The Fourfold

Heidegger’s later thought is a thinking of things, so argues Andrew J. Mitchell in The Fourfold. Heidegger understands these things in terms of what he names “the fourfold”—a convergence of relationships bringing together the earth, the sky, divinities, and mortals—and Mitchell’s book is the first detailed exegesis of this neglected aspect of Heidegger’s later thought. As such it provides entrée to the full landscape of Heidegger’s postwar thinking, offering striking new interpretations of the atomic bomb, technology, plants, animals, weather, time, language, the holy, mortality, dwelling, and more. What results is a conception of things as ecstatic, relational, singular, and, most provocatively, as intrinsically tied to their own technological commodification. A major new work that resonates beyond the confines of Heidegger scholarship, The Fourfold proposes nothing less than a new phenomenological thinking of relationality and mediation for understanding the things around us.

This groundbreaking approach to the study of the fourfold gospel offers a challenging alternative to prevailing assumptions about the creation of the gospels and their portraits of Jesus. How and why does it matter that we have these four gospels? Why were they placed alongside one another as four parallel yet diverse retellings of the same story? Francis Watson, widely regarded as one of the foremost New Testament scholars of our time, explains that the four gospels were chosen to give a portrait of Jesus. He explores the significance of the fourfold gospel's plural form for those who constructed it and for later Christian communities, showing that in its plurality it bears definitive witness to what God has done in Jesus Christ. Watson focuses on reading the gospels as a group rather than in isolation and explains that the fourfold gospel is greater than, and other than, the sum of its individual parts. Interweaving historical, exegetical, and theological perspectives, this book is accessibly written for students and pastors but is also of interest to professors and scholars.

How Do We Become Free and Enter into the Mystery of Life? The Fourfold Path takes us on a healing journey inspired by the philosopher Plato and his teachings on how to know yourself by transcending all limitations within the human space. The model of transcendence leaves behind the metaphors we live by to pioneer humankind into the deepest and most powerful gnosis ever attained through the love of wisdom. Through transcendence, you can discover how to free yourself from the suffering that obstructs the complete vision of the soul. You can heal from the unconscious processes and go beyond the limitations of the ego. Once you have learned the Path, you can attain enlightenment and become like God, and attain the characteristics of divinity, immortality, and bliss. Transcendence is basic to all human cultures who move through the limitless possibilities given to humankind to evolve using the wisdom of the mind and the wisdom of the heart. This wisdom invites us to go deeper and move from self-realization to knowledge of God. Life itself inspires this change through the experiences of love, birth, death, miracles, blessings, and family. True enlightenment occurs when we process these life experiences as lessons on a soul journey that initiate a spiritual awakening. It is as simple as arguing that there are two identities: a true self and a false self. Philosophy is the means to know the difference between the two, while transcendence is the path that can lead humankind to know the truth. When humankind comes to know their true selves, they will be set free from suffering. This is the ascent toward what Plato called The Good, which many believe is also called God. The Fourfold Path shows us how to leave behind the limitations of the human space to discover a sacred place in communication and communion with Spirit, so you can become one with God and find true happiness.

In the spirit of Ludolph of Saxony (c. 1295–1378) and Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), The Fourfold Gospel invites the reader into the mystery of God’s redemption in Jesus Christ. All the parallel passages in the Gospels are glossed together, along with the unique material, using a medieval interpretive approach called the Quadriga or the acronym PaRDeS in Hebrew. Meditating on the literal, canonical, moral, and theological senses of Scripture offers a scaffolding for the spiritual formation of the reader. This volume, in addition to a thorough introduction to the method and the Gospels, focuses on the beginning of the story—the birth, baptism, and temptations of Christ.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chair of The Elders, and Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, along with his daughter, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, offer a manual on the art of forgiveness—helping us to realize that we are all capable of healing and transformation. Tutu's role as the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission taught him much about forgiveness. If you asked anyone what they thought was going to happen to South Africa after apartheid, almost universally it was predicted that the country would be devastated by a comprehensive bloodbath. Yet, instead of revenge and retribution, this new nation chose to tread the difficult path of confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Each of us has a deep need to forgive and to be forgiven. After much reflection on the process of forgiveness, Tutu has seen that there are four important steps to healing: Admitting the wrong and acknowledging the harm; Telling one's story and witnessing the anguish; Asking for forgiveness and granting forgiveness; and renewing or releasing the relationship. Forgiveness is hard work. Sometimes it even feels like an impossible task. But it is only through walking this fourfold path that Tutu says we can free ourselves of the endless and unyielding cycle of pain and retribution. The Book of Forgiving is both a touchstone and a tool, offering Tutu's wise advice and showing the way to experience forgiveness. Ultimately, forgiving is the only means we have to heal ourselves and our aching world.

How should the church relate to the world? For over seven decades, the classic categories of Christ and Culture have monopolized Christian answers to this question. Nearly everyone bought into H. Richard Niebuhr’s lofty, world-transforming vision. And now that everyone’s trying to make the world better, we keep clashing about how to do so. We all want God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, but deep disagreements about how to get there keep fracturing Christ’s body and subverting our testimony. Jesus was right: our witness to the world depends on our unity and our love for one another. In recent years, we've been failing at both. Political partisanship and constant infighting have wounded the vulnerable and driven countless people from the pews. It’s time to revisit church-world relations with fresh eyes and a stubborn commitment to God’s revelation in Scripture. Offering a new typology for the twenty-first century, The Fourfold Office of Christ lucidly examines the most common ways of relating church and world. John C. Nugent employs the memorable categories of prophet, priest, king, and servant to showcase the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches. He then charts a rigorously scriptural and surprisingly hopeful path forward.

In the spirit of Ludolph of Saxony (c. 1295–1378) and Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), The Fourfold Gospel invites the reader into the mystery of God’s redemption in Jesus Christ. All the parallel passages in the Gospels are glossed together, along with the unique material, using a medieval interpretive approach called the Quadriga or the acronym PaRDeS in Hebrew. Meditating on the literal, canonical, moral, and theological senses of Scripture offers a scaffolding for the spiritual formation of the reader. This volume focuses on the summoning and purgative stage of discipleship—the Sermon on the Mount—as well as participating in Christ’s healing of creation.