The Epistles of John

The New International Commentary on the New Testament

by I. Howard Marshall

The three Epistles of John are concerned with the fundamentals of Christian belief and life, faith and love. This volume includes an invitation to general readers and an introduction addressed to students and specialists. Another fresh feature is a rearrangement of the traditional order of the three 2 John and 3 John are studied before 1 John.

Genres: Reference, Theology, New Testament, Religion, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction

274 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Ian Howard Marshall (12 January 1934 – 12 December 2015) was a Scottish New Testament scholar.[1] He was Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He was formerly the chair of the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research; he was also president of the British New Testament Society and chair of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians. Marshall identified as an Evangelical Methodist. He was the author of numerous publications, including 2005 Gold Medallion Book Award winner New Testament Theology.[2] He died of pancreatic cancer in 2015.[3]

Reviews

[Caleb Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marshall synthesized the observations of contemporary commentators into an moderate evangelical interpretation. He ended up acting as a good foil for me to disagree with from week to week. Every now and then he surprised me with fantastic insight and pastoral wisdom.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough without being tedious, as any good commentary should be.

Marshall interprets John's letters sensibly, and always with an eye toward application (which he occasionally makes directly to the reader!). He often incorporates hymnody into his reflections on the text, which I very much appreciated. He's relatively sensitive to theological issues, as well. That means his Arminianism comes throigh on occasion, but not often enough to bug me (and it doesn't stop him from offering accurate interpretations of texts that are less often discussed in soteriological debates). He interacts more with precritical exegesis than many biblical scholars I've read (though not as much as I would have liked him to).

All in all, I really enjoyed this commentary, and I'll happily reference it in the future if I'm teaching through John's letters again.

[Jeff Ragan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great exposition of John's letters, circling through John's repetitions without getting lost, and keeping the reader focused on John's main points throughout. An uplifting read!

[Ike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholarly look at John's Epistles.

[Scott Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howard Marshall's introduction to these epistles is extremely valuable. However I was not overly impressed with his commentary. For example, he quoted a section of a Charles Wesley song to defend his view of 1 John 2:2 ("He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world"). This extremely important passage deserves a more weighty exegesis than simply quoting a song, no matter how good the song. Howard Marshall was a Senior Lecturer in New Testament Exegesis at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland when published this volume.

[Dmcconkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent volume from one of the outstanding and consistent series. Used this as I taught through the letters. Sound exegesis and well reasoned arguments. Very stimulating in studying these letters.

[Peter Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad commentary, but not as helpful as the other ones I used. It can be used with profit, but I would recommend other commentaries first.

[Kingsley Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent addition to any Johannine library.

[Tim Senter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent commentary.