Because he plays such a prominent role in the New Testament and the tradition of the church, the apostle Peter has been the focus of much scholarship over the centuries. One wonders whether there can be anything more to say about Peter. Indeed, there is. In Four Times Peter Richard Cassidy takes a narrative critical look at Peter in the story of each gospel individually (rather than studying Peter via a side-by-side analysis of the gospels). Cassidy looks first to the character of Jesus in each of the gospels and then to the group of apostles as a whole before turning to Peter. In the end, Four Times Peter allows an intriguing portrait of this apostle to emerge. Readers discover a portrait of Peter that would have been familiar to the earliest Christian communities. And it is this ancient portrait that gives modern readers a refreshing new sense of Peter. ?Cassidy?s study contains many fresh and helpful insights.? Review of Biblical Literature?An excellent text for intermediate to advanced courses on the Gospels and parish study programs.? The Midwest Book Review? . . . an interesting way for students of the New Testament to probe more deeply into its rich texts and complex history.? The Bible Today?In his new work, Richard Cassidy undertakes a fresh look at the apostle Peter in each of the four canonical gospels, with the assistance of narrative analysis. Insofar as Peter is often portrayed in the gospels as a representative disciple, all believing readers become involved. Insofar as Peter as a historical person played (and plays) a foundational role, issues of Church leadership are raised. The reception of Peter in Pauline community, Philippi in Macedonia, is also explored. In an unprecedented appendix, Peter?s words are set forth for the reader?s reflection. All in all, this work is welcome as a well-informed, contemporary, guide.? Benedict Thomas Viviano, O.P. University of Fribourg, Switzerland ?The understanding of the figure of Peter in the Gospels is confessionally overloaded. The only way to have a fresh look is to perform a close reading of the texts. Richard Cassidy has good tools to do that: narrative criticism and reception history. His book is clever, nice to read. It gives new insights about this great figure among the disciples of the Nazarene. The reception of the four gospels by the Christian community at Philippi is the final masterpiece of the book!? Daniel Marguerat Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies University of Lausanne, Switzerland?This engaging book will lead unsuspecting students through a careful study of the Gospels using narrative criticism, social-world analysis, and theological interpretation while they are having so much fun that they won?t realize this is ?homework.?? Sharyn Dowd Associate Professor of New Testament Baylor University, Waco, Texas?Using the category of ?paradigmatic readers,? Richard Cassidy combines insightful narrative-critical readings of the role of Peter in each of the four gospels with an imaginative recreation of how they might have actually been received by real readers in the Pauline ekklesiai at Roman Philippi. A valuable case study in integrative method in gospel studies, and a thoughtful contribution to the on-going debate about Gospel audiences in the early church.? Margaret M. Mitchell Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature The University of Chicago"What a refreshing change to find a reading of the Gospels that takes them seriously as four individual performances of the Jesus tradition, yet gives us scope for assessing their combined imaginative impact on the earliest Christian communities. Meticulously positioned within the discipline of narrative criticism, Cassidy's fine study of Peter in the fourfold Gospel tradition highlights the crucial role played by this imperfect disciple in all four canonical Gospels, and brings to the fore the 'sheer gratuitousness' of Peter's call and his 'justification by grace'." Loveday Alex