Christian Book Notes

Alexander, T.D.  Discovering Jesus: Why Four Gospels to Portray One Person? Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2010.  144 pp.  $12.99.  Purchase at Westminster Books for $10.26.

Introduction

T.D. Alexander is senior lecturer in biblical studies as well as the director of postgraduate studies at Union Theological College in Belfast.  He has written a wonderful book entitled From Paradise to the Promised Land (a book I read for a university course and one I recommend).  In Discovering Jesus, Alexander looks at each gospel individually while discussing their subject as a whole.

Summary

The book is intentionally short at only 144 pages and is divided into 12 chapters, a preface, and a “further reading” section.  The first two chapters offer a brief overview of the four gospels as well as the common themes found in them.  T.D. spends two chapters on each gospel (a total of 8 chapters) with the first chapter offering a brief introduction and a look at a theme particular to the gospel.  The second chapter expands on the first but offers one more major theme of the gospel.

The final two chapters offer a discussion on how the gospels were written and a summary of the book in its entirety.  The discussion looks at two different understandings surrounding what theologians call the Synoptic Problem.  The book ends with a list of suggested resources for further reading.  This list offers a decent assortment of books for the layman to read further into each subject Discovering Jesus discusses. Each chapter offers a few discussion questions making this resource idea for a book study with a small group in your church or even as an outreach tool.

Review/Review

As I alluded to above, Discovering Jesus offers an excellent introduction to the necessity of the four Gospels as ordained by the Holy Spirit.  Alexander does an excellent job of showing why all four gospels are independent of one another on one hand (because of their emphasis on a particular theme or two) and completely dependent upon the other three so that we can have a more complete understanding of our Lord and Savior.

One thing I noted, however, is that there was not much discussion against the hypothesis of the Q document.  In essence, the author treated this hypothesis as the only real understanding in discussing the Synoptic Problem.  I would have liked to have seen a bit more interaction with some disagreement to this hypothesis.

A second issue I would have liked to seen at least mentioned in a footnote is the issue of the Kingdom of Heaven as used in the Gospel of Matthew.  Recent research has indicated a return to a historical understanding of the use of the phrase.  That information can be found in Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew by Jonathan T. Pennington.

Those two issues aside, Alexander offers an excellent introduction to reading the gospels.  We should read them as the individual accounts they are and understand that each gospel offers its own unique perspective on Jesus Christ.  Nonetheless, we need all four to gain a more clear understanding of Christ.  I recommend Discovering Jesus to anyone looking to dig deeper into the word of God.