Richard Hays argues that Paul is telling or appealing to a story in his argument with the Galatians--the story of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. There are many things of interest and value in this work. I will simply mention the provacative thesis that, many times, when our English Bibles translate "faith in Jesus Christ," Hays argues that Paul is actually referring to "the faith of Jesus Christ." Christ's own trust in God and his faithful obedience to the point of death on the cross is the crux of our salvation from the curse.

I still haven't decided if I'm sure Hays is right. As I have noted, the book is worth several readings. But for those looking for something meaty in New Testament theology, hermeneutics and/or literary theory, I think this should be at the top of your list.

A clear, concise, much-needed perspective on the beginnings of Christianity. Critiques the limitations of the Theology perspective and the Historical Sociopolitical perspective, and explains why scholars are averse to looking at the origins of Christianity from the point of view of religious experiencing.

Central chapters cover glossalia and especially sacred meals, looking for the kind of experiencing that was common to the Mystery Religions and Jewish initiation. The convenient footnotes have valuable references to the books he praises and critiques. Ends with a call to start looking for religious experiencing as the main cause of Christianity.

lt johnson is a moderately conservative catholic (in fact an ex-monk) who has written extensively on nt studies. this 203 page book can be read in a few hours and is not bogged down with scholarly jargon. essentially he is putting into perspective the value of historical Jesus studies. lt states that if Jesus is today alive for Christians, how then can we get a reliable picture of Him by using the means by which we study dead people! he has been gently criticised by some including ben witherington and raymond brown for separating the Jesus of history from the Jesus we worship - but i don't think that is the focus of johnson's argument. i think lt is simply pointing out (quite validly) that historical critical studies can give only a limited picture of Jesus. he uses as an interesting example adolf hitler. if we were to perform a study in "historical hitlerology" (attempting to construct a portait using what hitler thought of himself as well as the thoughts of his closest associates), we would indeed come up with a picture of hitler that would be quite different than what we know to be true. i would agree that this comparison is a little oblique, but johnson makes a good point. the first few chapters may seem a little fluffy to some but they move quickly into the meat of the work. all in all, this is a very readable work. not everyone will agree with johnson but all those interested in Jesus studies need to be exposed to his point of view!

Luke Timothy Johnson does a masterful job at creating a book that engages the reader's mind and heart. Though this book is written from an ex-priest and still retains much Catholic tradition, the Protestant reader can also enjoy and gain insight from this well written text.

This book is not written for the skeptic or the Christian revisionist, like his previous book "The Real Jesus." Instead this material will penetrate the heart of the believer. As he wonderfully points out, "To be a Christian means to assert that Jesus is alive, is indeed life-giving Spirit." This book reminds the Christian that we should be learning from a living Jesus. To often, we look at Jesus as a piece of history. This is a wake-up call to Christians everywhere.

We are to learn from Jesus from great Christians, the church, and the New Testament. I find Dr. Johnson's book to be honest and forthright and appreciated his candor about the church and himself. This is a must read!

While firmly rooted in Holy Scripture and Tradition, the author presents his broad vision of what it means to follow in the footsteps of the Lord - especially in His role of suffering servant and revealer of the Father.

The author joins several other modern scholars who point out quite rightly I think, that one must avoid the Biblical fundamentalism of proof texting the Bible. You can prove anything you want from the Bible if you simply pick your passages. Rather the person who is really seeking the Lord's will in modern life, should note the broad themes of scripture. We should see how God has dealt with His people in the past, and apply that learning to our present situation. The Word revealed in the words of scripture will guide us into all truth.

Dr. Johnson has updated this book, making it a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the ways the church should use scripture to discern the will of God. Johnson hits important issues, including the place of homosexual Christians in the church, but rather than using the book as a soapbox to take stands on issues, he uses the issues to demonstrate the way scripture is used and understood. The book is helpful to religion/seminary students and clergy, but is accessible to lay persons who care about making scripture the basis for their decisions and those of their church.

This book has both a "special introduction" section (covering date/authorship,etc of each book) and a VERY brief general commentary on whole sections at a time in each book. For example, the commentary for the entire Gospel of Mark is only 10 1/2 pages.

I would definitly recomend getting a book with a better special introduction (Carson,Morris,Moo - "Intro to the NT") and a seperate book for a commentary (Expositor's Bible Commentary is the best!!!).

EBC has a better special introduction and a MUCH MUCH better and more detailed commentary written by more competant scholars.

If money is an issue, buy Carson's Intro to NT instead of this book. -- You will save some money and get a better quality Intro to NT. Granted, you won't have the brief commentary, but I don't think you'll miss much in this commentary. If you want a commentary, go with EBC!!! EBC is hands down the best NT commentary you can get for the price ....

If you want a more detailed and thorough Commentary of each NT book than EBC gives, you'll have to pay WAY more money, and still in some areas will not get the quality of info that EBC gives you.

I have to give this book 3 stars, because I don't see anything wrong with the writing. This book is much more elementry than Carson's. So for a brand new Bible student, this may be better suited.....But I would still recommend Carson's!!!

Eric

The Writings Of The New Testament: An Interpretation By Luke Timothy Johnson (Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia) is an erudite, scholarly, yet thoroughly "reader friendly" commentary on the New Testament text, in relation to history of the ancient world, Christian beliefs, and a page-by-page analysis of the scripture itself. An accompanying CD-ROM provides ready access to cross-referenced text. The Writings Of The New Testament is highly recommended as an exhaustive study enhanced with extensive bibliographical annotation and thought-provoking questions.

I bought this for a course on the Gospels and have gone back to this book every time I go to study another part of the New Testament. Johnson covers the NT extremely well and gives insights into the text and the context that is helpful to students, preachers and teachers. This updated version includes significant current NT scholarship. It is very well written, making the reading enjoyable.

