Title: Five gospels, an account of how the good news came to be
First published: 1983
Description: This book is an original reading of the New Testament, which, it argues, incorporates five distinct messages or "gospels." These are: the Gospel of John the Baptist; the Gospel of Jesus; the Gospel of the Apostles; the Gospel of Demetrios; and the Gospel of the Ultimate. These messages are expressed through various NT writings, including not just the canonical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but Acts and a number of the epistles. Surprisingly, the core doctrine of Christianity as we know it is not the Gospel of Jesus, but the Gospel of the Apostles (expressed through Matthew, Mark, and Luke-Acts) and the Gospel of the Ultimate (expressed through John). Meagher convincingly explains why and how other messages might have wound up among the writings preserved in the NT. Overall, this is very interesting discussion of Christian origins and of the evolution of Christianity's sacred scriptures.
Subjects: Origin, Christianity, New Testament, Gospel, Bible, criticism, interpretation, etc., n. t. gospels
People: Jesus, John the Baptist, apostles
Time periods: First century ACE
LC classification: BR129 .M43 1983