“When a theologian speaks of the widespread misconception nowadays, that faith is an intellectual holding of what-is-possible, they underpin a wretched reduction of faith. Since the interest of New Testament studies shifted to philosophical details, the word of the Bible was treated intellectually, thus shaking the foundation of faith in many people.” ―
Christoph RauCould a deeper cause of today’s myriad human troubles be related to a dwindling or even nonexistent familiarity with the four New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? This is the view of Christoph Rau, for whom today’s prevailing approach to theological research―which treats the ancient religious texts more as literary products than authentic records of spiritual experience―is, if anything, a contributing factor in our modern alienation from the spirit.
In this book, Rau presents the results of five decades of research, demonstrating the independent structure of each of the four canonical Gospels. Through clear analyses, he illumines the distinctive stylistic features of each composition, revealing the design principles through which the meaning and goal of each Gospel can be understood.
Beyond the intrinsic value of each Gospel, the author draws on their special features to explain how the spiritual richness of the four written works is fully revealed only by considering the pre-Christian religions, because each of the evangelists describes the incarnation of the Son of God from the perspective of his own mystery religion. Furthermore, the author succeeds in showing that the Gospels, despite their seeming contradictions, are elements of a common organism.
This book is a translation from German of Die Vier um den Einen: Wesensart und spiritueller Hintergrund der Evangelien (Verlag Dr. Dieter Winkler, 2008).
Rev. Christoph Rau (1928–2018) was born in Gross Naundorf, Wittenberg, Germany, and raised in a Protestant rectory. After military service and imprisonment, he completed his high school diploma at the Kreuzgymnasium Dresden, followed by studies in theology in Berlin and Rostock and music training in Leipzig. After protests against the paramilitary training of students, he fled to West Germany overnight and began training in Stuttgart to become a priest for The Christian Community. For decades he researched the structure of the Gospels, publishing his results in monographs on Matthew, Mark, and John (1972) and his comprehensive work, Die Vier um den Einen: Wesensart und spiritueller Hintergrund der Evangelien (2008), published in English as The Four Gospels: Their Essence and Spiritual Background (Lindisfarne Books, 2024). He also coedited German translations of the New Testament by Emil Bock (1980) and Heinrich Ogilvie (1996) and edited the literary estate of Michael Bauer in five volumes (1985–1997). He also wrote a biography, Michael Bauer und seine Lebensbegegnung mit Friedrich Rittelmeyer (Michael Bauer and his life encounter with Friedrich Rittelmeyer, 1995).
