gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

(a contraction of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

, meaning "good news/glad tidings", comparable to Greek , ) is a written account of the career and teachings of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

. The term originally meant the Christian message itself, but came to be used for the books in which the message was set out in the 2nd century. Gospels are a

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

Early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...

literature that recount the life of Jesus. The

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

has four

canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, which are accepted as the only authentic scripture by the great majority of Christians, but many others exist, or used to exist, and are called either New Testament apocrypha or pseudepigrapha. Some of these have left considerable traces on Christian traditions, including

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

Canonical gospels

Synoptic gospels The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose ...

: **

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

*** Longer ending of Mark (see also the Freer Logion) **

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

Hypothesized sources of the synoptic gospels

* Q source – Q is material common to Matthew and Luke, but not found in Mark * M source – M is material unique to Matthew * L source – L is material unique to Luke * Cross Gospel – John Dominic Crossan's proposed source of the Passion narrative in Mark (and in the Gospel of Peter, see below)

Hypothesized sources of the Gospel of John

* Signs Gospel – narrative of the Seven Signs * Discourses Gospel – source of the discourse material

Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha

Gnostic gospels

* Gospel of Thomas – The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical sayings gospel. * Gospel of Marcion – 2nd century, potentially an edited version of the Gospel of Luke (see:

Marcionism Marcionism was an early Christian dualistic belief system that originated with the teachings of Marcion of Sinope in Rome around the year 144. Marcion was an early Christian theologian, evangelist, and an important figure in early Christiani ...

) * Gospel of Basilides – composed in Egypt around 120 to 140 AD, thought to be a Gnostic gospel harmony of the canonical gospels *

Gospel of Truth The Gospel of the Truth () is one of the Gnostic texts from the New Testament apocrypha found in the Nag Hammadi codices ("NHC"). It exists in two Coptic translations, a Subakhmimic rendition surviving almost in full in the first Nag Hammadi c ...

( Valentinian) – mid-2nd century, departed from earlier Gnostic works by admitting and defending the physicality of Christ and his resurrection * Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms – mid-2nd century, thought to be a Gnostic cosmology, most likely in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples * Gospel of Mary – 2nd century Gnostic text * Gospel of Judas – 2nd century Gnostic text * Greek Gospel of the Egyptians – second quarter of the 2nd century * Gospel of Philip – 3rd-century Gnostic text * Gospel of the Twelve Apostles – a

Syriac language The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...

gospel titled the Gospel of the Twelve, this work is shorter than the regular gospels and seems to be different from the lost Gospel of the Twelve. * Gospel of Perfection – 4th century, an Ophite poem that is only mentioned once by a single patristic source, Epiphanius, and is referred to once in the 6th century

Syriac Infancy Gospel The Syriac Infancy Gospel, also known as the Arabic Infancy Gospel, is a New Testament apocryphal writing concerning the infancy of Jesus. It may have been compiled as early as the sixth century, and was partly based on the Infancy Gospel of Thom ...

* Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians – also called Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit

Jewish-Christian gospels

* Gospel of the Hebrews * Gospel of the Nazarenes *

Gospel of the Ebionites The Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given by scholars to an apocryphal gospel extant only as seven brief quotations in a heresiology known as the '' Panarion'', by Epiphanius of Salamis; he misidentified it as the "Hebrew" go ...

* Gospel of the Twelve

Infancy gospels

* Armenian Infancy Gospel * Protoevangelium of James * (Gospel of the Nativity of Mary) *

Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (or The Infancy Gospel of Matthew) is a part of the New Testament apocrypha. In antiquity the text was called The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior. Pseudo-Matthew is one of a ...

* History of Joseph the Carpenter * Infancy Gospel of Thomas * Latin Infancy Gospel (Arundel 404) *

Other gospels

* Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Coptic collection of 37 oracles; around 500 AD)

Partially preserved gospels

Gospel of Peter The Gospel of Peter ( grc, κατά Πέτρον ευαγγέλιον, kata Petron euangelion), or the Gospel according to Peter, is an ancient text concerning Jesus Christ, only partially known today. It is considered a non-canonical gospel and w ...

