Gospels
      n : four books in the New Testament that tell the story of
          Christ's life and teachings [syn: Gospel, evangel]
 Gospels
    The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence
    that the Saviour had come into the world (Matt. 4:23; Rom.
    10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their
    account of the person and mission of Christ by the term
    _evangelion_ (= good message) were called _evangelistai_ (=
    evangelists) (Eph. 4:11; Acts 21:8).
      There are four historical accounts of the person and work of
    Christ: "the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the
    promised King of the kingdom of God; the second by Mark,
    declaring him 'a prophet, mighty in deed and word'; the third by
    Luke, of whom it might be said that he represents Christ in the
    special character of the Saviour of sinners (Luke 7:36; 15:18);
    the fourth by John, who represents Christ as the Son of God, in
    whom deity and humanity become one. The ancient Church gave to
    Matthew the symbol of the lion, to Mark that of a man, to Luke
    that of the ox, and to John that of the eagle: these were the
    four faces of the cherubim" (Ezek. 1:10).
      Date. The Gospels were all composed during the latter part of
    the first century, and there is distinct historical evidence to
    show that they were used and accepted as authentic before the
    end of the second century.
      Mutual relation. "If the extent of all the coincidences be
    represented by 100, their proportionate distribution will be:
    Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 53; Matthew and Luke, 21; Matthew and
    Mark, 20; Mark and Luke, 6. Looking only at the general result,
    it may be said that of the contents of the synoptic Gospels
    [i.e., the first three Gospels] about two-fifths are common to
    the three, and that the parts peculiar to one or other of them
    are little more than one-third of the whole."
      Origin. Did the evangelists copy from one another? The opinion
    is well founded that the Gospels were published by the apostles
    orally before they were committed to writing, and that each had
    an independent origin. (See MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF.)