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).
"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
"A masterful achievement by a great scholar at the peak of his
powers, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels is a book that I expect
to be revisiting for the rest of my life. Richard Hays traces with
both depth and clarity the diverse uses the evangelists make of the
Hebrew scriptures. His conclusion draws its title from the Emmaus
Road story: Did not our hearts burn within us? Indeed they did, and
do." -- Alan Jacobs, Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the
Honors Program, Baylor University
"Richard Hays Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels allows us to hear
a rich chorus of voices in Scripture long silent. Like his Echoes
in the Letters of Paul, Hays has performed nothing less than a
Copernican revolution in turning the whole discipline of literary
parallels and influences upon an author inside out: Instead of New
Testament authors like Mark or Matthew reaching back to pluck some
citation to fit their need in presenting the gospel, Hays
demonstrates that it was Scripture itself pressing and prodding and
pushing its way into the formative thoughts and sermons and
teachings about Jesus. Instead of a monotone word of the
Evangelists redaction, now suddenly a mixed chorale of melodies, a
heavenly polyphony of scriptural songs burst through brightly,
brilliantly to illuminate the good news of Gods reign. In Hays
Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, God is anything but silent." --
David P Moessner, A A Bradford Chair & Professor of Religion, Texas
Christian University
"In this stimulating volume, Hays aims at a conversion of our
imagination. By thoroughly discussing how the four Gospels adopt
Scripture and create their stories of Jesus by the use of numerous
Scriptural echoes, Hays lays the foundations of a biblical theology
of the Four Gospels." -- Jörg Frey, Chair of New Testament Studies,
University of Zürich
"Every time Richard Hays has written a major book, he has opened
our eyes to previously unimagined possibilities. This new book will
do that too, only this time the view is an even more breath-taking
invitation to fresh exegesis and theology. Echoes of Scripture in
the Gospels challenges us to think differently about the way we
read each of the four gospelsand therefore, by implication, about
the traditions and early communities that stand behind them, and
ultimately the elusive but powerful figure of the master exegete
whose scripture-laden story these documents are telling." -- N T
Wright, Research Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity,
University of St Andrews
"Roughly a quarter of a century after his groundbreaking monograph
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Richard Hays stimulates
the ongoing discussion of intertextuality in New Testament writings
with an impressive analysis of Scriptures polyphonic resonance in
the four canonical stories of Jesus and how these intertextual
semantic effects contribute substantially to the meaning and
rhetorical cogency of the narratives. Richard Hays ability to
survey broad fields of knowledge and to synthesize complex textual
phenomena makes Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels essential
reading for everyone who is interested in the relevance of
Scripture for understanding New Testament texts." -- Matthias
Konradt, Lehrstuhl für Neutestamentliche Theologie, Theologische
Fakultät, Universität Heidelberg
"This exceptional book combines thoroughness and elegance in equal
measure, also conjoining scholarly rigour with bold Christian
conviction in its conclusions. Richard Hays has produced here a
gripping account of the diverse approaches of the evangelists to
the Old Testament, and it is a volume to which I can confidently
predict I will return again and again." -- Simon Gathercole, Reader
in New Testament, University of Cambridge & Fellow & Director of
Studies in Theology, Fitzwilliam College
"Richard Hays has written another wonderful book. Exhibiting the
extraordinary literary sensitivity and erudition of his Echoes of
Scripture in the Letters of Paul, Hays produces here an even more
important argument than in that previous now-classic work. By
tracing carefully the underpinnings of Hebrew biblical allusions in
the Gospels, Hays shows how tightly these works are bound up with
Israel, the God of Israel, and the Scripture of Israel. The
theological implications of this work are astounding. Hays
expresses it all in clear and limpid prose that makes the exegesis
and the stakes clear as a bell." -- Daniel Boyarin, author of The
Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ (2012), University
of California, Berkeley
"In Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, Richard Hays reads the four
Gospels with an acuity of perception that is unmatched. His
attention to scriptural subtexts allows each of the evangelists'
visions to emerge from behind centuries' worth of obscuring and
false assumptions, and to seize one's imagination afresh. Hays'
prose is elegant and his arguments are utterly persuasive. Are we
really prepared to hear the evangelists speak with this kind of
clarity and power?" -- Susan Garrett, Dean & Professor of New
Testament, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"A lucid, perceptive, well-researched, and accessible book" --
Choice
"A real masterwork from one of the most creative of contemporary
New Testament scholars. Anyone who feels nervous about exploring a
fully theological reading of the Gospels will take heart from this
comprehensive, sophisticated and profoundly nourishing account of
how the Gospels themselves use Scripture theologically and invite
us to do the same." -- Rowan Williams, Master, Magdalen College,
University of Cambridge
"This is a superb and important book for a truly Christian way of
understanding the Scriptures." -- The Bible Today
"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
"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 Testaments witness." -- Christian Century
A precious book that presents a learned proposal for the figural
interpretation of the Synoptics and John. -- Boris Paschke --
Evangelical Review of Theology
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
Everyone should read Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels; it is a
masterpiece in figural interpretation. -- Dean Deppe -- Calvin
Theological Journal
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