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History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel, Revised and Expanded
This volume, a part of the New Testament Library series, surveys the scholarly work that has been done concerning the book of John. J. Louis Martyn also provides his own reading of the forth Gospel. The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 16, 2020
This is a academic polimical work addressing the composition and setting of the Gospel of John. If you are not accustom to scholastic scholarship keep that in mind when reading and don't let it stop you from finishing Dr. Martyn's work. There is much to learn and understand from his and others' study of the composition of this Gospel to better understand by whom it was written and why. Gaining these insights one is able to put what is written in context and better grasp what is being said.
Some of my big take aways are a better understanding of the intra-synagogue persecution of the early Christian Jews; how the Christian Jewish community within a synagogue was probably forcefully separated against their will from the Jewish community at large within a city; and how these events shaped the theology that is taught in John.
A great read for anyone interested in early period Christianity through the early 2nd Century AD.
Some of my big take aways are a better understanding of the intra-synagogue persecution of the early Christian Jews; how the Christian Jewish community within a synagogue was probably forcefully separated against their will from the Jewish community at large within a city; and how these events shaped the theology that is taught in John.
A great read for anyone interested in early period Christianity through the early 2nd Century AD.
September 8, 2020
Makes a convincing case the the Sitz im Leben for the Gospel of John is a community of Jewish Christians who were expelled from the Synagoge and were threatened with physical harm. This makes sense of the use of Jew as the enemy and the warnings in the gospel. It is based in part on the Birkath ha-Minim, the twelfth of 18 benedictions laid out in the Talmud. He theorizes that the introduction of this Birkath ha-Minim, which curses the Nazarenes, forced Jewish Christians out of the synagogue when it was introduced after AD70.
Fundamentally, John, in Martyns view, is a two layered drama. The narrative makes sense as a record of the historical Jesus, but also can be read profitable with an eye to a Johannine community three themed by the Synagoge leaders. This thesis seems to make sense of a lot of the data.
He goes on to theorize about the literary history of the redaction of the gospel. This, as he admits, is speculative. His 3 layer hypothesis offers some insight into potential understanding of parts of the text, but on the whole is unconvincing.
Fundamentally, John, in Martyns view, is a two layered drama. The narrative makes sense as a record of the historical Jesus, but also can be read profitable with an eye to a Johannine community three themed by the Synagoge leaders. This thesis seems to make sense of a lot of the data.
He goes on to theorize about the literary history of the redaction of the gospel. This, as he admits, is speculative. His 3 layer hypothesis offers some insight into potential understanding of parts of the text, but on the whole is unconvincing.
July 3, 2021
I just finished "History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel," by J. Louis Martyn.
Martyn understands the fourth gospel as two levels: the surface of Jesus doing and it is a reflection of later events in the writers time of early Jesus people getting, for example, kicked out of the synagogue. So the "Jesus life" happening "einmalig" (German for "back in the day") is playing out the church life happening in the day of the writer.
I'm not going to lie, biblical scholarship can get deep and be beyond me real quick. I'll say it is very interesting and he backs his points. Is it real?--Im not the person who can speak to that or take issue with it.
Clearly written and cool concept but not what I thought--it was all framed around the above concept--and Biblical Scholarship is tougher for me than theology.
#JLouisMartyn #LouisMartyn #HistoryAndTheologyInTheFourthGospel
Martyn understands the fourth gospel as two levels: the surface of Jesus doing and it is a reflection of later events in the writers time of early Jesus people getting, for example, kicked out of the synagogue. So the "Jesus life" happening "einmalig" (German for "back in the day") is playing out the church life happening in the day of the writer.
I'm not going to lie, biblical scholarship can get deep and be beyond me real quick. I'll say it is very interesting and he backs his points. Is it real?--Im not the person who can speak to that or take issue with it.
Clearly written and cool concept but not what I thought--it was all framed around the above concept--and Biblical Scholarship is tougher for me than theology.
#JLouisMartyn #LouisMartyn #HistoryAndTheologyInTheFourthGospel
January 16, 2022
As the history of Johannine scholarship has already confirmed, Martyn's proposals in this work are ingenius, even if they're not always convincing. However, they will only matter to the academic study of John's gospel. There is little here for the church. Martyn is concerned primarily with reconstructing the community behind John's Gospel and tracing out the possible explanations for what, in their communal life, gave rise to the various stories and descriptions in John's biography of Jesus. Of more general interest might be the connections he makes with certain Jewish traditions that existed in John's day that offer fascinating glimpses into what may lie behind some of the controversies and terminology recorded in the gospel.
partially-read
July 16, 2025Read chapter 2 "He is Excluded from the Synagogue and Enters the Church" for Re-Reading John.
November 26, 2012
REVIEW AND CRITIQUE Martyn, L. Louis. History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel. 3d ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003.
Martyn’s central thesis in History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel is that the Fourth Gospel is a polemic work against the Jewish synagogues by a masterful redactor belonging to a “Johannine community,” whose identity was a Jewish-Christian group converted inside the synagogues but later expulsed from the Jewish community.
The “Johannine community” has a strong tint of “Jewishness” but after the separation they began to see themselves as a distinctive group that has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the continuous presence of Jesus.
