Four

Peter Leithart's The Four emerges from his conviction that the Christian church has too often read the Gospels as if they were interchangeable accounts of Jesus' life, missing the distinct theological vision each evangelist offers. Writing as a Reformed theologian committed to biblical theology, Leithart challenges both historical-critical scholarship that fragments the Gospels and popular Christianity that flattens their differences into generic Jesus stories.

Leithart argues that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each present a carefully crafted theological portrait of Jesus that serves the church's mission in distinct ways. He reads Matthew as the Gospel of fulfillment, showing how Jesus completes Israel's story and establishes his kingdom through death and resurrection. Mark appears as the Gospel of the suffering Son, emphasizing Jesus' hiddenness and the cost of discipleship. Luke becomes the Gospel of reversals, highlighting how Jesus overturns social hierarchies and opens salvation to outcasts. John emerges as the Gospel of glory, revealing the divine Word made flesh who transforms the world through his sacrificial love. Rather than harmonizing these perspectives, Leithart celebrates their diversity as reflecting the inexhaustible richness of Christ himself.

The Four has provided pastors and theological students with a framework for preaching and teaching that honors each Gospel's integrity while maintaining evangelical conviction about their historical reliability. Leithart's approach offers a middle way between fundamentalist harmonization and liberal fragmentation, showing how literary sensitivity can deepen rather than undermine theological conviction.

Who should read this: Pastors seeking to preach the Gospels with greater theological precision and students of biblical theology who want to understand how the fourfold Gospel serves the church's proclamation. This work is less suitable for those seeking historical-critical analysis or systematic doctrinal exposition.