Released today...

Four Gospels, Four Hearts, One Lord: Reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in Context is now available from your favorite booksellers. Since many go to Amazon, at least to get a first glimpse of a new title, here’s the relevant page — click on it and take a look (and, of course, it’s always best for publishers if you order directly from them).

(The author hard at work this morning, walking his woolly mammoth.)

Description & endorsements:

Beginning with what these days have become bold claims, that there is no great historical “gap between ‘the historical Jesus’ and Paul or the book of Acts,” and that our only access to genuine knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth and the Christian faith is by way of the one “Petrine-Pauline” tradition from which everything else derives (liturgy, piety, mystical theology, the creeds, even the New Testament writings themselves), Hart escorts us on a tour of the four canonical Gospels as understood within the context of that incontestable, cohesive tradition. Teasing out frequently overlooked aspects of the Gospels and drawing on what can be gleaned from the “chiastic structure” employed in their composition, he reveals what lies at the “heart” of each—the core theme that provides each one’s “interpretive key.” With ample references to biblical, intertestamental, and patristic writings, Hart presents his case for how to read the four Evangelists to discern their meaning. Three concluding appendices round out his study: the first on the much-discussed Gospel of Thomas (Hart emphasizes its apparent Egyptian monastic elements), the second on the “shape” of the Christian canon, and the third on the classical spiritual tradition of “holy reading” (lectio divina), which Hart doesn’t hesitate to call “the right way” to read the Bible. Altogether, this short volume is an untraditional defense of the original and irreplaceable Gospel tradition.

“Serious students of the Bible frequently discover that the once fertile fields of Scripture, pulverized by a mechanized ‘critical’ apparatus claiming to discover its ‘real’ meaning, become barren wasteland. But in his new book, Addison Hodges Hart ably beats the swords of scholarship into ploughshares until the fields of Scripture awaken once more with life. Avoiding all forms of fundamentalism, Hart invites us into a mystical reading of the text where every page becomes an encounter with Christ.” —MATTHEW J. MILLINER, Professor of Art History, Wheaton College

“For those who want to gain a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the Christian faith—or even an introduction to it—I can think of no better guide than Addison Hart. This book is a treasure of learning and spiritual wisdom; whoever reads it will be enriched.” —JOHN BETZ, Associate Professor, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame

“Paul tells us that we can lay no foundation other than Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Addison Hart plunges us into the experiences of those who saw, heard, and touched the mystery made known to all persons in the flesh of Jesus Christ, who accepted the invitation to his crucified life. Contemplation of the dispositions, words, and actions of Jesus is as vital to human sanity as it ever was. We can be grateful for Addison’s guidance in placing ourselves beneath these four witnesses to receive the anointing their gospels impart.” —REV. KENNETH TANNER, pastor of Church of the Holy Redeemer, Rochester Hills, MI