Amazon reader review: “A bittersweet read! Intended as the introduction to a major revision of the landmark Anchor Bible commentary on John, but sadly cut off by his death in 1998, this work stands alone as a magnificent survey of major issues in the study of the Fourth Gospel. With his accustomed thoroughness and respect for the work of others, even in disagreement, Brown updates and often moves beyond positions first articulated over three decades ago. Scholars will be long in debt to Francis Moloney for his own insightful introduction and conclusion as well as for signposts along the way which point to shifts in Brown's work along with developments subsequent to his death, and current bibliography. This eminently readable work will extend the influence of Brown well into the present century.”

From its earliest days as a renegade religion in the Roman Empire through its various schisms and splits to present-day disagreements between Eastern Orthodox followers, Roman Catholics, and hundreds of different Protestant denominations, Christianity has been a source of great controversy--most of it centered on the reading of Scripture. There are those Christian conservatives who view the Bible as the literal word of God and the events detailed therein as historical fact. Other, more liberal Christians see the Good Book primarily as literature, a metaphor for how people should live. Mine the pages of the Biblical Archeological Review and you'll find scientists trying to prove or disprove the historical reality of Old and New Testament events and structures--everything from the Ark of the Covenant to King David's palace. In An Introduction to the New Testament, author Raymond E. Brown, a Catholic priest, ignores the swirl of conflict surrounding the Bible as historical artifact, concentrating instead on the message it contains. Father Brown analyzes each of the 27 books in the New Testament, devoting painstaking attention to sources, dates, and authorship, as well as commentary on the spiritual, historical, and thematic aspects. He believes that modern-day Bible readers can only interpret it within its historical context. An Introduction to the New Testament, read with a Bible in hand, can only enrich and deepen your understanding of that germinal religious text.

Amazon reader review: THE CHURCHES THE APOSTLES LEFT BEHIND is no longer a new volume, and there has been a great deal of research in the early Church since the publication of this book. None the less, I often find myself going back to this gem of a resource whenever I am trying to find something interesting to present about the various Churches founded by the Apostles. The communities that Brown discusses are those of Paul, both from his letters and the Lucan communities often associated with Paul, Peter, John, and Matthew. Brown looks at these major communities from the traditional point of view, but includes current scholarship at the time of the book's publication as well. While Brown's Catholic perspective is evident in much of his writing, he was asked as a Catholic to address an ecumenical audience, so the book demonstrates what unites Christianity, namely a common early history, rather than what divides us today. During his lifetime, Raymond Brown was a Sulpician priest involved in the training of people for ministry. This book reflects his pastoral concern. Actually, many of the chapters were presented as lectures for people involved in ministry.

Amazon reader review: This concise commentary on the Gospel and epistles of John, at less than 130 pages, packs in an immense amount of Father Brown's unparalleled scholarship while retaining his typically fresh and readable style. If Fr. Brown's work is the perfect way for Christians to delve deep into Catholic and Orthodox biblical studies, this book is the perfect introduction to his work. If you've read one of his massive tomes (which themselves are highly recommended, but be prepared for an intellectual commitment), this one may seem a bit thin, but even so it will be worthwhile.

Amazon reader review: It's hard to believe that a guy could write 1500 some pages on 36 hours of a person's life. Yet it makes for fascinating reading, and Father Brown leaves few stones unturned in his penetrating look at the final hours of Jesus' earthly ministry. In volume one, he discusses the relationships between the first three gospels and the gospel of John, and then he processed on to a discussion of each gospel's passion narrative. Father Brown's main agenda is to get at the meaning of the biblical text as it stands. This is not to say that Brown shies away from discussing the historicity of a particular passage. Sometimes, he swims against the stream by leaving open the possibility of the historicity of a story (e.g. that there really was a Jewish and a Roman trial of Jesus). And occasionally, he sees the passion stories as powerful metaphors rather than something that actually happened (e.g. John 18, when the crowd falls to the ground when Jesus says 'I am He.") Yet He is also rightfully skeptical about modern attempts to reconstruct what actually happened 1970 years ago. He prefers to let the text of scripture speak for itself.