With this study--companion to the masterful two-volume "The Gospel According to John--"Raymond E. Brown completed his trilogy on the Johannine corpus. Meticulous in detail, exhaustive in analysis, persuasive in argument, it examines controversies that have long troubled both biblical scholars and lay readers. Questions of authorship, composition, and dating, as well as the debate over source theories, are discussed at length; but these are kept subordinate to the overall question of meaning.
What give this commentary special interest and excitement is the bold, imaginative reconstruction of the setting of the Johannine work--in particular of the "opposition figures," who are only dimly sketched in the Epistles--so that we see clearly that the author is writing to his flock both about the dangers and difficulties confronting them, and about the eternal life that is theirs by the gift of God. In this way, the Epistles of John become intelligible as broadsides in a critical engagement between the forces of light and darkness.
In addition to his superb textual analysis of the letters, Raymond Brown has brought to life the community in which these works were formed and shaped. We are forcefully reminded that the Gospel and the Epistles were addressed to very real people living in the first century a.d., people with religious problems not unlike our own. In all respects, "The Epistles of John "stands out as a model of biblical scholarship and study.

This volume concludes Raymond E. Brown's commentary on the Gospel of John. Continuing his study begun in Anchor Bible Volume 29, the author translates the original Greek text into today's English. which allows all readers to make sense of the Gospel. Father Brown's notes and comments sort out the major issues surrounding the writings of John -- questions of authorship, composition, date, and John's relation to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). He analyzes and presents the scholarly debates in a form the interested layperson can appreciate. John chapters 13-21 comprise the Book of Glory (describing the Last Supper, the Passion, and the appearances of the Risen Jesus) and the epilogue to the Gospel. This commentary includes a special appendix on the Paraclete, in which Brown examines in detail the role of the Holy Spirit. Whether discussing John's version of miracle stories found in the other Gospels, explaining the meaning of obscure Greek words, or showing the relevance of Jesus' words and deeds, Father Brown speaks to scholars and laypeople alike.

"A truly magnificent book, composed by our Catholic national treasure."-Commonweal "This judicious and reassuring approach may comfort many."-Anthony J. Saldarini, New York Times Book Review "A tour de force."-America From the experience of a lifetime of scholarship, preaching, teaching, and writing, Raymond E. Brown covers the entire scope of the New Testament with ease and clarity. He walks readers book by book through the basic content and issues of the New Testament. While a wealth of information is contained in these pages, the work's most impressive features are the basic summaries of each book, a historical overview of the ancient Greco-Roman world, discussions of key theological issues, and the rich supplementary materials, such as illustrative tables, maps, bibliographies, and appendixes. Using this basic data, Brown answers questions raised by today's readers, relates the New Testament to our modern world, and responds to controversial issues, such as those raised by the Jesus Seminar. Every generation needs a comprehensive, reliable Introduction to the New Testament that opens the biblical text to the novice. Raymond E. Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament is the most trustworthy and authoritative guidebook for a generation seeking to understand the Christian Bible. Universally acknowledged as the dean of New Testament scholarship, Father Brown is a master of his discipline at the pinnacle of his career. Who else could cover the entire scope of the New Testament with such ease and clarity? This gifted communicator conveys the heartfelt concern of a beloved teacher for his students, as he walks the reader through the basic content and issues of the New Testament. Those opening to the New Testament for the first time and those seeking deeper insights could not ask for more in a primer to the Christian Bible.

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.

A long-awaited abridgement of Raymond Brown's classic and best-selling introduction to the New Testament Since its publication in 1997, Raymond Brown's Introduction to the New Testament has been widely embraced by modern readers seeking to understand the Christian Bible. Acknowledged as a paragon of New Testament studies in his lifetime, Brown was a gifted communicator who wrote with ease and clarity. Abridged by Marion Soards, who worked with Brown on the original text, this new, concise version maintains the essence and centrist interpretation of the original without tampering with Brown's perspective, insights, or conclusions. The biblical writings themselves remain the focus, but there are also chapters dealing with the nature, origin, and interpretation of the New Testament texts, as well as chapters concerning the political, social, religious, and philosophical world of antiquity. Furthermore, augmenting Brown's commentary on the New Testament itself are topics such as the Gospels' relationship to one another; the form and function of ancient letters; Paul's thought and life, along with his motivation, legacy, and theology; a reflection on the historical Jesus; and a survey of relevant Jewish and Christian writings. This comprehensive, reliable, and authoritative guidebook is now more accessible for novices, general readers, Bible study groups, ministers, scholars, and students alike.

Over his illustrious career, Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Ph.D., was internationally regarded as a dean of New Testament scholars. He was Auburn Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He received over thirty honorary degrees from Catholic and Protestant universities worldwide, and was elected a (Corresponding) Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.In addition to serving as president of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Society of New Testament Studies, two popes appointed Father Brown as the sole American on the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Some of the best known of his more than thirty-five books on the Bible are three volumes in the "Anchor Bible" series on the Gospel and Epistles of John, as well as the Anchor Bible Reference Library volumes "The Birth of the Messiah", "The Death of the Messiah", and "An Introduction to the New Testament", winner of the 1998 Catholic Press Association Award for Biblical Studies. Father Brown's untimely death on August 8, 1998, saddened all who knew him.

