Bread from Heaven : An Exegetical Study of the Concept of Manna in the Gospel of John and the Writings of Philo

If John 6 can be considered ""the Grand Central Station of Johannine Critical issues,"" Peder Borgen's 1965 monograph, Bread from Heaven, proved to be one of the most incisive and important monographs on that difficult chapter. With extensive implications for addressing a host of other New Testament issues--including the unity and disunity of John's narrative, relations between Johannine and Synoptic traditions, and the socio-religious context of the Fourth Gospel--Borgen's work argues hard for a unitive view of the Johannine text. Rather than seeing John's story of Jesus as an amalgam of disparate sources, or as dependent on the Synoptics, Borgen explores a number of commonalities between contemporary Jewish writings, including the writings of Philo and haggadic midrashim. In so doing, new glimpses are also availed onto the dialectical Johannine situation, including an antidocetic thrust as well as Johannine-synagogue engagements. The enduring impact of Borgen's work shows the Fourth Gospel to represent a self-standing tradition, characterized by Jewish engagements of biblical texts, contributing to homiletic expansions upon memories of the ministry of Jesus for later generations. --From the Foreword by Paul N. Anderson

Peder Borgen is Professor Emeritus of the University of Trondheim in Norway and author of ten books and numerous essays. He served as President of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and was appointed Knight First Class of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav by the King of Norway.

Paul N. Anderson is Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University. Author of The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus, The Peril of Modernizing Jesus, The Book of Acts in History and Navigating the Living Waters of the Gospel of John, he is also co-editor of John, Jesus, and History (3 vols.).