Fragmentary preserved gospels

Fragmentary gospels are those preserved from primary sources. * Gospel of Eve – mentioned only once by Epiphanius around 400 AD, who preserves a single brief passage in quotation *

Gospel of Mani The ''Living Gospel'' (also ''Great Gospel'', ''Gospel of the Living'' and variants) was a 3rd-century gnostic gospel written by the Manichaean prophet Mani. It was originally written in Syriac and called the ''Evangelion'' ( syc, ܐܘܢܓܠܝ� ...

– 3rd century – attributed to the Persian

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

, the founder of

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (A ...

* Gospel of the Saviour (also known as the Unknown Berlin gospel) – highly fragmentary 6th century manuscript based on a late 2nd or early 3rd century original, a dialogue rather than a narrative, heavily Gnostic in character in that salvation is dependent upon possessing secret knowledge * Coptic Gospel of the Twelve – late 2nd century

Coptic language Coptic (Bohairic Coptic: , ) is a language family of closely related dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third-century AD in Roman Egypt. Copti ...

work – although often equated with the Gospel of the Ebionites, it appears to be an attempt to retell the Gospel of John in the pattern of the Synoptics; it quotes extensively from the Gospel of John.

Reconstructed gospels

Reconstructed gospels are those preserved from secondary sources and commentaries. * Secret Gospel of Mark – suspect: the single source mentioning it is considered by many to be a modern forgery, and it was lost before it could be independently authenticated. * Gospel of Matthias – a lost text from the New Testament apocrypha. The content has been surmised from descriptions in works by church fathers.

Lost gospels

Gospel of Cerinthus The Gospel of Cerinthus is a lost gospel used by Cerinthus and by Carpocrates. According to Epiphanius,''Pan. Haer.'' 28.5.1., I 317.10 this is a Jewish Gospel or Gnostic Gospel identical to the Gospel of the Ebionites and, apparently, is a t ...

– around 90–120 AD – according to Epiphanius, this is a Jewish gospel identical to the Gospel of the Ebionites, and apparently, a truncated version of the Gospel of Matthew according to the Hebrews. * Gospel of Apelles – mid- to late 2nd century, a further edited version of Marcion's edited version of Luke * Gospel of Valentinus * Gospel of the Encratites *

Gospel of Andrew The Gospel of Andrew is a gospel mentioned by Innocent I and Augustine of Hippo, Augustine. It is perhaps identical with the Acts of Andrew.Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 11 See also *List of Gospels References

Apocryphal Gospels ...

– mentioned by only two 5th century sources (

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

and Pope Innocent I) who list it as apocryphal * Gospel of Barnabas – this work is mentioned only once, in the 5th century Decree of Gelasius, which lists it as apocryphal. *

Gospel of Bartholomew The Gospel of Bartholomew is a missing text amongst the New Testament apocrypha, mentioned in several early sources. It may be identical to either the Questions of Bartholomew, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (by Bartholomew), or neither. Earl ...

– mentioned by only two 5th century sources, which list it as apocryphal. * Gospel of Hesychius – mentioned only by Jerome and the Decree of Gelasius that list it as apocryphal. * Gospel of Lucius – mentioned only by Jerome and the Decree of Gelasius that list it as apocryphal. * Gospel of Merinthus – mentioned only by Epiphanius; probably the Gospel of Cerinthus, and the confusion due to a scribal error. * An unknown number of other

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...

gospels not cited by name. * Gospel of the Adversary of the Law and the ProphetsAugustine, ''Contra Adversarium Legis et Prophetarum'', 2.3.14. * Memoirs of the Apostles – lost narrative of the life of Jesus, mentioned by

Justin Martyr Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...

, the passages quoted by Justin may have originated from a gospel harmony of the

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose ...

composed by Justin or his school.

