The Fourfold Gospel

by J.W. McGarvey, Philip E. Pendleton

The classic Harmony of the Gospels by J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton with interspersed comments. Attractively re-typeset, this enduring work is a valuable resource to modern Bible students. "In most commentaries a fifth or sixth of the space is taken up in drawing distinctions between the texts of the four Gospels, while in this work these distinctions are placed before the reader's eye, where he can see them for himself at a glance. Moreover, in other commentaries, which give the text, another sixth or seventh of the work is taken up in reprinting in the notes that portion of the text concerning which the commentator wishes to speak. Our interjected method avoids all this needless repetition, and makes it possible for us to present the comment with the least preliminary verbiage or introductory setting. Time is also saved because the reader does not have to look back and forth from the text at the top to the comment at the bottom of the page. Again, other commentaries lose a large amount of space by using the King James text. Those which preceded the revision waste space correcting the translation and modernizing its those published since the revision suffer a similar waste by drawing endless comparisons between the two texts. By choosing the American revision as the basis for our work, we have a text which needs but little explanation or apology, and we are thereby enabled to employ the reader's time and strength to his best advantage." --Excerpted from the Introduction

Genres: Reference

510 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

A.K.A. John William McGarvey

Reviews

[Sandra]

A well worth reread. I studied this book during my MCC Bible college years 1963-1966 as part of The Life and Times of Jesus course, and have now read it twice since. It gives a wonderful perspective of so many of the teachings of Jesus as seen by four of his apostles, but as the apostle John says that if they had recorded all of his teachings, all the books in the world could not contain them. We are blessed to have what has been recorded in a time when writing materials were scarce and computers were not available.

Loved this study.

[SusanwithaGoodBook]

If you want detail, and LOTS of it, McGarvey is your guy. His is a blending, but includes everything and is footnoted so you can see the reference. Then in between the text of scripture, he puts brackets with his comments and thoughts about each passage. It's a lot to digest, but it's wonderful to have so much info to pick through. I learned a great deal from McGarvey and, though I don't always agree with his take, he definitely gives you something to consider.

[James]

This book is a great Gospel harmony from a wonderful Christian scholar. Getting the chronology straight in your mind from the four accounts of Jesus' earthly ministry can be somewhat of a challenge, but it's very helpful in understanding the Bible. A good harmony of the Gospels is the answer, and there's a number of good ones available. McGarvey's is as good as they come and better than most. McGarvey was a leading-edge theologian in his day, and all his work is still extremely valuable today.

[Mike]

J. W. McGarvey was one of the foremost Bible scholars of his day. This harmony of the Gospels with commentary given by him and Philip Pendleton is a fine work. It is good to see the honesty of each man as they offer notes where they disagree and why they disagree. I've used this book for years as a reference. But this is the first time I've read it cover to cover as one would any other book. This is a resource that should be in the library of any serious Bible student.

[Myron]

Timeless, sequential in presentation, insightful and instructive while enjoyable to read. My first reading in 1978, my last a couple of nights ago.