A detailed exegetical consideration of the Fourth Gospel, with the aim of strengthening our understanding of its entirety in order to expound any of its parts in either preaching or teaching. The Gospel will be studied from Kurt Aland (ed.), Synopsis of the Four Gospels; students are encouraged to make use of the Greek text, though Greek is not required in order to take the course. An exegetical paper will be required to be submitted by 1 September 2008.
Required reading:
Synopsis of the Four Gospels, ed. Kurt Aland (Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1985)— English only (RSV); Greek-English edition (1976) also available
Gail O’Day [US Presbyterian], “The Gospel of John,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander Keck, vol. 9 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)—concise, readable, recent, reliable
Recommended commentaries:
Raymond E. Brown [US Roman Catholic], The Gospel According to John, 2 vols., Anchor Bible 29 & 29A (Garden City: Doubleday, 1966-70)—still the most comprehensive full-scale commentary, though needing to be supplemented by more recent work
C. K. Barrett [UK Methodist], The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, 2d ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978)—the most useful commentary for the Greek text
Barnabas Lindars [UK Anglican Franciscan], The Gospel of John, New Century Bible (London: Oliphants, 1972; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981)—very useful one-volume commentary
Francis J. Moloney [Australian Roman Catholic], The Gospel of John, Sacra Pagina 4 (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998)—another very useful one-volume commentary, and the most recent of those listed here
Other recommended reading:
Michael Newheart, World and Soul (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2001)—a study of John in light of African-American poetry as well as serious NT scholarship
Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998)— a study of the ancient social structures assumed in the text; to be used with other commentaries rather than alone
Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, The Prophetic Gospel: A Study of John and the Old Testament (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1991)—a thorough, important study of a key factor in the Gospel
Sandra Schneiders, The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture, 2d ed. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999)—an important hermeneutical study using John 4 for a case study
NOTE: Classes will meet mornings for three weeks, Thursday, June 26 - Wednesday, July 16, 8:00 A.M. – 9:50 A.M. in Room 234. Registration for the course is Wednesday, June 25, Room 212.
Dr. Dunkly’s class will begin June 30.
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