Four Gospels Program

Study the gospels; read them for yourself; grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Overview

Here’s the dream: in the coming months, you read at least one of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John); you discuss it with other people in a small group or class every few weeks; and you attend four evening seminars, spread throughout the year, one on each of the gospels. By the end of the school year, you feel like you know more about the gospels and are much more comfortable with reading them for yourself, and — most importantly — you have a better understanding of and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

This page is the home and hub for this program. Here are the things you can find on this page:

Sign Up to Receive Email Updates

There is no cost to participate in this program and so you don’t need to register for it. However, we will be sending out occasional email updates about the program — reminding you when a seminar is coming up; letting you know when a recording is available; letting you know when new resources are available, etc. Use this form to sign up to receive those emails:

Upcoming Gospels Events

Click on an individual event to learn more.

View Calendar

More Information About the Four Gospels Seminars

We will be offering seminars on the four gospels on the following dates:

  • September 23: Gospel of Matthew | Rev. Malcolm Smith
  • November 18: Gospel of Mark | Rev. Scott Frazier
  • February 10: Gospel of Luke | Rev. Grant Odhner
  • April 7: Gospel of John | Rev. Derek Elphick

We are still deciding on the exact start time and length, but the seminars will be on Wednesday evenings in Asplundh Assembly Hall, with a potluck snacks partway through the evening, similar to the Rise Above It sessions we had this past year.

These seminars will not be live-streamed, but recordings of them will be made available on this page (in the resources section below), once they are ready.

Join a Small Group or Doctrinal Class About the Four Gospels

We are offering groups and classes around the four gospels at a number of different times and in a number of different formats.

We are looking for people to gather their own groups, in addition to the ones that we have organized so far. If you get a group of people together that would like to meet, we can also help you find a leader for your group or support one of the people in your group acting as the leader. For all of these things, please contact Nina Dewees (nina.dewees@brynathynchurch.org).

Resources for Group or Individual Study

If you’re looking for something to guide you or your group through reading the gospels, the best bet would be to find a written commentary that you like. We recommend the ones by New Church authors: Ray and Star Silverman, Rev. William Bruce, and Rev. John Clowes (links below).

Resources About Specific Gospels

Matthew

(book) “Exploring the Meaning of Matthew” by Ray and Star Silverman (webpage) This link takes you to the commentary on Matthew chapter 1 from Rev. Ray Silverman and Star Silverman’s forthcoming book, A Seamless Garment, which studies all Four Gospels. Every chapter of all four gospels is available for free on newchristianbiblestudy.org. The Silvermans’ commentary provides an accessible and rich exploration of each section of each chapter of the gospels, with frequent reflections on how we might apply what we’re reading to our lives. The print version of this commentary is due to be published, gospel by gospel, starting in the fall of 2026.

(book) Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew by the Rev. William Bruce (457 pages, PDF) Bruce’s commentaries, though published in the 1800s, are beloved by those who know them. Bruce provides lots of useful fodder for reflection and discussion, though he does not often cite passages for the statements that he makes.

(book) The Gospel According to Matthew… Illustrated by Extracts From… Emanuel Swedenborg, Together With Notes & Observations by the Rev. John Clowes (379 pages, PDF) For each chapter of a gospel, Clowes’ provides a verse-by-verse sketch of what the internal sense might be, usually one sentence per verse or couple of verses. Then he provides a few pages of relevant passages from the teachings for the New Church, followed some brief “Translator’s Notes and Observations.”

Mark

(book) “Exploring the Meaning of Mark” by Ray and Star Silverman (webpage) This link takes you to the commentary on Mark chapter 1 from Rev. Ray Silverman and Star Silverman’s forthcoming book, A Seamless Garment, which studies all Four Gospels. Every chapter of all four gospels is available for free on newchristianbiblestudy.org. The Silvermans’ commentary provides an accessible and rich exploration of each section of each chapter of the gospels, with frequent reflections on how we might apply what we’re reading to our lives. The print version of this commentary is due to be published, gospel by gospel, starting in the fall of 2026.