I bought this book because I was particularly taken with authorLuke Johnson's "Reading Romans" and because I was equally delighted with the first book I purchased in the Sacra Pagina series, "John" by F. Maloney.

The commentary seems a bit thin in this volume to me, and I found it distracting that each section of the book presents first the scriptural passage to be discussed, then notes on the translation second, and finally the commentary. For me, this broke the cadence of the text -- inserting the "end notes" between the passage and the analysis -- and made the book feel more like a companion guide to a text on learning historical Greek.

Sad to say, as much as I enjoyed this book's thorough discussion, I took away more understanding and a more cohesive sense of Luke's Gospel from reading the one chapter about Luke in Raymond Brown's last work on the New Testament. I looked to Sacra Pagina to provide a more in-depth exegetical and hermeneutic commentary.... and it did.

It provides a clear and concise summary of the Gospel. I am a deacon in the Catholic Church and I use it for both homily preparation and teaching. It uses plain english to present what many complicate.

Luke Johnson in The Real Jesus does something that all whom he criticizes does not: he emphatically states the limitations of his own field. He attacks the hubris with which scholars (or, those who refer to themselves as such) wield the mighty tool of the historical method of determining what is real, not just about the man, Jesus, but the foundations of the Christian faith. For faith it is: a belief based on a religious language and hermeneutic, in the same vain as the Gospel narratives. The title of the book is apt, not only because it reflects a similar sensationalism that those of the Jesus Seminar use with their literature. It is clearly tongue-in-cheek, for he is emphatic that there is a distinction between the sum of probabilities of historical events and "knowing" what is "real" about Jesus. In the end, he does not write about how the historical records or the events portrayed in these records tell us about the "real" Jesus, but how they in fact cannot one way or another. Jesus is a Jesus of faith, directed by the records, but having been brought alive through the presence of the "real" Jesus who works through Christianity today.

What so few people understand (including JS scholars, if I may use that term) is that the biblical text is ONLY text and not the Bible unless read within a community of faith. This is basic theology. Without faith, you can tear apart the text and force out parts of it you don't want.

Johnson sets the record straight on the use of scholarship, obliquely (or, perhaps overtly) scoffing at the attempt of the Jesus Seminar to assume that what is scholarly is what is true and, moreover, far-reaching enough to make statements on the validity of religious claims. There is no doubt that as a believer in the traditional Jesus as espoused by the creeds, Johnson is biased. His genius is in showing that this also can be most emphatically said about the interests of the participants of the Jesus Seminar.

Luke Timothy Johnson is a heavyweight in Christian scholarship and in this clear and concise book, he exposes the "misguided quest" of the Jesus Seminar. This book strengths lie in that Johnson, a first rate scholar, explains why the quest for a historical Jesus often fails.

The book introduces the Jesus Seminar and some of their most popular teachers and scholars. One reviewer clamims that Johnson is Polemic, but I am curious what he considers polemic. Johnson is not polemic, but honest in his assesments of this group. He informs the reader which Seminar folk are actual scholars and which ones are not.

Johnson then reminds the reader the "limitations of history" in trying to develop a historical Jesus. This area examines the limtations of this social science. He then develops what is "historical about Jesus" and the "Real Jesus." This book is an easy read, yet has enough depth that it adequately deals with such an important topic. While I cannot completely agree with Johnson on every detail, he has produced a great work which is neeeded as a counter-balance to the media circus that surrounds the Jesus Seminar and the often lack of serious scholastic response by "litarlist Bible Christians."

Luke Timothy Johnson is no fundamentalist. Johnson works in the milieu of critical scholarship while still maintaining a vibrant faith, much like the late Raymond Brown. Therefore, his observations in this book should not be dismissed as the rantings of rabid anti-scholar. There is much more to this book than criticism of the Jesus Seminar. The issues involved in contemporary biblical scholarship in general are articulated well. The main point of the book is that there are such severe limitations in historical research that any historical reconstruction of Jesus, i.e. "the historical Jesus" cannot be "the real Jesus" that is worshipped and followed by the church. The real Jesus is the one presented by the Gospels, and indeed by other sections of the New Testament (the letters of Paul, James, I Peter, etc.) Although the Jesus Seminar takes the brunt of the criticism here, Johnson also points out some of the methodological missteps of less radical scholars such as John P. Meier. This book makes some valid points and is essential reading to get another view in the lively area of contemporary Jesus scholarship.

Johnson in this commentary offers a sustained and well articulated "reading" of Romans; though at times he can be a little idiosyncratic in his views and labour some points endlessly. He is very good in focusing on the literary conventions of this letter, but not so good when it comes to exegetical detail. One glaring weakness that this work has is that it does not interact with alternative readings or views in a sustained or consistant way. Another shortcoming is that it contains no indexes or bibliographies! Thus, I would say that this should not be top of your list when it comes to purchasing commentaries on Romans. For roughly the same price you can get Douglas Moo's larger and more exhaustive commentary in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series, or if you are looking for a Roman Catholic perspective, Brendon Bryne's volume in the Sacra Pagina series.

Nevertheless, this volume does contain some exegetical distinctives.

Reading Romans is one of the 'small book' of Luke Tomothy Johnson. It is clear and not difficult for Christian. You can use this book to prepare you Sunday School, Cell Group Discussion and self-study. If you are the teacher of Sunday School, Cell group Leader or Lay Pastor, you need to put this book in your library. Read 'Reading Romans', you can easliy understand the picture of Romans. Of course, if you want to learn more and deep, or you are studying Theology, Douglas Moo or Berndon Bryne's books will be better.