John among the gospels

John among the Gospels, by D. Moody Smith. 2nd ed. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2001. (First Edition published by Augsburg Fortress, 1992). Pp. xx + 262. $14.95 (paper). ISBN 157003446X. D. Moody Smith has been interested in the sources of the Fourth Gospel since at least since 1959, when he began work on his doctoral thesis at Yale, published in 1965 as The Composition and Order of the Fourth Gospel (New Haven/London: Yale University Press). His dissertation was devoted to an analysis and evaluation of Rudolf Bultmann's source theories, which included the claim that while the Fourth Evangelist wrote independently of the Synoptics, the editorial work of the final redactor was influenced by them. Smith adopted this stance himself, which he then regarded as the "consensus" of scholarship. Since then, Smith's numerous publications on the Johannine writings, including three commentaries on the Gospel, have all dealt with the issue of John and the Synoptics directly or indirectly, and on several occasions he has explicitly addressed this issue. Four essays published in various journals from 1965 to 1982 that focus on the topic have been reprinted in Johannine Christianity: Essays on Its Setting, Sources, and Theology (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1984), with additional articles and lecture series on the subject since then. Thus, the first edition of this book (not reviewed in JBL), which gathered up the research and reflections of three decades, was already a milestone in the history of the discussion. The present expanded edition incorporates Smith's response to recent studies and represents the definitive presentation of the state of the discussion. A major contribution of this edition is its thorough analytical summaries of key works in the history of the discussion, always presented with balance and fairness even when the author's own view is clear. The reader who is unable or uninclined to work through a large bibliography in English, French, and German finds here both a roadmap and a bird's-eye view of the whole landscape. Fairly often, the bird's-eye view is narrowed to include detailed samples of the argument of key authors on specific texts, so that the reader has an up-close exposure to pivotal contributions to the discussion. Smith first sketches the problem of the Fourth Gospel's relation to the Synoptics in early Christianity and the development of what became the standard solution: John knew the other Gospels, presupposed that his readers knew them, and wrote a "spiritual Gospel" to supplement and interpret them (Clement of Alexandria). When this became problematic, the solution received a negative spin (e.g., by Hans Windisch): John was aware of the Synoptics and wrote not to supplement but to displace them. In a variety of forms this "consensus" that John knew and was influenced by the Synoptics persisted until the twentieth century and beyond. (Smith speaks frequently of "consensus," aware that each such "consensus" has several significant exceptions; "prevailing opinion" might sometimes be a preferable expresson.) The heart of the book documents the development of the independence theory in the twentieth century (B. W. Bacon, Hans Windisch, P. Gardner-Smith), the formation of a consensus (the impact of Gardner-Smith, C. H. Dodd, and the influential commentaries of Rudolf Bultmann, Raymond E. Brown, Rudolf Schnackenburg), the relation between John and Luke (Julius Schniewind, F. C. Grant, J. A. Bailey, P. Parker, F. L. Cribbs, R. Maddox), the renaissance of the problem with reference to the passion narratives (redaction-critical approaches, Anton Dauer, Rosel Baum-Bodenbender), followed by the dissolution of the consensus (M.-E. Boismard, Franz Neirynck, Anton Dauer and H.-P. Heekerens, Hartwig Thyen, Bruno de Solages). The first edition concluded with a chapter summarizing the character of the comparison and prospects for its future study. This edition includes an additional chapter, entitled "John, an Independent Gospel," in which Smith examines the problem in the light of historical issues, concentrating on the setting and presentation of Jesus' ministry and relationships. …