Dr Alexander Shaia has recently released a really interesting new book – The Hidden Power of the Gospels: Four Questions, Four Paths, One Journey (HarperCollins, 2010).

Shaia was born in Alabama, the son and grandson of Lebanese immigrants. He grew up enfolded in the Maronite Catholic tradition. Maronites are Eastern Catholics. He later studies anthropology and psychotherapy.

HarperCollins describes the book thus:

Christianity is in crisis. Increasing numbers of people are “opting out.” Why? Have recent discoveries in archaeology uprooted our faith in the Bible? Do the gospels no longer serve our modern, complicated lives? In The Hidden Power of the Gospels, Dr. Alexander Shaia moves beyond the typical approach to reveal an undiscovered truth that’s been dormant for over one thousand years.

In the tradition of such writers as Thomas Moore and Don Miguel Ruiz, Shaia reveals how the recurring cycles of change, loss, enlightenment, and maturation are illuminated by the Bible’s four gospels. Combining ancient Christian traditions, anthropology, and modern psychology, he reveals what has been in front of our eyes for two thousand years: that each of the gospels is centered on a different core metaphor and each focuses on a vital spiritual question.

Matthew begins with the question “How do we face change?” Mark poses the hard question of “How do we move through suffering?” John stirs and elevates the soul as he asks, “How do we receive joy?” And Luke moves us forward on the practical path, as he inquires, “How do we mature in service?” Shaia weaves these questions together in what he calls the quadratos journey, a recurring fourfold cycle that lives on as a constant companion throughout our lives.

Shaia unravels the divine inspiration of this mysterious sequence and links its ancient truths to universal, modern understandings. By using this lens, the gospels become practical guides for creating faith-filled lives that are relevant and useful in a time that is much more complex than village life millennia ago. In the sequence Shaia discloses, the gospels become the map for our never-ending spiritual journey.

I’m looking forward to reading it (and will post a review when I do). I explored it a little at a workshop last week, and I think there is much there to use in my ministries and my own spiritual journey.

You may like to purchase The Hidden Power of the Gospels: Four Questions, Four Paths, One Journey from Fishpond, or listen to or view a talk Shaia gave at Grace Cathedral in California.

You can visit Shaia’s personal site, or the site for his Quadratos ministry. He’s also on Facebook, as is Quadratos.

(by Colin Thornby, Web Servant)