Gospel According to St John: Black's New Testament Commentaries

by Andrew Lincoln

The magnificent series of biblical commentaries known as Black's New Testament Commentaries (BNTC) under the General Editorship of Professor Morna Hooker has had a gap for far too long - it has lacked an up to date commentary on the Fourth Gospel.

Professor Andrew Lincoln now fills this gap with his excellent new commentary. The key questions for scholars are gone into thoroughly- questions of historicity, the use of historical traditions and sources, relationship to the Synoptics, authorship, setting, first readers and Professor Lincoln makes his own position on these issues abundantly clear.

The Fourth Gospel raises a number of problems generally known as The Johannine Question. According to tradition the Gospel was written by St John the Apostle. The authenticity of the tradition is examined in the introduction but the textual issues are examined within the commentary itself. For example one problem is that Chapters 15 and 16 seem in early versions to have preceded chapter 14. Chapter 21 must have been a later addition. The purpose of the Gospel as stated in Chapter 20 v 31 is to strenghten the reader's faith in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God. But even the celebrated prologue has given rise to much speculation, whereas most commentators believe it is the key to the Gospel as a whole.

These issues are meat and drink to scholars but in Professor Lincoln's expert hands they are extremely interesting and highly pertinent to our contemporary understanding of the Gospel.

Genres: Theology, Reference, Biblical Studies

596 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Andrew T. Lincoln is the Portland Professor of New Testament at the University of Gloucestershire.

Reviews

[Ben Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst theologically I might have some differences with some of his conclusions, particularly around textual criticism, this is a stunning work. I wish commentaries were uniformly written like this, with a focus on detail and overall bigger picture of the work.

In particular his insights into the upper room discourse are breathtaking.
If you are in Christ, served by His cross and resurrection then you partake in the godhead. The father and spirit dwell with you; because the cross is not a picture of the Father’s glory- it IS the glory of the Father. It isn’t a metaphor or an illustration, Christ is very God because He displays supremely the Father. The act of glory, the character of the unknowable God is SUPREMELY and uniquely displayed in the cross. So if you are in Christ the Father is in you. Wow.

[Gwilym Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Andrew Lincoln is talking about the historicity of John, he's consistently very disappointing. 1 star. When he's talking about the theological significance of the text, he's consistently illuminating. He has disappointing moments - he's much better, for example, on passages like John 4, John 19 and John 21 than he is on John 9-11. He's also quite brief - too brief, sometimes. But he's a very good dialogue partner to be used alongside a more sensible commentary like Carson's Pillar. 4 stars on interpretation, 1 star on historicity, probably 2.5 overall - but I'll round up. Glad I read it, and I'll use it again.

[Derek Winterburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading through John with three commentaries - I judged this one the middle one. There is a sense of flow and awareness of theological themes and motifs. There is less help with the Greek, or especially close attention to the texts. I was left feeling Lincoln was never sure what actually happened. However there was invariably something of value in his explorations.

[Nick Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent commentary with a strong introduction and literary focus. Highlights the law court metaphor and John's effort to situate the cross within the hour of glory. My misgivings are largely concerned with the treatment of the beloved disciple, understood here to be a real person within the Johannine community but not a real participant in the events in which the narrative portrays him. Nevertheless, the author makes a respectable case for this view.

[Stephanie Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a bit presumptuous, but very well thought out and worth a look if one is doing a scholarly study of the fourth gospel.