John’s Use of Matthew
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
170 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.34 in
- Hardcover
- 9781666714272
- Published: August 2022
$43.00 / £38.00 / AU$67.00
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The Gospel of John's relationship to the Synoptic Gospels is a perennial question. For centuries, the Gospel of Matthew has been considered the least likely of possible written sources of the Fourth Gospel. In an ambitious reappraisal, James Barker demonstrates John's use of the redacted Gospel of Matthew. After reviewing the history of interpretation on the question, Barker develops three case studies. Concerning ecclesial authority, Barker contends that John's saying concerning forgiving and retaining sins derives from Matthew's binding and loosing logion. Regarding proof from prophecy, he argues that John relies on Matthew for Zechariah's oracle about Israel's king entering Jerusalem on a donkey. Finally, he argues that John's inclusion of Samaritans contrasts sharply with Matthew's exclusion of Samaritans from the early church. Although John's engagement with Matthew was by no means uncritical, Barker at last concludes that John intended his Gospel to be read alongside, not instead of, Matthew.
James W. Barker is assistant professor of New Testament at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2011, and in 2014 received the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship.
Praise for John’s Use of Matthew
“In this fresh and fascinating analysis, James W. Barker calls us out of intellectual lassitude regarding the Fourth Gospel’s possible dependence upon Matthew. In the process, he reminds us that even—and maybe especially—ideas that have reached near ‘axiomatic’ status in New Testament scholarship should be rigorously questioned. He has reinvigorated the conversation and even advanced it by offering constructive insights of his own.”
Jaime Clark-Soles, Southern Methodist University
“Among the most pressing of the Johannine riddles is the question of John’s relation—actually, relations—to the Synoptics. This work by James W. Barker makes an important advance in understanding the dialectical relations between the Johannine and Matthean traditions. Barker here shows how John’s familiarity with Matthew might have involved setting the record straight here and there, as well as reinforcing Matthew’s contribution to church organization and leadership. An important contribution to studies of the New Testament and of early Christianity.”
Paul N. Anderson, George Fox University