The Fourth Gospel has two strata behind its drama: the first one is the story of Jesus’s conflict with his contemporaries presented by the anonymous implied narrator; the second is the Johannine community’s conflict with the Pharisaic-rabbinic community in the synagogues that we hear from the first person plural voice “we”.
Martyn correlates the word ἀποσυνάγωγος in John 9:22 with the official excommunication of Jewish Christians issued by the Pharisaic-rabbinical assembly at Jamnia near the close of the first century; as a result, Martyn dated the origin of the Fourth Gospel as contemporary to the Birkat ha-Minim in 80-115 CE when the Jamnia Synod was controlled by Gamiliel II.
Critiques:
The followers of Martin's two-level reading and historical reconstruction thus far could not have reaches the consensus of a completely smooth and coherent picture of the history of the Johannine community.
The overly dependence on the political context in reconstructing the history of the Gospel of John becomes circular in arguments when the reconstruction of the political background itself is totally dependent upon the text.
Martin's overlook of the affluence of OT allusions and imageries is one of the major flaw of his political-oriented historical reconstructionism which makes his hypothesis overly reductionistic and unreliable in explaining the development of the multiple biblical-theological themes as entailed in the Gospel of John.
Martin's basic insight about the presence of community's voice, nevertheless, remains interesting in unlocking the mystery of the "Spiritual" character of the Gospel of John.
Martyn’s central thesis in History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel is that the Fourth Gospel is a polemic work against the Jewish synagogues by a masterful redactor belonging to a “Johannine community,” whose identity was a Jewish-Christian group converted inside the synagogues but later expulsed from the Jewish community.
The “Johannine community” has a strong tint of “Jewishness” but after the separation they began to see themselves as a distinctive group that has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the continuous presence of Jesus.
The Fourth Gospel has two strata behind its drama: the first one is the story of Jesus’s conflict with his contemporaries presented by the anonymous implied narrator; the second is the Johannine community’s conflict with the Pharisaic-rabbinic community in the synagogues that we hear from the first person plural voice “we”.
Martyn correlates the word ἀποσυνάγωγος in John 9:22 with the official excommunication of Jewish Christians issued by the Pharisaic-rabbinical assembly at Jamnia near the close of the first century; as a result, Martyn dated the origin of the Fourth Gospel as contemporary to the Birkat ha-Minim in 80-115 CE when the Jamnia Synod was controlled by Gamiliel II.
Critiques:
The followers of Martin's two-level reading and historical reconstruction thus far could not have reaches the consensus of a completely smooth and coherent picture of the history of the Johannine community.
The overly dependence on the political context in reconstructing the history of the Gospel of John becomes circular in arguments when the reconstruction of the political background itself is totally dependent upon the text.
Martin's overlook of the affluence of OT allusions and imageries is one of the major flaw of his political-oriented historical reconstructionism which makes his hypothesis overly reductionistic and unreliable in explaining the development of the multiple biblical-theological themes as entailed in the Gospel of John.
Martin's basic insight about the presence of community's voice, nevertheless, remains interesting in unlocking the mystery of the "Spiritual" character of the Gospel of John.
July 25, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this work on John. Martyn narrowed his focus to investigating the historical background of a few key passages and was able to reconstruct a compelling vision of the Johannine community. First he establishes what the einmalig level likely is from the text, that is, what things were actually like for Jesus, and the second level is the contemporary times of John. Among some of the insights included what it meant for John to use the unusual term aposynagogos, someone expelled from the synagogue (and therefore the Jewish community) in light of the historic practices of the developing rabbinic community, and suggests that it may relate to the Benedict against the heretics being implemented among with the 18 Benedictions used in synagogues. That would place the writing of John no earlier than 85 CE. The fear the community felt about this sort of expulsion is clearly seen in the accounting of fallout from a miracle: the man blind from being having his sight restored. Martyn also suggests that the signs are best understood placing Jesus in the category of a prophetic figure, rather than a Davidic messianic one. He also suggests that the rhetoric about Jesus' presence being communicated via the paraclete can be understood in light of the community coming to terms with the absence of their leader.
May 4, 2015
Preliminary thoughts: Martyn's work is a monumental contribution to Johannine studies. While not all of Martyn's conclusions are historically or textually sound, he is to be commended in his creativity in scholarship and attempt to reconstruct a historical context behind the Fourth Gospel. His greatest contribution, is not his invention of the two-level drama, but instead his reconstruction of historical data which is useful for determination of historical purpose in John's Gospel.
In the context of 20th century scholarship, this work is seminal, but perhaps lacking by modern standards of citation and exhaustive documentation. But still valuable considering the lack of recent Johannine work, his remains a monolith. Must have for those interested in Johannine and Early Christian Studies.
In the context of 20th century scholarship, this work is seminal, but perhaps lacking by modern standards of citation and exhaustive documentation. But still valuable considering the lack of recent Johannine work, his remains a monolith. Must have for those interested in Johannine and Early Christian Studies.
October 10, 2014
One of the best books ever in terms of sociological Johannine studies.
September 6, 2016
Wish the case was a little better for two-level dramas appearing in the ancient world outside of the apocalyptic genre. Interesting reading of John but bothered by the lack of historical parallels.
March 31, 2020
Not entirely persuasive entirely, but Martyn certainly challenged me to reconsider several aspects of John's Gospel.
November 22, 2017
The concepts are interesting in this, but he goes to the extreme. It would be better to read Raymond Brown instead.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews