Recommended Commentaries, on library reserve:

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Commentaries:

Beasley-Murray, G. R. John. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco: Word, 1987.
        Commentary with excellent notes regarding textual variants, literary forms, and
        structure of the texts. Good attention to recent scholarly work, and excellent
        bibliographies.

Brodie, Thomas L. The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological
     Commentary. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
        Perhaps idiosyncratic in his structure for  John, Brodie nevertheless has illuminating
        theological insights, and explores the contributions of the 4th gospel for the
        spirituality of the church as a whole and of the individual believer.

Brown, Raymond. The Gospel According to John. The Anchor Bible. Garden City:
        Doubleday, 1966.
        The major commentary of the last generation; solid, balanced scholarship. Brown
         emphasizes John's similarities with the synoptic gospels and its historical value.

Bultmann, Rudolf. The Gospel of John -- A Commentary. 1941; reprint, Louisville:
        Westminster, 1971.
        Great theological insights; watch for Bultmann's tendency to find Gnostics behind
        every rock, and to rearrange the text of John.

Countryman, L. William. The Mystical Way in the Fourth Gospel. Revised ed. Valley
        Forge: Trinity Press International, 1994.
        Argues that John is written to move the reader from being an outsider through
        conversion and enlightenment to mystical union with God through Jesus.

Culpepper, R. Alan. The Gospel and the Letters of John. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998.
        A very accessible commentary written from a literary critical perspective.
         Excellent use of summary charts to clarify John's message.

Haenchen, Ernst. John. Hermeneia Commentaries. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.
        Incomplete at the time of his death, the commentary was completed by Ulrich Busse.
        Highlights issues of redaction criticism.

Hoskyns, E. C. The Fourth Gospel. London: Faber & Faber, 1947.
        Hoskyns died before the commentary was completed. It was finished by F. N.        
         Davey.
        This commentary does a fine job of paying attention to the interaction between
         history and theology in the interpretation of John.  Argues that chapter 21 should be
         read as part of the gospel.

Kysar, Robert. John. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament. Minneapolis:
        Augsburg, 1986.
        Designed for use by pastors & teachers in the church, this commentary is easy to
        read and pays attention to the theological themes in John.

Lindars, Barnabas. John. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990.
        Emphasizes connections between John and the tradition of the synoptic gospels,
        and argues for the historical value of John's portrayal of Jesus.

Maloney, Francis. The Gospel of John. Sacra Pagina. Collegeville, Minnesota:
     Liturgical Press, 1998.

O'Day, Gail R. "The Gospel of John." In The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX: Luke,
     John, 491-865. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995.
        Excellent theological insights, and helpful attention to the literary elements of John's
        gospel. Argues that chapter 21 does not need to be read as a later addition.

Schnackenburg, Rudolf, The Gospel According to St. John. New York: Seabury, 1986.
        A massive commentary, focused especially on tradition-history, stylistic features,
         and theology. Like Brown, concerned with the compositional history of John.

Sloyan, Gerard. John. Interpretation Commentary. Atlanta: John Knox, 1988.
        Designed for use by preachers & teachers in congregations.

Smith, D. Moody. John. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. Abingdon: Nashville,
        1999. A brief commentary by one of the leading Johannine scholars of this
        generation.

Stibbe, Mark W. G. John. Readings: A New Biblical Commentary. Sheffield:
        Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.
        A commentary focusing on literary aspects of the fourth gospel.

Talbert, Charles H. Reading John. A Literary and Theological Commentary. New
     York: Crossroad, 1994.
        Interesting (though sometimes forced) use of outlines and chiastic structure; argues
        that the letters precede the gospel.

Williamson, Lamar. Preaching the Gospel of John. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004.

Witherington, Ben III. John's Wisdom. A Commentary on the Fourth Gospel. Louisville:
        Westminster John Knox, 1995.
        Argues that Jewish Wisdom tradition is a major influence throughout John's gospel,
        that modern approaches have over-emphasized the importance of expulsion from the
        synagogue, and that John's gospel is primarily a document intended to be used in
        missionary outreach. Argues that the letters precede the gospel.

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Other Studies:

________. Studying John: Approaches to the Fourth Gospel. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994.

________. Understanding the Fourth Gospel. Oxford: Clarendon, 1991.

Barrett, C. K. "The Dialectical Theology of St. John." In New Testament Essays, 49-69.
        London: SPCK, 1972.

Bartlett, David. "Interpreting and Preaching the Gospel of John." Interpretation 60 (2006):
        48-63.

Bauckham, Richard. The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple. Narrative, History, and
        Theology in the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007.

Bieringer, Reimund, Didier Pollefeyt, and Frederique Vandecasteele-Vannueville, eds.
         Anti-Judaism and the Fourth Gospel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the Gospel of John. Edited by Francis J. Moloney.
        New York: Doubleday, 2003.
        This book was still unfinished at Brown's death, but shows him moving to include more
        insights from literary criticism in his reading of John.

________.  The Community of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Paulist, 1979.
        An important reconstruction of the history of the Johannine community

Carter, Warren. John: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist. Peabody, Mass.:
        Hendrickson, 2006.

Cassidy, Richard J. John's Gospel in New Perspective. Christology and the Realities
        of Roman Power. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1992.
        Explores the political message and implications of John's gospel within the setting
        of the Roman empire. Pointing to the titles used of Jesus (Lord, Savior of the World,
        Lord & God), to the themes of Jesus' sovereignty & kingdom, and to the themes of
        persecution in the Farewell Discourse, Cassidy argues that the gospel is written to
        provide support for Christians who are being persecuted by the Roman government.

Charlesworth, James H. John and Qumran. London: Chapman, 1972.

Collins, Raymond. "From John to the Beloved Disciple. An Essay on Johannine
        Characters." Interpretation 49, no. 4 (1995): 359-69.

Cullmann, Oscar. The Johannine Circle. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976.

Culpepper, R. Alan. The Johannine School: An Evaluation of the Johannine-School
        Hypothesis Based on an Investigation of the Nature of Ancient Schools.
        Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series, no. 26. Missoula, Mont.:
         Scholars Press, 1975.
        Argues that the Johannine community included a group of scholars/writers who
        collectively interpreted the witness of the Beloved Disciple, and that this
        interpretation is embodied in the fourth gospel.

________. "The Plot of John's Story of Jesus." Interpretation 49, no. 4 (1995): 347-59.

________. "The Theology of the Johannine Passion Narrative -- John 19:16-30."
        Neotestimentica 31, no. 1 (1997): 21-38.

Culpepper, R. Alan and C. Clifton II Black, Eds. Exploring the Gospel of John.
         Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996.

Dodd, C. H. Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel. Cambridge: Cambridge
         University Press, 1963.
        An important work arguing that John exhibits a tradition independent of the synoptic
        gospels themselves, though they share a relationship at the level of oral tradition.
        Dodd examines all passages in John that have parallels in the synoptic gospels.

________. The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. Cambridge: Cambridge University
        Press, 1953.
        This book examines the religious and cultural background of John's gospel
        (with emphasis on the Hellenistic background), and gives a theologically sensitive
        reading of John against that background. Discusses major themes of John and its
        structure.

Draper, J. A. "Temple, Tabernacle, and Mystical Experience in John." Neotestimentica
         31, no. 2 (1997): 263-88.

Duke, Paul D. Irony in the Fourth Gospel. Atlanta: John Knox, 1985.

Fortna, Robert T. The Fourth Gospel and Its Predecessor: From Narrative Source to
        Present Gospel. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.
        Argues that John drew on earlier sources, particularly a "Signs Source."

________. The Gospel of Signs: A Reconstruction of the Narrative Source Underlying
        the Fourth Gospel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

________, and Tom Thatcher, eds. Jesus in Johannine Tradition. Louisville: 
        Westminster John Knox, 2001.

Fuller, Reginald. "The "Jews" in the Fourth Gospel." Dialog 16 (Winter, 1977): 31-7.

Gardner-Smith, Percival. Saint John and the Synoptic Gospels. Cambridge: Cambridge
        University Press, 1938.
        Has shaped current scholarship on John by arguing that John draws on a tradition
        independent of the synoptic gospels; his argument was supported & advanced by
        Dodd.
 

Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. "The Archive of Excess: John 21 and the Problem of
         Narrative Closure." In Exploring the Gospel of John, eds. R. Alan Culpepper and
         C. Clifton Black, 240-54. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996.

Hengel, Martin. The Johannine Question. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1989.
        Equates the Beloved Disciple and the evangelist; argues that the "Johannine School"
        was led by a literary and theological genius who authored the gospel.

Jervell, Jacob. Jesus in the Gospel of John. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984.

Käsemann, Ernst. The Testament of Jesus: A Study of the Gospel of John in the Light
        of Chapter 17. London: SCM, 1968.
        This important but controversial study examines John from the perspective of
        chapter 17. In finding that John views the incarnation as a means of revealing
        Jesus' glory, Käsemann charges John with "naive docetism."

Koester, Craig R. "The Spectrum of Johannine Readers." In What Is John? Readers and
        Readings of the 4th Gospel, ed. Fernando Segovia, 5-19. Atlanta: Scholars Press,
        1996.

________. Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995.

Kysar, Robert. "Community and Gospel: Vectors in 4th Gospel Criticism."
         Interpretation 31 (1977): 355-66.

________. John, The Maverick Gospel. Revised ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993.

________. Preaching John. Fortress Resources for Preaching. Minneapolis: Augsburg
        Fortress, 2002.

Malina, Bruce. The Gospel of John in Sociolinguistic Perspective. Protocol of the Colloquy
        of the Center for Hermeneutical Studies in Hellenistic and Modern Culture,
        no. 48. Berkeley, Calif.: Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1985.

Martyn, J. Louis. History & Theology in the Fourth Gospel. Revised ed. Nashville:
        Abingdon, 1979.
        A major work in using the gospel of John to uncover the story of the community
         behind it.

McGrath, J. "Going Up and Coming Down in Johannine Legitimation." Neotestimentica
        31, no. 1 (1997): 107-18.

Meeks, Wayne A. The Prophet King. Moses Traditions and the Johannine Christology.
        Leiden: Brill, 1967.

Moloney, Francis. "The Gospel of John as Scripture." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 67 (2005):
        454-468.

________. The Johannine Son of Man. Rome: Libreria Ateneo Salesiano, 1978.

Neyrey, Jerome. An Ideology of Revolt: John's Christology in Social-Scientific
         Perspective. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.

O'Brien, Kelli S. "Written That You May Believe: John 20 and Narrative Rhetoric. Catholic
        Biblical Quarterly 67 (2005): 284-302.

O'Day, Gail R. "John's Voice and the Church's Preaching. Word and World 21 (2001):
         394-403.

________. Revelation in the Fourth Gospel: Narrative Mode and Theological
         Claim. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986.

________. "Toward a Narrative-Critical Study of John." Interpretation 49, no. 4
        (1995): 341-6.

Okure, Teresa. Johannine Approaches to Mission: A Contextual Study of John 4:1-42.
        Tubingen: Mohr, 1988.

Pagels, Elaine H. The Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis: Heracleon's
         Commentary on John. Nashville: Abingdon, 1973.

Painter, John. The Quest for the Messiah: The History, Literature, and Theology of the
        Johannine Community. 2nd ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993.

Petersen, Norman. The Gospel of John and the Sociology of Light. Valley Forge: Trinity
        Press International, 1993.
        A study that connects the distinctive vocabulary and literary style of John with the
        community's experience and ongoing processes of social definition.

