The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts

This module combines two works by John William McGarvey (1829–1911), for many years president of the College of the Bible in Lexington, Kentucky, and a leading teacher of the Restoration Movement.

The Fourfold Gospel, or A Harmony of the Four Gospels (1914) was written with Philip Y. Pendleton. It arranges the text of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into a single chronological account of the life of Christ, with the authors' comments woven in between the sections. It was designed for Sunday school teachers and advanced students. In SwordSearcher the comments are attached to the Gospel verses they explain, so you can read them alongside any one of the four Gospels in the ordinary way. The comment on John 3:16:

Luther calls this verse "the Bible in miniature." It is a lesson as to God's love: 1. Its magnitude—he gave his only begotten Son. 2. Its reach—he gave it to a sinful world (Ro 5:8). 3. Its impartiality—he gives it to whomsoever; that is, to all alike (Mt 5:45; Re 22:17). 4. Its beneficial richness—it blesses with life eternal. 5. Its limitations—it is nowhere said that God so loves that he will save unbelievers.

A Commentary on Acts of Apostles is McGarvey's first book, written during his early ministry in Missouri and included here in its 1872 edition. It is a careful verse-by-verse treatment of Acts, still valued for its clear handling of the narrative and its attention to the order of events.

McGarvey belonged to the movement associated with Alexander Campbell, and his convictions about baptism come through plainly, particularly in Acts. In his own rendering of Acts 2:38 Peter says "Repent and be immersed," and McGarvey treats the verse as announcing "the conditions of pardon for all men." Readers who hold a different view of baptism will want to read those passages with that in mind, as they would with any commentary. B. W. Johnson's People's New Testament, from the same movement, is also in the library.

The combined module has more than 4,200 entries, nearly all of them in the four Gospels and Acts, with a few related entries in 1 Corinthians. Other harmonies of the Gospels are collected in the Harmonies and Chronologies module.