Beyond the Biography of Jesus: The Journey of Quadratos: Book 1

by Alexander J. Shaia

There is an immense dilemma, even a crisis, in Christian churches todayâ€"and it is shared by most other spiritual traditionsâ€"Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. It is a dilemma of belief, and of trust. Lack of enthusiasm and dissatisfaction in congregations is pervasive, hyper-rigidity abounds, and many have completely closed their minds and hearts to any form of religion at all because they have been injured or angered by what they perceive as a lack of logic, or charityâ€"or both. This book reveals a revolutionary biblical discovery that directly addresses this critical dilemma. During the first years of the Christian church, early followers not only elevated the traditional four gospels above all the other gospels and writings availableâ€"they placed them in a mysterious, non-chronological reading sequence and read them that way for over a thousand years. Why? Because the four Christian gospels tell a much greater story than the biography of Jesus! Dr. Shaia unravels the divine inspiration of this mysterious sequence, and links it to universal, spiritual and anthropological as well as modern psychological understandings. He demonstrates the value of this perspective to create faith-filled lives that are relevant and useful in a time that is much more complex than village life millennia ago. He shows how we can trust in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, John and Luke, the core documents of the Christian faith, as revelations of divine truth, despite all of their discrepancies, mistranslations and centuries of abuse and misuse. In the sequence Dr. Shaia discloses, the gospels are the map of our never-ending spiritual journey.

Genres: Spirituality

196 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 2006

About the author

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Alexander Shaia grew up as part of a large, extended family that had emigrated from Lebanon a generation previously. He grew up with the traditions of an ancient religion—Maronite Catholicism—and was expected to become a priest, a family tradition since the year 1300. Alexander chose otherwise. He attended the University of Notre Dame and received a degree in cultural anthropology. Next came a Master's Degree in Counseling Education, a Master's Degree in Religious Education, a graduate certificate in Pastoral Psychotherapy, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Then Alexander traveled to Switzerland where he studied with the originator of Sandplay, Jungian Analyst Dora Kalff, and spent additional time at the Jung Institute. Returning to the United States, many years of teaching, and study continued to build on a lifelong practice of prayer. Dr. Shaia now devotes himself fulltime to writing, speaking, and leading retreats on the transformative power of quadratos and the spiritual journey found within the four gospels.

Reviews

[Kieran Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich with many 'a ha' moments ... have since ordered Heart and Mind by same author

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, and its sequel (thesecond half of one book, really) doesn't live up to its title as far as I'm concerned.
Some of this book was well worth the effort to read it and the bookclub had some interesting discussions around the bits and pieces of history that Shaia presented. Much of it, unfortnately, is the author contorting a discussion of the Gospels into his artificial template that he says guides the great decisions of the world.
Two Gospels are examined in each Gospel, and my main beef is that Shaia makes blanket statements about historical details of the Bible and about intrpretations of passages that he treats as if they're fact. If he were a Biblical scholar, I wouldn't mind. But he's not. He's a therapist. And he doesn't provide many sources of the info he presents as fact.
Stick with work done by folks who have the background, or who at least provide the reader with citations so that we can examine the assumptions and make up our minds.

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are always in process. Author Alexander Shaia dedicated this two-part series to the process outlined in the Christian gospels. His premise is that each of the four books really follow the path outlined in all great myth and story. The beginning is Mathew's gospel; the struggle is Mark's; the resolve and learning are John's; and the renewal and hope to continue is in Luke's. Theology and gospel interpretation is obviously not a "quick" read, especially for me. I am glad I dedicated part of each day the past few months and read. On a personal note, we met Alexander through my sister-in-law, who arranged for us to stay at his Blue Door Retreat in Santa Fe in 2006. Was a pleasure meeting him that week and I hope we can cross paths again. He now travels the world, lectures, and writes. I hoep to make it to a Quadratos workshop before too long.