As the final gospel commentary in this series (Sacra Pagina) this volume will serve as a very helpful commentary to many who are pursuing a study of the Marcan text. This series stands between the highly critical, scholarly commentaries which many find intimidating or excessive and those commentaries which leave many wanting more.
After nearly fifty pages of introductory material, the authors, in following the design of the series, provide commentary and exegesis for each successive pericope in the text. Their information will be helpful to preachers, teachers, students and anyone who wants to do a careful examination of the Marcan text.
I am currently using it as a primary resource for my class notes for an eleventh grade honors course in Scripture Studies and most of the material is accessible to my students.
The scholarship is solid and the bibliographies are very helpful for anyone who wants to pursue a particular topic to a further depth.

The Irish Play on the New York Stage has been awarded the Michael J. Durkan Prize of the American Conference for Irish Studies, given annually to the best book in Literary Criticism/ Arts Criticism/Cultural Studies. Lucy McDiarmid, President, American Conference for Irish Studies

This book provides an excellent overview of some of the most important current topics in Historical Jesus Study. They include:(1) a study of Galilee at the time of Jesus (by E. P. Sanders); (2) a comparison and analysis of Jesus's teachings with the doctrines contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls (by Daniel J. Harrington); (3) some preliminary musings by John P. Meier about how he will reconcile the Elijah-like miracle working prophet who has emerged to date from his "Marginal Jew" series with the early remembrance of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah; (4)an assement of the important role of oral traditions as sources for the Gospels (by James D. G. Dunn); and finally, a respected systematic theologian's perspective on the importance and usefulness of honest and objective historical Jesus research in terms of nurturing the Christian faith (by Elizabeth A. Johnson).

The contributors are all leading scholars who are excited about their subjects. They brilliantly employ the tools of honest, objective, historical criticism--but they also do not apologise for their faith. This short collection provides an excellent introduction to the work and thought processes of these wonderful scholars. I recommend it highly.

This book is full of wonderful plays that give insight into Irish history. The collection of plays helps one to understand what the revolution was about and the events that caused it.

This is one of the only comprehensive texts for teaching the history of Irish drama on the market today. There should be a collection of contemporary Irish plays this good. Oh, and thank you to the reader below for the table of contents! One correction, however: "Cathleen Ni Houlihan" and "On Baile's Strand" are both Yeats plays... there is no playwright Cathleen Ni Houlihan. She's a symbol for a free and romanticized Ireland.

I'm writing this review to provide others who're considering purchasing this book an outline of content as I became incredibly frustrated when I couldn't find any such details quickly. ... Complete texts of 12 plays by 8 Irish playwrights: Cathleen Ni Hourlihan's "On Baile's Strand", W.B. Yeat's "Purgatory", Lady Gregory's "Spreading the News" and "The Rising of the Moon", J.M. Synge's "Riders to the Sea" and "Playboy of the Western World", G.B. Shaw's "John Bull's Other Island, Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Paycock", Brendan Behan's "The Quare Fellow", Samuel Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape", and "Translations" by Brian Friel. Texts are fully annotated with explanatory notes on Anglo-Irish usage, place names, historical figures and literary allusions. Backgrounds, criticism, memoirs, prefaces, chronology and bibliography are also included. Hope this helped!!

A solid work based on the form of the Johannine text as we now have it. The commentary is divided into two parts: Interpretation and Notes, the former offering the main body of argument, and the latter the justification for the Interpretation. Some of its strengths include the following. First, although it belongs to a catholic series, there is nothing that is overtly "catholic" about the interpretation. Second, is not too large, as commentaries on John are inclined to be, and yet it offers significant new insight into the text. Third, Moloney tries and succeeds for the most part in interpreting the main thread of logical argument made in the Gospel. A pastor or scholar can quite easily look up a passage and trace its meaning and development.

I have a single criticism. Although the series is NOT meant primarily for the scholar, Moloney battles to write in a non-academic manner. He is clearly a highly intelligent man whose style is logical and deductive. I find the experience a little too clinical. Moloney seldom becomes existentially involved with the text. Some may see this as a flaw, and others as strength. One gets the impression that Moloney is trapped within the very strict confines of his methodology. The result: a scholarly and sane interpretation that lacks vigour.

Australia's leading Catholic biblical scholar, Francis Moloney, is the latest contributor to Liturgical Press' acclaimed series of New Testament commentaries, 'Sacra Pagina'. The series is being written by an international team of Catholic biblical scholars under the general editorship of Daniel J. Harrington SJ.

Fr Moloney's contribution is the commentary on the Gospel of John, a subject on which he is a world authority. His expert publications on John range from the 'Johannine Theology' article in 'The New Jerome Biblical Commentary' through to an innovative three-volume scholarly commentary on the Gospel of John being published by Fortress Press.

Which begs the question, why do we need another commentary on John from Professor Moloney? The answer lies in the distinctive approach adopted by the 'Sacra Pagina' series.

Produced with the needs of clergy, preachers, biblical professionals, graduate students, theologians, and religious educators in mind, the volumes present detailed, substantial exposition of the biblical texts, based on the best of modern Catholic scholarship while not bogging the reader down in the minutia of academic debates and references.

Moloney's volume is indicative of the well-structured nature of the books in the series. It begins with an introductory chapter that concisely examines general matters such as the Gospel's authorship and structure, as well as its theological contribution and contemporary significance.

The body of the commentary follows, the text broken down into major sections and subsections, according to the perceived intention of John's author. For each section, the book begins by presenting the text of John under consideration in English translation (Moloney uses the RSV with some alterations, including inclusive language; some other volumes have original translations). This is followed by the 'Interpretation', which is the core commentary, and in turn by the 'Notes'. The latter are where one finds the arguments for the particular positions adopted in the commentary, as well as presentations and evaluations of alternative points of view. Each section ends with a list of references and suggested further reading.

The beauty of this approach is that readers can easily access the level of commentary that they wish or require. Indexes of scripture texts, other ancient writings, and authors are also included.

Moloney's distinctive approach is to focus on the narrative design of John, aiming to trace the impact the Johannine form of the Jesus story makes on a reader, which brings its readers to a point of decision.

As with the other 'Sacra Pagina' volumes, the intention is to present the best of Catholic biblical scholarship, but also never to lose sight of the faith context, to continue to see the scripture as 'sacred page'.

Francis Moloney SDB is Foundation Professor of Theology at Australian Catholic University and was recently reappointed by Pope John Paul II to the International Theological Commission for a third five-year term, making him one of the commission's longest-serving members. [Book of the Month Selection, John Garratt Catholic Book Club.]