The Gospel according to John (Pillar New Testament Commentary) [Hardcover]

D. A. Carson (Author, Series Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 1990 | Series: Pillar New Testament Commentary

In this solid evangelical commentary on John's Gospel, a respected Scripure expositor makes clear the flow of the text, engages a small but representative part of the massive secondary literature on John, shows how the fourth gospel contributes to biblical and systematic theology, and offers a consistent exposition of John as an evangelistic Gospel.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

D. A. Carson is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois. He has written nearly fifty other books, including The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism, How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil, and Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (December 20, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802836836
• ISBN-13: 978-0802836830
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

D. A. Carson (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author or coauthor of over 45 books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winning book The Gagging of God and An Introduction to the New Testament, and is general editor of Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns and Worship by the Book. He has served as a pastor and is an active guest lecturer in church and academic settings around the world.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great John Commentary August 19, 2004

By Carl A. Dixon

Format:Hardcover

I have just finished reading through this commentary for the third time. I have read many commentaries on John's Gospel and consider this one of the best evangelical commentaries on John available today. Carson interacts with many views on controversial items but is never boring. The commentary is a good mix of excellent and profound scholarship but never loses its readability. If one is not familiar with the Greek Language of the Bible this commentary is a good one. If you do have a working knowlege of Greek, Carson is an excellent Greek exegete and you will find satisfaction here. I recommend this great commentary wholeheartedly.

78 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Standard Evangelical Commentary on John May 26, 2006

By J. F Foster

Format:Hardcover

Anyone hoping to write an exhaustive commentary on the Fourth Gospel will die long before they finish. The FG is widely recognized as being the kind of work in which the interpretational possibilities are almost endless. One can focus on Christology, election, sacramentalism, atonement and resurrection, the church, or none of the above. As a result, when one reads any commentary on John, the reader is advised to pay attention to what the author tends to pay attention to, because this will say something about the author's own theological emphases. This is good to know because not only will the reader get a better idea of where the author is coming from, he will also be on alert for ways in which the commentary may be imbalanced as a result of emphasizing certain things and neglecting others. Such is the reality of Johannine scholarship and the richness of the FG.

In the case of Carson, the reader will find the strongest evangelical defense of apostolic authorship among the commentary encyclopedia devoted to the FG. As a result, the reader will also find a commentary that takes the historical veracity of the narrative seriously and attempts to interact with the material from the perspective of considering the material to be normative and historically reliable. This alone separates this commentary from most other major commentaries on the FG in the last 40 years.

Carson properly interacts with the heavy hitters in Johannine scholarship such as Bultmann, Brown, Barrett, Smith, and Culpepper. Carson's interaction with Brown and Culpepper is especially good and provides a solid rebuttal to their differing approaches to literary interpretation.

The commentary is thorough in its coverage of the FG, but like all commentaries, is inevitably incomplete. Carson has his hot buttons just like everyone else, and the result is a good emphasis on issues such as authorship, testimony, election, and christology. The downside is that other emphases, like the much neglected motif of hospitality in the FG and its ramifications on christology, election, the church, etc is ignored. Is this enough to give the book a 4 star rating instead of 5? If so, then no commentary on John would be worthy of a 5 star rating for the reasons already mentioned. For what Carson attempts to do, he does it very well. For this reason, the book deserves 5 stars and should be the standard work on John that evangelicals in particular should consult.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sound, Reliable and Illuminating Commentary on John May 14, 2008

By Anne Rice

Format:Hardcover

I keep this book on my desk right beside Craig S. Keener's commentaries. Carson writes clearly and succinctly and touches on almost every mystery of the Gospel that concerns me. I think he is completely correct in his criticism of the skeptics. The book is obviously shaped by immense faith and displays great attention to current scholarship and to the details of the text of John. The book also contains a marvelous and forceful summary of the arguments for and against the belief that the Apostle John bar Zebedee wrote the gospel. This is a decisive and brave commentary. Also recommended are all D.A. Carson's other books, including Divine Sovereignty & Human Responsibility. This scholar's output is enormous. It will take me years to catch up with what he has written, and I doubt I'll ever catch up with all of it. I admire him greatly, and recommend him wholeheartedly. --- Addendum added May 16, 2008 as I continue to read this book: There is something commonsensical and firm about the way this author presents his points; he dispatches the objections or contrary theory of others with conviction and an economy of language. Again and again, he appeals simply and unobtrusively to sound judgment as to points over which people argue, and it is refreshing. --- Some scholars today are so hampered by earlier skeptical objections, speculations, and disputes that it is difficult to get through their books. One gets the feeling sometimes that some authors are writing for one another. ---- Not so with D.A. Carson. His writing serves the text and the mainstream reader as well as the scholar. ---- Yet he is ever the Christian (charitable) writer. ---- I sense no snideness or unkindness, but simply a great deal of well earned self confidence, and a straightforward appeal to sound logic. Some readers may find this commentary particularly accessible because of all this. The writing is brisk.