This volume, which emerges from an SNTS seminar in 1985 1986, analyses one of the best-known, but also one of the most intriguing, of Jesus' discourses within the Fourth Gospel. Previous studies of the Shepherd Discourse have concentrated either on its historical setting in the life of Jesus (Simonis) or on the prehistory of its text (Bullmann and his school). The present study, consisting of essays written by an international team of specialists, adopts a more contextual approach. The Shepherd Discourse is here situated in the text of the Fourth Gospel, with particular emphasis on the preceding chapter and on the subsequent Passion narrative. The internal coherence of John 10 so becomes clearer, and it is seen that - in spite of its links with Gnostic ideas - the roots of the Discourse in Old Testament and Jewish texts about the shepherds of Israel become apparent.

This lively commentary, intended for a wide audience, raises as many questions about the text of Matthew as it answers. It uses the Scholars Version intended for more secular use than other versions and frequently discusses how the Greek, which is printed opposite the English, was translated, engaging the reader in the issues that arise when one turns an ancient language into vernacular American English.

Can the authentic words and deed of Jesus identified by the Jesus Seminar furnish a sufficient basis for a credible profile of the Jesus of history? That is the challenge faced by the contributors to this volume. Their efforts have resulted in a unique collection of studied impressions of Jesus. Here readers will see not Jesus the icon of myth and creed, but a provocative young man of first-century Palestine whose vision and determination to live the vision gave birth to a new form of faith and changed the course of history.

Twenty-seven authors from a variety of backgrounds contribute essays concerning the distance, historically and theologically, between the historical Jesus and the Gospel of John to this collection. Part One discusses issues related to the historical and ideological context in which the Fourth Gospel was produced. Part Two explores the possibility of oral and written sources that John may have utilized. Part Three compares the Fourth Gospel with early noncanonical literature to identify various ways in which Jesus' traditions were appropriated by early Christians.