Gospel - wikipedia Gospel This article is about books written about the life of Jesus. For the Good News of salvation through Jesus, The gospel. For other uses, see Gospel music, Gospel ( disambiguation ), or The Four Gospels ( disambiguation ). The first page of the Gospel of Mark in Armenian, by Sargis Pitsak, 14th century. A gospel is a written account of the career and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The word originated as a contraction from old English `` god spel '' meaning `` good news '', `` glad tidings ( of the kingdom of God ) '' and is comparable to the Greek εὐαγγέλιον, evangelion ) The word originally meant the Christian message itself, but in the 2nd century it came to be used for the books in which the message was set out. The four gospels of the New Testament -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- are our main source of information on the life of Jesus. For various reasons modern scholars are cautious of relying on them uncritically, but nevertheless they do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors. Contents 1 Composition of the canonical gospels ( Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ) 1.1 Stages : oral tradition to written gospel 1.2 Authors and sources 1.3 Contents 2 Genre and reliability 3 Canonisation and the non-canonical gospels 3.1 Canonisation 3.2 Non-canonical gospels 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 6.1 Citations 6.2 Bibliography 7 External links Composition of the canonical gospels ( Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ) The Synoptics sources : the Gospel of Mark ( the triple tradition ), Q ( the double tradition ), and material unique to Matthew ( the M source ), Luke ( the L source ), and Mark Stages : oral tradition to written Gospel Main articles : Synoptic problem and Oral gospel traditions The gospels are written accounts of the career and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. In the immediate aftermath of Jesus ' death his followers expected him to return at any moment, certainly within their own lifetimes, and in consequence there was little motivation to write anything down for future generations, but as eyewitnesses began to die, and as the missionary needs of the church grew, there was an increasing demand and need for written versions of the founder 's life and teachings. The stages of this process can be summarised as follows : Oral traditions -- stories and sayings passed on largely as separate self - contained units, and not in any chronological order ; Written collections of miracle stories, parables, sayings, etc., with oral tradition continuing alongside these ; Proto - gospels preceding and serving as sources for the written gospels -- the dedicatory preface of Luke, for example, testifies to the existence of several previous accounts of the life of Jesus. Gospels formed by combining proto - gospels, written collections and still - current oral tradition. Authors and sources Main article : Synoptic gospels Mark was probably written c. AD 66 -- 70, during Nero 's persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt, Matthew and Luke around AD 85 -- 90, and John is usually dated to AD 90 -- 110. Most scholars today reject the traditional ascriptions to John Mark, companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter, Luke the Evangelist, and the apostles Matthew and John, and treat them as anonymous works. The author of Mark used a variety of pre-existing sources, such as conflict stories ( Mark 2 : 1 -- 3 : 6 ), apocalyptic discourse ( 4 : 1 -- 35 ), and collections of sayings ( although not sayings gospel known as the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the Q source used by Matthew and Luke ). The authors of Matthew and Luke, acting independently, used Mark for their narrative of Jesus 's career plus a collection of sayings called the Q document and additional material unique to each called the M source ( Matthew ) and the L source ( Luke ). The author of the Gospel of John may have known the synoptic gospels, but he does not use them in the way that Matthew and Luke used Mark. Contents The four gospels share a story in which the earthly career of Jesus culminates in his death and bodily resurrection, an event of crucial redemptive significance. The four nevertheless present different narratives, reflecting different intents on the parts of their authors. The most obvious contrast is between John and the three synoptics : both relate the basic story - line from John the Baptist to the resurrection of Jesus, but within this overall framework they present completely different pictures of Jesus ' career. John has no baptism of Jesus, no temptation, no transfiguration of Jesus, and it lacks the institution of the Lord 's Supper and stories of Jesus ' ancestry, birth, and childhood. Jesus 's career in the synoptics takes up a single year while in John it takes three, in John the cleansing of the Temple takes place at the beginning of his ministry