The Gospel & Epistles of John

by F.F. Bruce

Book Overview

This volume actually contains two books, "The Gospel of John," and "The Epistles of John." From the back cover: "Available together for the first time, F.F. Bruce's commentaries on the Gospel of John... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802849156
• ISBN13: 9780802849151
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub. Co
• Length: 588 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Who Are The Children Of Abraham?

'The ten references to Abraham hold together the dialogue of John 8: 31-58.' footnote 20, pg 207 When we bear in mind the meaning of truth in this Gospel, where the concept finds its embodiment in Jesus Himself, it follows that for His disciples to know the truth they must not only hear His words: they must in some sort be united with Him who is the truth. pg 196-197 8:33 'We are descendants of Abraham' they replied, 'and have never been anyone's slaves! How can you say, 'You will become free'?' The ancient blessing pronounced through Abraham and through his offspring (Gen 12:3; 22:18) would have been pointless if Abraham's offspring were a race of slaves. The promise to Abraham spoke of blessing for his descendants, and freedom was an essential element in that blessing. pg 197 8:37 'I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.' Jesus agrees that they are Abraham's descendants in the natural sense. But on the whole it seems more probable that, while His own works are in keeping with His Father's character, their works are in keeping with their father's character. pg 198 8:39 'They answered him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did. 41 You do what your father did.' Abraham welcomed the word of God and obeyed His commandments. God Himself testified: 'Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.' (Gen 26:5) No, their father, the one whose works they perform, is a very different person from Abraham. pg 199 8:41 'They said to him, 'We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.' If Jesus would not allow their claim that Abraham was their father, he could not surely disallow their claim to be children of the heavenly Father? pg 199 8:42 'Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word.' He has already told them that Abraham's children might be expected to do Abraham's works; now He denies their claim to be children of God because nothing of the heavenly Father's character is to be seen in them. pg 200 8:45 'But, because I speak the truth, you do not believe me.' Jesus does not say, 'although I speak the truth, you do not believe me', but 'because I speak the truth you do not believe me'; in view of the spiritual lineage of His opponents (44 'You are the offspring of your father, the devil') the fact that what He said was the truth was sufficient reason for them to reject it. pg 202 8:51 'Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps My word, he will neve

Superb commentary

This has been reprinted recently for CBD.com and is a hard cover binding. This review is based on the reprint. This writing is two separate works bound into one volume. Bruce's purpose as stated in his preface is the general student, not the scholar or specialist. He intends to give a detailed study for serious lay students. This purpose is skillfully accomplished by the author. The first 425 pages deal with the Johannine gospel and the last 160 pages with his epistles. The indices for each only deal with each individual book within the volume. Bruce's source for his translation is the 1979 Nestle Aland Greek. The first section on John's gospel begins with a general introduction. Bruce covers this vastly complex topic in relatively short order and discusses some of the controversy or critical study, which can fill volumes. But, he does give a decent brief discussion of the major topics that were present in the early 80s, and discusses the historical evidence regarding authorship. For a more indepth treatment, see Keener's 2-volume commentary. Then Bruce gives an outline of the gospel before proceeding to his verse-by-verse exposition. Each chapter of the book is divided by chapters found in John. He uses a smattering of textual and linguistic information that should be enough to help the pastor or lay student in preparation for teaching. He also deftly utilizes his extensive knowledge of the Old Testament to decipher controversial and often misunderstood passages found in John. An appendix is dedicated to the discussion of John 7:53- 8:11. Here he recognizes the textual difficulties, but concludes that traditional placement of this passage is likely to be correct. Bruce's second work in this volume takes on a similar structure to the first with each epistle being introduced and then exposited. Bruce takes the traditional view of Johannine authorship, while recognizing the arguments against such a stance. He pays special attention to 1 John 5:7's use of the "three heavenly witnesses" found in the KJ. He discusses the history of exegesis of the verse and correctly states that the theology of the Trinity rests throughout Scripture and does not hang on this one verse. Overall, Bruce has provided Christian students with a superb pastoral commentary that will prove very useful in the teaching and preaching environment. His use of the Old Testament makes this volume supersede his expectations that this book is not useful to scholars, as he discusses topics missed by the most recent scholarly commentators on John's writings. This is a superb commentary to add to the library of any student of Scripture.