Books writtten by Thomas Brodie...
"The Birthing of the New Testament" The Intertextual Development of the New Testament Writings
Many are saying that the prevailing paradigm of NT origins is going nowhere. In its place, Brodie's stunning book invites us to suspend all 'knowledge' we already have about the history
of the NT's development, and to be willing to entertain the following thesis.
Everything hinges on Proto-Luke, a history of Jesus using the Elijah–Elisha narrative as its literary model, which survives in 10 chapters of Luke and 15 of Acts. Mark then uses Proto-Luke, transposing its Acts material back into the life of Jesus. Matthew deuteronomizes Mark, John improves on the discourses of Matthew. Luke-Acts spells out the story at length. Add the Pauline corpus, the descendant of Deuteronomy via the Matthean logia, and the NT is virtually complete.
This is a totalizing theory, an explanation of everything, and its critics will be numerous. But even they will be hugely intrigued, and have to admit that Brodie's myriads of challenging observations about literary affinities demand an answer.
"Genesis As Dialogue" A Literal, Historical and Theological Commentary
Recent years have seen a remarkable surge in interest in the book of Genesis - the first book
of the Hebrew Bible, and a foundational text of Western culture. In this new commentary, Thomas Brodie offers a complete and accessible overview of Genesis from literary, theological, and historical standpoints. Brodie's work is organized around three main ideas. The first is that the primary subject of Genesis is human existence; the second is that Genesis' basic organizational unity is binary, or diptych. Brodie argues that the entire book is composed of diptychs - accounts which, like some paintings, consist of two parts or panels. Finally, Brodie contends that many of Genesis' sources still exist, and can be identified and verified.
"Comprehensive and quite engaging. It would make a good textbook for graduate students."--The Bible Today
"The Gospel According to John" A Literary and Theological Commentary
This commentary expands Johannine studies in two directions. First, drawing on the
methods of literary criticism, it gives new force to a view which is both ancient and
modern--that John's gospel, far from being a poorly-edited mixture of sometimes-conflicting traditions, is in fact a coherent unity, an account of Jesus which, however diverse its sources,
is a finely-chiselled work of art. Second, it indicates that the unity of John's gospel is founded ultimately not on history or theology but on spirituality. This too corresponds to a view which is both very old--John was always known as the spiritual gospel--and very recent. The present study spells out that idea in new detail. It indicates that the account of Jesus is so written that the tensions and complexities of the text reflect the tensions and complexities of human life, providing the reader not only with an account of Jesus but also with an anthropology--a map of the development of the human spirit.
"This solid piece of work can be warmly recommended to students of theology and preachers."--First Things
"Entices the reader to think about John's Gospel in a fresh way."--Bible Today
"Brodie's work is thought-provoking and challenging."--The Southern Cross
"This is a fine study of a great book...it is well worth reading."--Reviews in Religion and Theology
"One thing is for sure: Brodie will not bore the reader. Even those who are least disposed to accept his interpretations will find the commentary a stimulating work."--Westminster Theological Journal
"Brodie's work is without a doubt distinctive....If one seeks provocation along with an invitation into the jungle of the hermeneutical process, this addition to the downpour of commentaries on the gospel of John soaks us with just such water."--Journal of Biblical Literature
"This book marks an important development in the interpretation of the Fourth Gospel, for it appears to be the first full-scale commentary on John in English to adopt a sustained literary approach to the work, and to argue in the process for its finely crafted unity....Brilliant and perceptive account of John's material, full of rich insights for the enquiring reader; and it must be warmly welcomed....Brodie's commentary is clearly and accessibly written, well-indexed, and virtually free of footnotes....Every student of St. John's Gospel will find this commentary a help in that direction."--The Journal of Theological Studies
"Brodie's thesis makes for fascinating reading; it is imaginative, and carefully argued....An erudite work, one which engages with the best modern scholarship in this area."--The Furrow
"[Brodie's] description of his approach to the Fourth Gospel is one which this reviewer would wholeheartedly endorse....His observations are frequently fresh and illuminating....Brodie's commentary is well worth reading and meditating on."--Anvil
"The same caring attention to detail is evident throughout [Brodie's] work, which may be described as a labor of love."--Bangor Theological Seminary--Bulletin
"The Crucial Bridge" The Elijah-Elisha Narrative as Interpretive Synthesis of Genisis-Kings
and
a Literary Model for the Gospels
The Elijah-Elisha narrative (1 Kings 16:29 - 2 Kings 13) is perhaps the most underestimated
text in The Bible. Far from being a disparate collection, it is a carefully crafted double drama
that both mirrors life and synthesizes the entire primary history (Genesis - Kings). In a bold hermeneutical move it transforms the language of historiography-of patriarchs and kings-into
the language of prophetic biography.
This prophetic biography, rooted in histiography, later becomes the evangelists' primary literary model. The Elijah-Elisha narrative is the crucial bridge between the foundational narratives of Judaism and Christianity.
"The Quest for the Origin of John's Gospel" A Source Orientated Approach
Drawing on the insights of ancient literary theory and practice, this book seeks to unlock the age-old puzzle of the relationship of John's gospel to the other gospels and to the early
Christian church. Brodie uses a form of source analysis that takes account of the practices of ancient writers to reveal John as someone who deliberatley rendered the early gospels into a new language. The deeply theological, and at the same time down-to-earth, voice characteristic of John is revealed to be not that of a marginal community ("The Johannine Community") but of an independent prophetic presence within the mainstream church.