
Hays’s book The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation (1996) was selected by Christianity Today as one of the 100 most important religious books of the twentieth century. He has also consistently sought to demonstrate how close reading of the New Testament can inform the church’s theological reflection, proclamation, and ministry. His scholarly work has bridged the disciplines of biblical criticism and literary studies, exploring the innovative ways in which early Christian writers interpreted Israel’s Scripture. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, is internationally recognized for his work on the Gospels, the letters of Paul, and on New Testament ethics.

The authors would like to thank Carey Newman of Baylor University Press for his comments on an early draft of this transcript and John Wilson of Books and Culture for his support and enthusiasm for the project. An abridged version of it first appeared in the November/December issue of Books and Culture.

The transcript below, which includes 20 additional minutes of conversation, has been edited and revised by the authors.

Hays, which was initially released as an hour-long podcast on the New Books Network. On June 4, 2016, Garrett Brown recorded an interview with Richard B. Detail of Joseph von Führich’s Der Gang nach Emmaus
