Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels - by Richard B Hays

About the Book

The Evangelists, according to Hays, are training our scriptural senses, calling readers to be better scriptural people by being better scriptural poets.

Book Synopsis

The claim that the events of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection took place "according to the Scriptures" stands at the heart of the New Testament's message. All four canonical Gospels declare that the Torah and the Prophets and the Psalms mysteriously prefigure Jesus. The author of the Fourth Gospel states this claim succinctly: in his narrative, Jesus declares, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me" (John 5:46). Yet modern historical criticism characteristically judges that the New Testament's christological readings of Israel's Scripture misrepresent the original sense of the texts; this judgment forces fundamental questions to be asked: Why do the Gospel writers read the Scriptures in such surprising ways? Are their readings intelligible as coherent or persuasive interpretations of the Scriptures? Does Christian faith require the illegitimate theft of someone else's sacred texts?

Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels answers these questions. Richard B. Hays chronicles the dramatically different ways the four Gospel writers interpreted Israel's Scripture and reveals that their readings were as complementary as they were faithful. In this long-awaited sequel to his Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Hays highlights the theological consequences of the Gospel writers' distinctive hermeneutical approaches and asks what it might mean for contemporary readers to attempt to read Scripture through the eyes of the Evangelists. In particular, Hays carefully describes the Evangelists' practice of figural reading--an imaginative and retrospective move that creates narrative continuity and wholeness. He shows how each Gospel artfully uses scriptural echoes to re-narrate Israel's story, to assert that Jesus is the embodiment of Israel's God, and to prod the church in its vocation to engage the pagan world.

Hays shows how the Evangelists summon readers to a conversion of their imagination. The Evangelists' use of scriptural echo beckons readers to believe the extraordinary: that Jesus was Israel's Messiah, that Jesus is Israel's God, and that contemporary believers are still on mission. The Evangelists, according to Hays, are training our scriptural senses, calling readers to be better scriptural people by being better scriptural poets.

Review Quotes

...Hays offers both an enormously rich, sensitive and holistic reading of each of the canonical gospels, and a vitally important reminder to all Christians of the Jewish and scriptural roots of their faith

--Susan Docherty "Modern Believing"

A lucid, perceptive, well-researched, and accessible book

-- "Choice"

A precious book that presents a learned proposal for the figural interpretation of the Synoptics and John.

--Boris Paschke "Evangelical Review of Theology"

Everyone should read Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels; it is a masterpiece in figural interpretation.

--Dean Deppe "Calvin Theological Journal"

Hays promises the reader an examination of the Evangelists' hermeneutics and delivers so much more--the veritable foundation, outline and central details for a biblical theology of the Gospels.

--Craig L. Blomberg "Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies"

In this much anticipated project, Hays does for the Gospels what he previously and famously did for Paul. He investigates how the four evangelists, each in a distinctive way, operated as biblical interpreters, bearing witness to Jesus and his gospel in light of the Old Testament's witness.

-- "The Christian Century"

The conclusions [Hays] draws will empower contemporary believers to see the messianic threads of the Bible as an ongoing mission. This is a fine, convincing work of scholarship on a delicate theological topic.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

There is subtlety and depth here, achieved only through extensive awareness of Israel's Scriptures and the ways they can be reconfigured in the Gospels.

--Micah D. Kiel "Catholic Biblical Quarterly"

This is a book to be savored, not rushed through like fast food. At one point, Hays describes the benefit of reading John's narrative 'attentively.' This book demonstrates Hays's attentive reading of the evangelists interpreting and using Scripture... Hays's work will be useful for those studying one or more of the Gospels and for those researching the use of the Scriptures of Israel in the NT. Failure to engage with Hays would be a mistake.

--Kenneth D. Litwak "Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society"

This is a remarkable book for the many fresh lines of interpretative possibilities that Hays presents.

--Peter R. Rodgers "Novum Testamentum"

What cannot be overstated about Hays' book is the fresh way in which his methodology elucidates nuanced meaning in the Gospels as echoes of the larger story of Israel while also offering plain interpretation of standard passages. Hays' work in figural echoing is innovative, whisking a Gospel reader into other parts of scripture against standard hermeneutical practice such as grammatical-historic approaches.

--Thomas J. Savage "European Journal of Theology"

Combined with the detailed analysis of possible verbal correspondences in various texts, Hays offers a richly theological reading of the Gospels that will be of great benefit to preachers.

--Alistair I. Wilson "Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology"

About the Author

Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, is internationally recognized for his work on the letters of Paul and on New Testament ethics. His scholarship has bridged the disciplines of biblical criticism and literary studies, exploring the innovative ways in which early Christian writers interpreted Israel's Scripture. His works include Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Yale University Press, 1989), The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel's Scripture (Eerdmans, 2005), and Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (Baylor University Press, 2014).