while in the synoptics it happens at the end, and in the synoptics the Last Supper takes place as a Passover meal, while in John it happens on the day before Passover. Mark, the first gospel, never calls Jesus `` God '' or claims that Jesus existed prior to his earthly life, never mentions a virgin birth ( the author apparently believes that Jesus had a normal human parentage and birth ), and makes no attempt to trace Jesus ' ancestry back to King David or Adam. Crucially, Mark originally had no post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, although Mark 16 : 7, in which the young man discovered in the tomb instructs the women to tell `` the disciples and Peter '' that Jesus will see them again in Galilee, hints that the author may have known of the tradition. Matthew reinterprets Mark, stressing Jesus ' teachings as much as his acts, and making subtle changes to the narrative in order to stress his divine nature -- Mark 's `` young man '' who appears at Jesus ' tomb, for example, becomes a radiant angel in Matthew. The miracle stories in Mark confirm Jesus ' status as an emissary of God ( which was Mark 's understanding of the Messiah ), but in Matthew they demonstrate his divinity. Luke, while following Mark 's plot more faithfully than does Matthew, has expanded on the source, corrected Mark 's grammar and syntax, and eliminating some passages entirely, notably most of chapters 6 and 7, which he apparently felt reflected poorly on the disciples and painted Jesus too much like a magician. The synoptic gospels represent Jesus as an exorcist and healer who preached in parables about the coming Kingdom of God. He preached first in Galilee and later in Jerusalem, where he cleansed the temple. He states that he offers no sign as proof ( Mark ) or only the sign of Jonah ( Matthew and Luke ). In Mark, apparently written with a Roman audience in mind, Jesus is a heroic man of action, given to powerful emotions, including agony. In Matthew, apparently written for a Jewish audience, Jesus is repeatedly called out as the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy. In Luke, apparently written for gentiles, Jesus is especially concerned with the poor. Luke emphasizes the importance of prayer and the action of the Holy Spirit in Jesus 's life and in the Christian community. Jesus appears as a stoic supernatural being, unmoved even by his own crucifixion. Like Matthew, Luke insists that salvation offered by Christ is for all, and not only for the Jews. The Gospel of John is the only gospel to call Jesus God, and in contrast to Mark, where Jesus hides his identity as messiah, in John he openly proclaims it. It represents Jesus as an incarnation of the eternal Word ( Logos ), who spoke no parables, talked extensively about himself, and did not explicitly refer to a Second Coming. Jesus preaches in Jerusalem, launching his ministry with the cleansing of the temple. He performs several miracles as signs, most of them not found in the synoptics. The Gospel of John ends : ( 21 : 25 ) `` And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. '' Genre and reliability The consensus among modern scholars is that the gospels belong to the ancient genre of bios, or biography. Ancient biographies were concerned with providing examples for readers to emulate while preserving and promoting the subject 's reputation and memory, and so they included both propaganda and kerygma ( preaching ) in their works. Mark, for example, is not biography in the modern sense but an apocalyptic history depicting Jesus caught up in events at the end of time. Despite this, scholars are confident that the gospels do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and that critical study can attempt to distinguish the ideas of Jesus from those of later authors and editors. As Luke 's attempt to link the birth of Jesus to the census of Quirinius demonstrates, there is no guarantee that the gospels are historically accurate. It is almost certain that none were written by eyewitnesses, and the anonymous authors have altered their sources to serve their own ends ( Matthew and Luke have frequently edited Mark, and the contradictions and discrepancies between John and the synoptics make it impossible to accept both as reliable ) In addition the gospels we read today have been edited and corrupted over time, leading Origen to complain in the 3rd century that `` the differences among manuscripts have become great,... ( because copyists ) either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they make additions or deletions as they please. '' Canonisation and the non-canonical gospels Main article : Development of the New Testament canon Main article : New Testament apocrypha Further information : Gnostic gospels Canonisation The creation of a Christian canon was probably a response to the career of the heretic Marcion ( c. 85 -- 160 ), who established a canon of his own with just one gospel, the gospel of Luke, which he edited to fit his own theology. The