Over the past fity years the Roman Catholic Church's understanding of the Bible opened up to modern scholarship in a way never before imaginable, and at the center of this shift is Raymond Brown. Today, both academic and general readers continue to find insight and inspiration in his publications.
"New Testament Essays" brings together fourteen of Brown's early works on subjects ranging from the ecumenical possibilities raised by historical study of the Bible to the relationship between faith and biblical research to the theology and history of the Gospel of John, concisely capturing many of Brown's major concerns in the clear and accessible voice for which he was so beloved. Brown had a gift for bringing insightful scholarship to a wide audience, as this collection makes clear, and his work ultimately shows that, rather than posing a challenge to faith, historical criticism of Scripture provides a path to deeper understanding of the Word of God and its implications for the modern world.
In this new edition of "New Testament Essays," Father Ronald Witherup, Brown's colleague, provides an introduction describing Brown's life and work, his impact on biblical studies, and his powerful legacy.

Father Brown completes his look at the great seasons of the liturgical year, making the rich insights of modern biblical exegesis conveniently available to all, with this volume for the season from Easter to Pentecost.

During this season the Church reads consecutively from the Acts of the Apostles, recounting the external life of the Church after Pentecost. The accompanying readings from the Gospel according to John portray the internal life of Christian disciples and promise a coming Paraclete to be sent by the Father. Father Brown's title "A Once-and-Coming Spirit" signifies these two great biblical sources that he reflects on. He shows how these readings speak to our time as we live out the external history of a visible Church while internally drawing life from Jesus as branches on the vine. His comments offer an opportunity to appreciate the intent of the season after Easter and to prepare ourselves for the intensified gift of the spirit at Pentecost.

In his other books for Advent, Christmas, and Lent published by The Liturgical Press, Father Brown has made the rich insights of modern biblical exegesis conveniently available for reflection during the great feasts of the liturgical year. Here he does the same for the Easter season by commenting on the Gospel stories of the risen Christ.

Rather than focusing on the differences between the evangelists' accounts of the resurrection, Father Brown instead concentrates on how each treatment of the resurrection fits the theology and plan of its Gospel. Those people who afford the Church's liturgical calendar a major role in their spiritual life will appreciate the added meaning Father Brown infuses into these stories that dwell at the heart of our faith.

Father Brown reflects here not only on those annunciations of Jesus' forthcoming birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, but also on the beautiful canticles, the Magnificat and the Benedictus, and on the origins of Jesus as given in the first words of the New Testament.

This best-selling book is certain to remain in the forefront of Gospel exegesis for years to come. In it, Father Brown treats the Gospels, written thirty to sixty years after the life of Christ, as reflecting considerate theological and dramatic development and not simply as literal accounts of a historical event.

Father Brown has thoroughly revised, updated, and adjusted the commentary to the 1986 revised NAB translation of the Bible, making this edition of his best-selling book virtually a new work.

Over his illustrious career, Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Ph.D., was internationally regarded as a dean of New Testament scholars. He was Auburn Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He received over thirty honorary degrees from Catholic and Protestant universities worldwide, and was elected a (Corresponding) Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.In addition to serving as president of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Catholic Biblical Association, and the Society of New Testament Studies, two popes appointed Father Brown as the sole American on the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Some of the best known of his more than thirty-five books on the Bible are three volumes in the "Anchor Bible" series on the Gospel and Epistles of John, as well as the Anchor Bible Reference Library volumes "The Birth of the Messiah", "The Death of the Messiah", and "An Introduction to the New Testament", winner of the 1998 Catholic Press Association Award for Biblical Studies. Father Brown's untimely death on August 8, 1998, saddened all who knew him.

In the first volume of Raymond E. Brown's magisterial three-volume commentary on the Gospel According to John, all of the major Johannine questions--of authorship, composition, dating, the relationship of John to the Synoptics (Mark, Matthew, and Luke)--are discussed. The important theories of modern biblical scholarship concerning John are weighed against the evidence given in the text and against prevailing biblical research. In sum, what is attempted is a synthesis of the major scholarly insights that bear on the Fourth Gospel.
The translation--as Father Brown states at the outset--strives not for any formal beauty but rather for an accurate and contemporary version: "the simple, everyday Greek of the Gospel has been rendered into the ordinary American English of today." The result is a translation that will strike the reader with uncommon immediacy.
Father Brown also analyzes, in the appendixes, the meaning, use, and frequency of certain key words and phrases that occur in John, and examines the differences between the Johannine and Synoptic treatments of the miracle stories.
The chapters of the Gospel translated here in Volume 29 (1-12) comprise the Prologue, which opens with the famous "In the beginning was the Word," and the Book of Signs, an account of the miracles of Jesus and of his ministry.

The truth behind the Gospel accounts of the Nativity, updated to include the latest research--a classic by a renowned scholar, hailed as "masterly" and "definitive" in the original edition.