Quote of the Day: Paul Anderson on the Legacy of Bultmann's John Commentary

Paul Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University, and editor of the new Johannine Monograph Series (Cascade), has written a superb foreword to the first release of the aforementioned series to Rudolf Bultmann's famous commentary, The Gospel of John. Anderson is masterful in elucidating the legacy Bultmann's John has had on Johannine studies past and present.

Paul Anderson

 Anderson's conclusion is worth quoting in full and thus makes my quote of the day.

If Johannine studies overall have largely emerged from the proverbial shade of the Bultmannian oak tree, the question remains as to the enduring value of Bultmann’s commentary. Is it simply a relic of the golden era of historical-critical methodologies, or does it still command exegetical purchase among interpreters of later generations? A telling note as to its abiding contribution is the claim by Ramsey Michaels, in his recent thoughtful-yet-traditional New International Commentary on John, that the most helpful single resource in writing his commentary was that of Rudolf Bultmann. While future interpreters might not follow particular aspects of Bultmann’s overall composition scheme, his theological insights, combined with exegetical sensitivity to detail and comparative-religions awareness, make this commentary an indispensable resource for synchronic and diachronic interpreters alike. As one might take different approaches to addressing the Johannine riddles, Bultmann’s commentary remains unsurpassed in its throwing them into sharp relief and propounding reasoned attempts to interpret them, with critical ingenuity and verve. Therefore, the enduring value of Bultmann’s approach to John lies not merely in the answers it poses but the questions it asks. For this contribution all readers of the Fourth Gospel are in his debt, and dialectically so (Foreword, xxiii-xxiv).