Muratorian canon, the earliest surviving list of books considered ( by its own author at least ) to form Christian scripture, included Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Irenaeus of Lyons went further, stating that there must be four gospels and only four because there were four corners of the Earth and thus the Church should have four pillars. Non-canonical gospels Epiphanius, Jerome and other early church fathers preserve in their writings citations from Jewish - Christian gospels. Most modern critical scholars consider that the extant citations suggest at least two and probably three distinct works, at least one of which ( possibly two ) closely parallels the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Thomas is mostly wisdom without narrating Jesus 's life. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says that the original may date from c. 150. It may represent a tradition independent from the canonical gospels, but that developed over a long time and was influenced by Matthew and Luke. While it can be understood in Gnostic terms, it lacks the characteristic features of Gnostic doctrine. It includes two unique parables, the parable of the empty jar and the parable of the assassin. It had been lost but was discovered, in a Coptic version dating from c. 350, at Nag Hammadi in 1945 -- 46, and three papyri, dated to c. 200, which contain fragments of a Greek text similar to but not identical with that in the Coptic language, have also been found. The Gospel of Peter was likely written in the first half of the 2nd century. It seems to be largely legendary, hostile toward Jews, and including docetic elements. It is a narrative gospel and is notable for asserting that Herod, not Pontius Pilate, ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. It had been lost but was rediscovered in the 19th century. The Gospel of Judas is another controversial and ancient text that purports to tell the story of the gospel from the perspective of Judas, the disciple who is usually said to have betrayed Jesus. It paints an unusual picture of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, in that it appears to interpret Judas 's act not as betrayal, but rather as an act of obedience to the instructions of Jesus. The text was recovered from a cave in Egypt by a thief and thereafter sold on the black market until it was finally discovered by a collector who, with the help of academics from Yale and Princeton, was able to verify its authenticity. The document itself does not claim to have been authored by Judas ( it is, rather, a gospel about Judas ), and is known to date to at least 180 AD. The Gospel of Mary was originally written in Greek during the 2nd century. It is often interpreted as a Gnostic text. It consists mainly of dialog between Mary Magdalene and the other disciples. It is typically not considered a gospel by scholars since it does not focus on the life of Jesus. A genre of `` Infancy gospels '' ( Greek : protoevangelion ) arose in the 2nd century, and includes the Gospel of James, which introduces the concept of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas ( not to be confused with the absolutely different sayings Gospel of Thomas ), both of which related many miraculous incidents from the life of Mary and the childhood of Jesus that are not included in the canonical gospels. Another genre is that of gospel harmonies, in which the four canonical gospels were selectively recast as a single narrative to present a consistent text. Very few fragments of harmonies have survived. The Diatessaron was such a harmonization, compiled by Tatian around 175. It was popular for at least two centuries in Syria, but eventually it fell into disuse. Marcion of Sinope, c. 150, had a much shorter version of the gospel of Luke, differing substantially from what has now become the standard text of the gospel and far less oriented towards the Jewish scriptures. Marcion is said to have rejected all other gospels, including those of Matthew, Mark and especially John, which he allegedly rejected as having been forged by Irenaeus. Marcion 's critics alleged that he had edited out the portions he did not like from the then canonical version, though Marcion is said to have argued that his text was the more genuinely original one. Written in Coptic, it contains oracles that would have been used to provide support and reassurance to people seeking help for problems. It is not a gospel in the traditional sense, since it does not predominantly teach about Christ. See also Book : Gospel Christianity portal Acts of the Apostles Agrapha Apocalyptic literature The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ Bodmer Papyri The Gospel Gospel ( liturgy ) Gospel in Islam Historical reliability of the gospels Jesusism List of gospels Jewish - Christian gospels Gospel of the Nazarenes Gospel of the Ebionites Gospel of the Hebrews Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Peter Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Infancy