An Introduction to the Gospel of John

Rating:
Summary: Brown's final gift
Review: Before his sudden death in 1998 Raymond Brown was working on a revision of his widely acclaimed two-volume commentary on the Gospel of John (AB 29, 29A). What he left behind was a nearly completed new Introduction which, however, needed to be edited before publishing. The job fell to the highly qualified Francis Moloney, himself the author of several well-received publications on John. The result is a very valuable updating supplement to Brown's earlier work. My attempt to give something of the content and flavor of this book is of necessity selective.

The major effort is Brown's, but the contribution of Moloney is substantial. He supplies (1) a helpful editor's introduction, (2) a speculative conclusion, (3) an excursus on narrative-critical approaches to the Gospel of John (adapted, mostly word for word, from a similar excursus in his Sacra Pagina commentary), (4) an excursus on the history of the Johannine community, (5) editor's notes to clarify or add to Brown's text, (6) the outline and major themes of chapters 13-21 that Brown did not get around to writing, and (7) updates of Brown's bibliographies. Not least interesting are those instances where the two scholars differ. Thus in his Introduction Moloney debates the Johannine use of Son of Man, and again in an extended note where Brown first dismisses Moloney's 1976 exegesis of two relevant verses (p. 257, n. 87). He objects to Brown's references to the replacement of Jewish institutions and is much happier when Brown, rather, speaks of their fulfillment. Whereas, had Brown written the outline of chapters 13-21, he would (presumably) have approached what appears to be contradictions and repetitions in 13-17 in terms of the historical development of the Gospel, Moloney looks at the text as we have it and see unified themes and careful structure in a reverse A-B-B'-A' pattern. (He uses the technical term "synchronic" -- as opposed to Brown's presumed "diachronic" -- reading of the text.)

The question inevitably comes up: How does the new Introduction differ from the original one of 1966? The subjects covered are the same and arranged in the same order. Some of the changes, where they occur, are purely stylistic (unnecessary words unloaded, all Brown's "we" references to himself replaced by "I"). Yet the rewriting can be incisive, too. The ending of the section dealing with influences on the religious thought of the Gospel is similar in both editions; but what was almost a casual statement in 1966 has been turned into a most thought-provoking question: "The Fourth Gospel claims to be dependent on the testimony of a disciple who was particularly loved by Jesus ... Is this not also a claim to a certain connaturality of thought between Jesus and those responsible for the development and writing of John?"

Other changes are more far-reaching. In 1966 Brown proposed five stages in the composition of the Gospel. These have been collapsed into three, partly because some critics found the original theory too complex. With less than innocent humor he remarks that "a number of reviewers found counting up to five very difficult..." (!) The modified theory corresponds to what is generally accepted for the composition of the synoptic gospels. Brown's exposition of apologetic motifs covers the same groups as before (adherents of John the Baptist, etc.) but he is now clear in the belief that the apologetics "pertain to the context out of which the Gospel developed [referring to the Johannine community's controversies with other groups] rather than to its purpose." He does not think the purpose of the Gospel was to refute or persuade non-believers but to strengthen the faith of those who already believed. Moloney concurs. The section dealing with apologetics against the Jews has been completely rewritten and expanded. Previously Brown considered that "the Jews" designated the Jewish authorities, but now recognizes that it refers broadly to all Jews whose role in the narrative is to oppose Jesus. He candidly admits, "I did not wrestle with the issue sufficientlty in my first edition, and the flood of writing on the subject since that time has caused me to be more careful" (p.164, n.37). Under Crucial Questions in Johannine Theology a new section on Christology has been added, with Son of Man and Wisdom motifs treated in detail. (Widom Motifs was a sub-section of Theology in the original Introduction.)

Moloney comments on the emphasis Brown gives to studying the Gospel as it now stands, and detects a shift in Brown's position. How much this would have influenced Brown's projected revision of the commentary is a matter of speculation. What seems certain is that Brown would not have given up the historical-critical method at which he excelled, but in addition to it would have benefited from the scholarly work of others in developing new approaches to the Gospel of John.

Anyone who has followed the writings of Raymond Brown, adimired his analytical prowess, and perceived that his lucid prose is as much a tribute to his clear thinking as it is to his writing skill, would not want to miss this final gift from one who has justly been called a great scholar and a master interpreter.