Rensberger, David. Johannine Faith and Liberating Community. Philadelphia: Westminster,
        1988.
        Using historical critical tools, R. explores what his title suggests: the communal
        aspects of John's gospel and its social implications. A good corrective to the
        all-too-typical individualistic readings of John, R. combines literary and
         sociological concerns to highlight the communal aspects of Johannine faith and its
         origin in an oppressed community.

Robinson, John A. T. The Priority of John. London: SCM Press, 1985.

Schneiders, Sandra. "Because of the Woman's Testimony: Re-Examining the Issue of
        Authorship in the Fourth Gospel." New Testament Studies 44, no. 4 (1998): 513-35.
        Argues that the Beloved Disciple is not a specific individual, but rather the
        paradigm of ideal discipleship. The specifics of that discipleship are expressed
        through several different characters in the 4th gospel, but especially in the character
        of Mary Magdalene.

________. "Women in the Fourth Gospel and the Role of Women in the Contemporary
        Church." Biblical Theology Bulletin 12 (1982): 35-45.
 

Schweizer, Eduard. "The Concept of the Church in the Gospel and Epistles of St. John."
        In New Testament Essays. Studies in Honor of Thomas Walter Manson, ed. A. J.
         B. Higgins, 230- 45. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1959.

Segovia, Fernando F. The Farewell of the Word: The Johannine Call to Abide.
        Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.

________. "The Journey(s) of the Word of God: A Reading of the Plot of the Fourth
        Gospel." Semeia 53 (1991): 23-54.

________. "The Significance of Social Location in Reading John's Story."
         Interpretation 49, no. 4 (1995): 370-8.

Sloyan, Gerard. What Are They Saying About John? New York: Paulist, 1991.
        A brief introduction to recent scholarship on the 4th gospel.

Smith, D. Moody. John Among the Gospels. The Relationship in Twentieth Century
        Research. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.
        A narrative of this century's attempts to understand how John and the synoptics are
        (or are not) related.

________. "Judaism and the Gospel of John." In Jews and Christians: Exploring
        the Past, Present, and Future, ed. James H. Charlesworth, 176-99. New York,
        1990.

________. "The Presentation of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel." Interpretation 31 (1977):
         367-78.

________. The Theology of the Gospel of John. Cambridge: Cambridge University
        Press, 1995.
        A short and excellent summary of the major theological themes of John.

Staley, Jeffrey Lloyd. The Print's First Kiss: A Rhetorical Investigation of the Implied
        Reader in the Fourth Gospel. SBL Dissertation Series, no. 82. Atlanta: Scholars
        Press, 1988.

Stibbe, Mark W. G., Ed. The Gospel of John as Literature: An Anthology of 20th
        Century Perspectives. New York: Brill, 1993.

________. John As Storyteller: Narrative Criticism and the Fourth Gospel.
     Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Thatcher, Tom. Jesus the Riddler. The Power of Ambiguity in the Gospels. Louisville: WJKP, 2006.

________. The Riddles of Jesus in John. A Study in Tradition and Folklore.
         Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000.

Thompson, Marianne Meye. The God of the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.
        An exceptionally rich investigation of John's theology in the narrow sense of the term; does much to
        counteract more standard approaches that can be too "christocentric" and too anti-semitic.

van der Merwe, Dirk G. "Toward a Theological Understanding of Johannine
        Discipleship." Neotestimentica 31, no. 2 (1997): 361-88.

von Wahlde, Urban C. "Community in Conflict: The History and Social Context of the
        Johannine Community." Interpretation 49, no. 4 (1995): 379-89.

Westermann, Claus. The Gospel of John in the Light of the Old Testament. Peabody,
         Mass.: Hendrickson, 1998.

Whitters, Mark F. "Discipleship in John: Four Profiles." Word & World 18, no. 4
        (1998): 422-7.

Wiles, Maurice F. The Spiritual Gospel: The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel in
         the Early Church. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960.

Winn, Albert Curry. A Sense of Mission: Guidance From the Gospel of John.
         Philadelphia: Westminster, 1981.

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