Fragments of possibly unknown or lost (or existing) gospels

Fragmentary gospels are those preserved from primary sources. * Papyrus Egerton 2 – late 2nd century manuscript of possibly earlier original; contents parallel John 5:39–47, 10:31–39; Matthew 1:40–45, 8:1–4, 22:15–22; Mark 1:40–45, 12:13–17; and Luke 5:12–16, 17:11–14, 20:20–26, but differ textually; also contains incomplete miracle account with no equivalent in canonical Gospels * Fayyum Fragment – a fragment of about 100 Greek letters in 3rd century script; the text seems to parallel Mark 14:26–31 *

Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, moder ...

– fragments #1, 654, and 655 appear to be fragments of Thomas; #210 is related to Matthew 7:17–19 and Luke 6:43–44 but not identical to them; #840 contains a short vignette about Jesus and a Pharisee not found in any known gospel, the source text is probably mid-2nd century; #1224 consists of paraphrases of Mark 2:17 and Luke 9:50 * Gospel of Jesus' Wife – modern forgery based on the Gospel of Thomas * Papyrus Berolinensis 1171book of Enoch 0 – 6th century Greek fragment, possibly from an apocryphal gospel or amulet based on John. * Papyrus Cairensis 10735 – 6th or 7th century Greek fragment, possibly from a lost gospel, may be a homily or commentary * Papyrus Merton 51 – fragment from apocryphal gospel or a homily on Luke 6:7 * Strasbourg Fragment – fragment of a lost gospel, probably related to Acts of John

Medieval gospels

* Gospel of the Seventy – a lost 8th or 9th century Manichean work *

Gospel of Nicodemus Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

– a post-10th century Christian devotional work (or works) in many variants, the first section is highly dependent upon the 5th century Acts of Pilate * Gospel of Barnabas – a 16th century harmony of the four canonical gospels, probably of Spanish (

Morisco Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open ...

) origin, or possibly Italian *

Gospel of the Secret Supper ''The Book of the Secret Supper'' (''Cena Secreta''), also known as ''Interrogatio Iohannis'' (''The Questions of John''), ''The Book of John the Evangelist'' and ''The Gospel of the Secret Supper'' was a Bogomil apocryphal text from Bulgaria, pos ...

– a 12th century Cathar scripture

Modern gospels

* The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ (1908) *

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude ...

(1830) * Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eyewitness (1907) *

Essene Gospel of Peace Edmond Bordeaux Szekely (March 5, 1905 – 1979) was a Hungarian philologist/linguist, philosopher, psychologist and natural living enthusiast. Szekely authored ''The Essene Gospel of Peace'', which he claimed he had translated from an ancient te ...

(1937; 1974) * The Fifth Gospel (1908, Steiner) * The Fifth Gospel (1956, Naber) * The Fifth Gospel (1993, Vandenberg), Novel * The Gospel Given at Ares (1974) * Gospel of Jesus According to Gabriele Wittek (1977) * Gospel of Josephus (1927) * Gospel of the Childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Peter (1904) * The Gospel of the Holy Twelve (1881) * Life and Morals of Jesus (1820) * Jehoshua the Nazir (1917) * The Mystical Life of Jesus (1929) * The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ (1894) *

The Urantia Book ''The Urantia Book'' (sometimes called ''The Urantia Papers'' or ''The Fifth Epochal Revelation'') is a spiritual, philosophical, and religious book that originated in Chicago sometime between 1924 and 1955. The authorship remains a matter of sp ...

(1955) * Ur-Gospel of the Essenes (1848) * Great Gospel of John (1851–1864) *

The Jesus Scroll ''The Jesus Scroll'' is a best-selling book first published in 1972 and written by Australian author Donovan Joyce. A forerunner to some of the ideas later investigated in ''The Da Vinci Code'', Joyce's book made the claim that Jesus of Nazareth ...

(1972) * The Poem of the Man-God (1956)

Notes

Footnotes

References

* ''New Testament Apocrypha'', by Wilhelm Schneemelcher, R. M. Wilson. * ''New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and Related Writings'', by Wilhelm Schneemelcher, R. M. Wilson. * ''History of the Christian Religion to the Year Two Hundred'', by Charles B. Waite. *

External links

The Fifth Gospel
Five lectures given by Rudolf Steiner in 1913 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gospels *List Ancient Christian texts Ancient Christian controversies Christianity-related lists Lists of books by genre New Testament-related lists