D. Moody Smith

In this volume, Smith views the Fourth Gospel within several contexts in order to illuminate its specific purposes and achievements. A growing consensus of recent scholarship (including Martyn, Raymond E. Brown, Meeks) seeks the roots of this Gospel and its traditions in the conflict between Jesus' followers and opponents within Judaism. In their struggles, Jesus' followers are encouraged and strengthened by his continuing presence in the Spirit, which articulates his meaning for new situations. Although distinctive, Johannine Christianity does not develop in complete isolation from the broader Christian Gospels. Out of a fascinating, if complex, setting develops the strikingly unique statement of Christian faith, practice, and doctrine found in the Gospel of John. The purpose of this commentary is to enable the reader to comprehend that statement in historical perspective in order to appreciate its meaning and significance.

Now in its 8th edition, Anatomy of the New Testament is one of the most trust-worthy and enduring introductory textbooks of its kind. Its authors bring literary and historical approaches to the New Testament together, offering a comprehensive and accessible approach that appeals to students at all levels. Visually appealing and well-designed this compact edition has been designed for today's student, and is illustrated with engaging images, refreshed maps, and updated bibliographies that make the textbook enjoyable to read and easy to teach. The stand-out pedagogical features have been updated as well, updated for new advances in biblical scholarship and the needs of today's student: Have You Learned it? Offering questions for analysis and reflection; What Do They Mean? Presenting definitions for key terms to enhance student comprehension and critical thinking.

This broadly adopted textbook weds literary and historical approaches to focus on the New Testament's structure and meaning. Anatomy of the New Testament is systematic, critical, and reliable in its scope and content. This seventh edition has been revised throughout, to take account of current trends in scholarship and to discuss important interpretative issues, such as the Gospel of Thomas. Each chapter includes two new features: Have You Learned It? offering questions for analysis and synthesis; What Do They Mean? presenting definitions of key terms to enhance student comprehension and critical thinking.

As the Roman-appointed high priest who had a hand in orchestrating Jesus' crucifixion, Caiaphas secured his place in infamy alongside Pontius Pilate. But who was Caiaphas really? Adele Reinhartz offers a thorough reconsideration of Caiaphas in the Gospels and other ancient texts as well as in subsequent visual arts, literature, film, and drama. The portrait that emerges challenges long-held beliefs about this New Testament figure by examining the background of the high priesthood and exploring the relationships among the high priest, the Roman leadership, and the Jewish population. Reinhartz does not seek to exonerate Caiaphas from culpability in the crucifixion, but she does expand our understanding of Caiaphas's complex religious and political roles in biblical literature and his culturally loaded depiction in ongoing Jewish-Christian dialogue.

This careful and thoughtful book unlocks the door to the theological and ethical treasures contained in the Epistles of John. It is an invitation to a journey of discovery, from the well-known and familiar to the less familiar but rewarding.

This title offers compelling perspectives on the ""Gospel of John"" from a premiere scholar of the subject. 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.

The work of Professor Moody Smith has for many years been central to the advance of Johannine scholarship. Johannine Christianity brings together ten important essays on the sources, setting and theology of the Gospel of John. Together, they both confir

John's relationship to the other canonical Gospels has from Christian antiquity been the subject of serious discussion and debate. Did John know them? Did he use them as sources for his own ""spiritual"" gospel? If so, can his eccentricities in using them be explained? In ""John Among the Gospels"" D. Moody Smith confronts these questions, describing how the relationship of the Fourth Gospel to the Synoptics has been understood, particularly in modern biblical scholarship. John's difference from the other gospel narratives was recognized by such ancient Christian writers as Clement of Alexandria in the late 2nd century, Origen in the early 3rd century, and Eusebius in the early 4th century, who set the stage for opposing views of John's relation to the Synoptics. John was deemed either compatible with, if supplementary to, the other canonical Gospels, as Clement and Eusebius believed, or obviously at odds historically with the companion works, according to Origen's opposing view. These two essential interpretive views have played out to the present day. Smith summarizes the theories and countertheories that have driven Johannine scholarship since the time of the early church, clarifying the interrelationship among commentators at the same time that he offers an insightful overview of this key issue in Johannine studies. In a new, final chapter included in the second edition of ""John Among the Gospels"", Smith emphasizes the difficulty of determining what constitutes redaction and how the apparently redactional or compositional elements found their way into the Gospel of John. Using the Gospel of Mark as his primary point of reference, Smith probes the difficulties involved in discerning how John understood and used ther Synoptics, if indeed John knew or used them at all.

This careful and thoughtful book unlocks the door to the theological and ethical treasures contained in the Epistles of John. It is an invitation to a journey of discovery, from the well-known and familiar to the less familiar but rewarding. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.