The Four

The Four

A Survey of the Gospels

by Peter J. Leithart
Publisher: Canon Press
Trade Paperback, 252 pages
Price: $18.00

The Gospels are a fourfold portrait of Jesus.

Deftly guiding readers through “the four,” Peter Leithart delves into both the unique perspective of each gospel and their unifying witness to Jesus. The gospels are riddled with themes and types; Leithart reveals them and explains the Old Testament prophecies that intertwine with these apostolic books, as well as their underlying literary structures. He discusses the dating of the books, showing how the timeline of the four gospels lace together, and lays out Israel's history leading up to John the Baptist's birth.

For anyone navigating the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The Four will give you your bearings.

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  Amazing and Beautiful.
Miss Pickwickian of Oregon, 3/23/2011
The Four is organized like Leithart’s "A House for My Name" with bite-sized portions followed by review and thought questions.

Dr. Leithart gives an excellent overview of what we commonly refer to as the "intertestamental period" and in the process, information on the prophets. This was particularly interesting since it is an important era, but one we rarely study. He then dedicates a chapter to the four Gospels and how they relate and differ before going on to a full chapter on each individual book. The emphasis on the different thrusts of each book was fascinating.

As always his writing is clear and exciting and his Bible knowledge is staggering.

I had very high expectations for this book and I wasn't in the least disappointed. I finished only wishing there was MORE!