jewish milieu, attempting to account for the tension between the work's seeming anti-Jewishness and its familiarity with Jewish life and thought. Next Smith engages the relationship between John and the historical figure of Jesus, especially the extent to which John's representation of Jesus reflects knowledge of independent traditions as well as the self-consciousness of his own community. The third section examines John's account against the Synoptic Gospels, assessing the evidence of John's access to an independent record of the passion and the possibility that John adopted the gospel genre from Mark. Finally, Smith explores how the Gospels, and especially that of John, evolved into scripture and how they have come to be interpreted in conjunction with one another"--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

D. Moody Smith is the George Washington Ivey Professor Emeritus of New Testament at the Divinity School, Duke University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
John and Judaism
The Gospel of John in Its Jewish Context: Why Begin with Judaism?	p. 3
Judaism in the Johannine Context: Does the Gospel of John Misrepresent Judaism?	p. 15
The Stressful Tension between Judaism and the Johannine Jesus: Revisiting and Evaluating J. Louis Martyn's Classic Proposal	p. 26
John and the Historical Jesus
The Problem of History in John: The Gospel Narratives as History at Two Levels	p. 47
John's Quest for Jesus: The Pastness of the Present Jesus	p. 57
John's Portrait of Jesus: Jesus Portrayed as Talking Christology in John's Narrative	p. 72
Jesus Tradition in the Gospel of John: Are John's Differences from the Synoptics Coincident with Their Historical Value?	p. 81
Redaction Criticism, Genre, Narrative Criticism, and the Historical Jesus in the Gospel of John: Does John Also Enshrine a Separate Memory?	p. 112
The Historical Figure of Jesus in 1 John: Jesus at the Beginning Giving a Commandment for the Future	p. 119
John among the Gospels
From Synoptic Jesus to Johannine Christ: Historical Considerations-Choosing between Genuine Historical Alternatives	p. 133
The Question of Gospel Genre: Did Mark Create the Genre?	p. 144
John and the Apocryphal Gospels: Was John the First Apocryphal Gospel?	p. 156
The Problem of Faith and History: Common to Both John and the Synoptics, and Peculiar to Neither	p. 166
John as Scripture
When Did the Gospels Become Scripture? What Did Their Authors Intend and Their Readers Assume?	p. 181
Four Gospels and the Canonical Approach to Exegesis: Should Their Being Together in the New Testament Make a Difference in Their Interpretation?	p. 194
Toward a Canonical Reading of the Fourth Gospel: Canonical Readings from Clement of Alexandria through Abraham Lincoln to Rudolf Bultmann and C. H. Dodd	p. 210
Notes	p. 221
Index of Biblical and Other Ancient Texts	p. 269
Index of Modern Authors	p. 281
About the Author	p. 287
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