Get Affordable VMs - excellent virtual server hosting


browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
gospels

more about gospels

gospels

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  Gospels 
  n  :  four  books  in  the  New  Testament  that  tell  the  story  of 
  Christ's  life  and  teachings  [syn:  {Gospel},  {Gospels},  {evangel}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  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}.)




more about gospels