Grace and Truth

Commentary on the Fourth Gospel illuminates the message of the last evangelist, verse by verse.

The Fourth Gospel emerged at the beginning of the second century, but questions remain about the tradition in which it developed. Who wrote it? For whom? When, and where? In Grace and Truth, Benedictine monk and scholar, Benoît Standaert writes accessibly about the content and form of the text in the Gospel of John in such a way that it illuminates the message and the original creativity of the last evangelist verse-by-verse.

Through the voice of the great tradition many still believe the sole author of the Fourth Gospel to be “John, the brother of James,” as mentioned in the Gospel of Mark. However, opinions have changed over the last century between what scholars think due to questions of historical accuracy, and what information may have been received. In Grace and Truth, Standaert examines the composition and rhetorical uses of the editors of the Johannine tradition, as well as the links between the Fourth Gospel and the three Synoptics: Mark, Matthew, and Luke. He concludes with the idea for the project of the Johannine milieu was to publish their own original traditions on Jesus as an apology pro vita sua, with a clear vision on the origins of Christian faith, and the hope of being accepted by the other traditions that built their identity with records coming from Simon Peter and the Twelve.

In this engaging commentary, Standaert invites a wide readership to rediscover the Fourth Gospel—to be taken up in a movement from the highest point until the humblest reality of the human condition—the “flesh.” In less than twenty verses we are transformed, becoming “children of God” with grace and truth, with glory over glory.

Benoît Standaert is a Benedictine monk of Saint Andrew's Abbey in Bruges, Belgium. For over thirty years, he has been engaged in Scripture, spirituality, and interreligious dialogue. After completing a doctorate at the University of Nijmegen on the composition and literary genre of the Gospel of Mark, he published numerous works on Scripture and spirituality in Dutch, several of which have been translated into French, English, and Italian. He is the author of Spirituality: An Art of Living and Sharing Sacred Space: Interreligious Dialogue as Spiritual Encounter published by Liturgical Press.