gospel Gospel harmony Gospel of Marcion Notes Jump up ^ For gospel as the Christian message see the article The Gospel. Jump up ^ The priority of Mark is accepted by most scholars, but there are important dissenting opinions : see the article Synoptic problem. References Citations ^ Jump up to : Tuckett 2000, p. 522. Jump up ^ Woodhead 2004, p. 4. ^ Jump up to : Cross & Livingstone 2005, p. 697. ^ Jump up to : Tuckett 2000, p. 523. ^ Jump up to : Reddish 2011, pp. 21 -- 22. ^ Jump up to : Sanders 1995, pp. 4 -- 5. Jump up ^ Honoré 1986, pp. 95 -- 147. Jump up ^ Reddish 2011, p. 17. Jump up ^ Burkett 2002, pp. 124 -- 25. Jump up ^ Martens 2004, p. 100. Jump up ^ Perkins 1998, p. 241. Jump up ^ Reddish 2011, pp. 108, 144. Jump up ^ Lincoln 2005, p. 18. Jump up ^ Burkett 2002, pp. 155 -- 56. Jump up ^ Reddish 2011, p. 36. Jump up ^ Reddish 2011, p. 40. Jump up ^ Harrington 1991, p. 8. Jump up ^ Nolland 2005, p. 16. Jump up ^ Burkett 2002, p. 215. Jump up ^ Boring 2006, pp. 13 -- 14. Jump up ^ Levine 2009, p. 6. Jump up ^ Perkins 2012, p. unpaginated. Jump up ^ Hurtado 2005, p. 587. Jump up ^ Ehrman 2005b, p. 215. ^ Jump up to : Burkett 2002, p. 217. Jump up ^ Anderson 2011, p. 52. Jump up ^ Burkett 2002, p. 158. Jump up ^ Parker 1997, p. 125. Jump up ^ Telford 1999, p. 149. Jump up ^ Beaton 2005, p. 117. Jump up ^ Morris 1986, p. 114. Jump up ^ Beaton 2005, p. 123. Jump up ^ Aune 1987, p. 59. Jump up ^ Johnson 2010, p. 48. Jump up ^ Funk, Robert W., Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar. The five gospels. HarperSanFrancisco. 1993. ^ Jump up to : Harris, Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto : Mayfield. 1985 ^ Jump up to : Cross, F.L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005, article Luke, Gospel of St Jump up ^ Ehrman 2009, p. 143. Jump up ^ St. Matthew, `` The Thompson Chain - Reference Study Bible New King James Version '', ( B.B. Kirkbride Bible Co. Inc., 1997 ) p. 1258 verse 12 : 21, p. 1274, verse 21 : 43. Jump up ^ Burkett 2002, p. 214. Jump up ^ Lincoln 2004, p. 133. Jump up ^ Dunn 2005, p. 174. Jump up ^ Donahue 2005, p. 15. Jump up ^ Reddish 2011, p. 13. Jump up ^ Ehrman 2009, p. 7, 52. Jump up ^ Ehrman 2005b, p. 34. Jump up ^ Ehrman 2005b, p. 35. Jump up ^ Philipp Vielhauer in Schneemelcher 's New Testament Apocrypha Vol. 1 ( 1971 ) English revised edition R. Wilson, of Neutestamentliche Apokryphen 1964 Hennecke & Schneemelcher ^ Jump up to : `` Thomas, Gospel of ''. Cross, F.L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005 Jump up ^ Funk, Robert W., Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar. The five gospels. HarperSanFrancisco. 1993. `` The Gospel of Thomas '', pp. 471 -- 532. ^ Jump up to : `` Peter, Gospel of St. ''. Cross, F.L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York : Oxford University Press. 2005 Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart ( 2003 ). The Lost Christianities. New York : Oxford University Press. p. xi. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 514183 - 2. Jump up ^ Achtemeier, Paul J., Th. D., Harper 's Bible Dictionary, ( San Francisco : Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc. ; 1985 ). Jump up ^ Andrew E. Bernhard, Other Early Christian Gospels : A Critical Edition of the Surviving Greek Manuscripts, Library of New Testament Studies 315 ( London - New York : T & T Clark, 2006 ), p. 2. ISBN 0 - 567 - 04204 - 9. Jump up ^ Daily Mail, 19 February 2015 Bibliography Anderson, Paul N. ( 2011 ). The Riddles of the Fourth Gospel : An Introduction to John. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451415551. Aune, David E. ( 1987 ). The New Testament in its literary environment. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 664 - 25018 - 8. Beaton, Richard C. ( 2005 ). `` How Matthew Writes ''. In Bockmuehl, Markus ; Hagner, Donald A. The Written Gospel. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 83285 - 4. Boring, M. Eugene ( 2006 ). Mark : A Commentary. Presbyterian Publishing Corp. ISBN 978 - 0 - 664 - 22107 - 2. Burge, Gary M. ( 2014 ). `` Gospel of John ''. In Evans, Craig A. Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus. Routledge. ISBN 9781317722243. Burkett, Delbert ( 2002 ). An introduction to the New Testament and the origins of Christianity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 00720 - 7. Burridge, R.A. ( 2006 ). `` Gospels ''. In Rogerson, J.W. ; Lieu, Judith M. The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199254255. Charlesworth, James H. ( 2008 ). The Historical Jesus : An Essential Guide. Abingdon Press. ISBN 9780687021673. Cross, Frank Leslie ; Livingstone, Elizabeth A. ( 2005 ). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192802903. Donahue, John ( 2005 ). The Gospel of Mark. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814659656. Duling, Dennis C. ( 2010 ). `` The Gospel of Matthew ''. In Aune, David E. The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament. Wiley - Blackwell. ISBN 9781444318944. Dunn, James D.G. ( 2005 ). `` The Tradition ''. In Dunn, James D.G. ; McKnight, Scot. The Historical Jesus in Recent Research. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 9781575061009. Edwards, James R. ( 2015 ). The Gospel according to Luke. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802837356. Edwards, James R. ( 2002 ). The Gospel according to Mark. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780851117782. Ehrman, Bart D. ( 2005b ). Misquoting Jesus. Harper Collins. Ehrman, Bart D. ( 2009 ). Misquoting Jesus. Harper Collins. Ehrman, Bart D. ( 2005 ). Lost Christianities. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195182491. Ehrman, Bart D. ( 1999 ). Jesus : Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199839438. Harrington, Daniel J. ( 1991 ). The Gospel of Matthew. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814658031. Hatina, Thomas R. ( 2014 ). `` Gospel of Mark ''. In Evans, Craig A. Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus. Routledge. ISBN 9781317722243. Hurtado, Larry W. ( 2005 ). Lord Jesus Christ : Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802831675. Johnson, Luke Timothy ( 2010 ). The New Testament : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199745999. Levine, Amy - Jill ( 2009 ). `` Introduction ''. In Levine, Amy - Jill ; Allison, Dale C. Jr. ; Crossan, John Dominic. The Historical Jesus in Context. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400827374. Johnson, Luke Timothy ( 2010 ). The Writings of the New Testament -- An Interpretation, 3rd ed. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451413281. Lincoln, Andrew ( 2004 ). `` Reading John ''. In Porter, Stanley E. Reading the Gospels Today. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802805171. Honoré, A.M. ( 1986 ). `` A statistical study of the synoptic problem ''. Novum Testamentum. 10 ( 2 / 3 ) : 95 -- 147. doi : 10.2307 / 1560364. JSTOR 1560364. Lincoln, Andrew ( 2005 ). Gospel According to St John. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781441188229. Mckenzie, John L. ( 1995 ). The Dictionary of the Bible. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780684819136. McMahon, Christopher ( 2008 ). `` Introduction to the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles ''. In Ruff, Jerry. Understanding the Bible : A Guide to Reading the Scriptures. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780884898528. Morris, Leon ( 1986 ). New Testament Theology. Zondervan. ISBN 978 - 0 - 310 - 45571 - 4. Nolland, John ( 2005 ). The Gospel of Matthew : A Commentary on the Greek Text. Eerdmans. O'Day, Gail R. ( 1998 ). `` John ''. In Newsom, Carol Ann ; Ringe, Sharon H. Women 's Bible Commentary. Westminster John Knox. ISBN 9780281072606. Parker, D.C. ( 1997 ). The Living Text of the Gospels. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521599511. Perkins, Pheme ( 1998 ). `` The Synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles : Telling the Christian Story ''. In Barton, John. The Cambridge companion to biblical interpretation. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 48593 - 7. Perkins, Pheme ( 2009 ). Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802865533. Perkins, Pheme ( 2012 ). Reading the New Testament : An Introduction. Paulist Press. ISBN 9780809147861. Martens, Allan ( 2004 ). `` Salvation Today : Reading Luke 's Message for a Gentile Audience ''. In Porter, Stanley E. Reading the Gospels Today. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802805171. Powell, Mark Allan ( 1998 ). Jesus as a Figure in History : How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Eerdmans. ISBN 978 - 0 - 664 - 25703 - 3. Reddish, Mitchell ( 2011 ). An Introduction to The Gospels. Abingdon Press. ISBN 9781426750083. Sanders, E.P. ( 1995 ). The Historical Figure of Jesus. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141928227. Senior, Donald ( 1996 ). What are they saying about Matthew ?. PaulistPress. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8091 - 3624 - 7. Telford, W.R. ( 1999 ). The Theology of the Gospel of Mark. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521439770. Tuckett, Christopher ( 2000 ). `` Gospel, Gospels ''. In Freedman, David Noel ; Myers, Allen C. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9789053565032. Woodhead, Linda ( 2004 ). Christianity : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199687749. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Gospel Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Gospel. A detailed discussion of the textual variants in the gospels -- covering about 1200 variants on 2000 pages. Greek New Testament -- the Greek text of the New Testament : specifically the Westcott - Hort text from 1881, combined with the NA26 / 27 variants. 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Question: what information do we read in the gospels
Answer: teachings of Jesus of Nazareth