(book) The Gospel According to Mark… Illustrated by Extracts From… Emanuel Swedenborg, Together With Notes & Observations by the Rev. John Clowes (278 pages, PDF) For each chapter of a gospel, Clowes’ provides a verse-by-verse sketch of what the internal sense might be, usually one sentence per verse or couple of verses. Then he provides a few pages of relevant passages from the teachings for the New Church, followed some brief “Translator’s Notes and Observations.”

Luke

(book) “Exploring the Meaning of Luke” by Ray and Star Silverman (webpage) This link takes you to the commentary on Luke chapter 1 from Rev. Ray Silverman and Star Silverman’s forthcoming book, A Seamless Garment, which studies all Four Gospels. Every chapter of all four gospels is available for free on newchristianbiblestudy.org. The Silvermans’ commentary provides an accessible and rich exploration of each section of each chapter of the gospels, with frequent reflections on how we might apply what we’re reading to our lives. The print version of this commentary is due to be published, gospel by gospel, starting in the fall of 2026.

(book) The Gospel According to Luke… Illustrated by Extracts From… Emanuel Swedenborg, Together With Notes & Observations by the Rev. John Clowes (324 pages, PDF) For each chapter of a gospel, Clowes’ provides a verse-by-verse sketch of what the internal sense might be, usually one sentence per verse or couple of verses. Then he provides a few pages of relevant passages from the teachings for the New Church, followed some brief “Translator’s Notes and Observations.”

John

(book) “Exploring the Meaning of John” by Ray and Star Silverman (webpage) This link takes you to the commentary on John chapter 1 from Rev. Ray Silverman and Star Silverman’s forthcoming book, A Seamless Garment, which studies all Four Gospels. Every chapter of all four gospels is available for free on newchristianbiblestudy.org. The Silvermans’ commentary provides an accessible and rich exploration of each section of each chapter of the gospels, with frequent reflections on how we might apply what we’re reading to our lives. The print version of this commentary is due to be published, gospel by gospel, starting in the fall of 2026.

(book) Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John by the Rev. William Bruce (390 pages, PDF) Bruce’s commentaries, though published in the 1800s, are beloved by those who know them. Bruce provides lots of useful fodder for reflection and discussion, though he does not often cite passages for the statements that he makes.

(book) The Gospel According to John… Illustrated by Extracts From… Emanuel Swedenborg, Together With Notes & Observations by the Rev. John Clowes (267 pages, PDF) For each chapter of a gospel, Clowes’ provides a verse-by-verse sketch of what the internal sense might be, usually one sentence per verse or couple of verses. Then he provides a few pages of relevant passages from the teachings for the New Church, followed some brief “Translator’s Notes and Observations.”

Resources About the Four Gospels in General

(video) “The Four Gospels: A New Perspective | Community Supper November 11, 2023” (1h 11m, YouTube) In this video from a few years ago, Ray and Star Silverman share their perspective on why there are four gospels and the continuous thread that runs through the gospels from the beginning of Matthew to the end of John.

(book) Rev. Grant Odhner and Rev. Scott Frazier both highly recommend Richard B. Hays short book Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness (177 pages, paperback: ~$35 on Amazon). Grant also recommends the much longer and more complete book that Hays published on the same topic a few years later: Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (524 pages, paperback: ~$40 on Amazon). Read more about these books by following the links.

Other Recommendations?

If you have other resources to recommend, please email Rev. Malcolm Smith (malcolm.smith@brynathynchurch.org).

More About Why We’re Doing This

In Revelation 11 we read that the two witnesses “will prophesy 1,260 days” and Apocalypse Revealed 491 explains that this means “an acknowledgment of the Lord and a life in accordance with the Ten Commandments, which are the two essential elements of the New Church, must be taught until the end and a new beginning [of the church].” We have a responsibility to teach these two essential elements of the church. Last year we focused on the Ten Commandments; this year it seems right to focus on acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ. What better place to do that than the four gospels? We hope that you’ll join us and that, by the end of the year, you will have grown in your understanding and love of the Lord.

The image in the header is “The Four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John” by Guido Reni (1575-1642).