What is a Gospel?

The following post is a little more lengthy of a document, but a useful one nonetheless. This paper, written on the idea of "Gospel" was actually an assignment for a class I have this semester. 

            In common conversation concerning Christianity, the term ‘gospel’ often means various and sundry things, even within the same context or statement. In the most basic sense, the word means good news; however, the term has a history associated with an announcement of victory. To offer an example, Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles back to Athens to deliver the gospel of the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon. So, a Christian gospel is probably most closely associated with some sort of victory. What we find, however, is that ‘gospel’ is commonly used to be an adjective to describe some sort of knowledge, that by which one attains salvation, or, more simply, a type of book.   

            Firstly, we will examine the treatment of ‘gospel’ as a type of book. In common discourse about scripture, it is quite common to refer to the first four books of the New Testament as ‘the gospels,’ in such terms as “The Gospel of Matthew,” “The Gospel According to Matthew,” or “Matthew’s Gospel.” This notion of a gospel is also extended to pseudepigraphic books from Coptic, Gnostic, or otherwise traditions that are commonly considered to be related to, but not authoritative as scripture. These books, like many other books, often have writings that contradict or depart from the themes and statements of scriptural, yet attempt to gain authority or notoriety by way of attributing kinship to scripture. This attempt at kinship is mostly attempted through common names and themes of Biblical characters, events, and book names. For this reason, we find numerous ‘gospels,’ such as “The Secret Gospel of John,” “The Gospel of Judas,” and, perhaps best well known of all apocryphal New Testament era writings, “The Gospel of Thomas.” What unites these non-biblical and biblical writings is that they are both writings that more or less are centered on Jesus. Therefore, we can understand that the idea of a written gospel could be rightly defined as some sort of antiquated writing that speaks about Jesus of Nazareth, but also understand that this definition is more of a descriptive, vernacular-driven notion.

            In modern Christian terms, the idea of the gospel is the entity or idea by which someone attains salvation. This notion is especially predominant in Protestant traditions, especially in the Reformed faction. This idea of gospel is often spoken of as a proper noun, ‘the Gospel,’ implying that there is but one true gospel and it is the central teaching and purpose of Jesus of Nazareth; that is, when one has a conversation about ‘the Gospel,’ the conversation is basically about Jesus, His role in atonement for sins, and various and sundry aspects of soteriology. This notion is not entirely incorrect, but also does not seem to fully encapsulate the idea of ‘gospel’ that is spoken of in scripture. It is important to note that this use of gospel is by definition centered about both people and Jesus and their response to one another. Another factet of mainstream Christian use is the notion of ‘gospel’ being an adjective to describe a type or quality of truth. For example, in response to a statement about scripture with which one vehemently agrees, another might respond by saying that the first has proclaimed some sort of ‘gospel truth.’ This notion might also apply to one preaching or teaching concerning salvation or another scriptural concept.

            If I was asked to explain “the” gospel and what scripture says about it, I think that I would also phrase my response based on one ‘the Gospel’ spoken of in scripture, but probably in a different sense. It seems that scripture does indeed speak of one ‘Gospel,’ which is evidenced by Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, and many other apostles and followers exhorting people to “repent and believe the gospel.” In most conversations you will have with laity and with pastors, this statement is explained as a person being told to turn away from sin and trust in Jesus for salvation. However, a brief survey of scripture shows that this definition is quite lacking and may be aligned with a low Christology. To examine what those who in scripture spoke about the gospel meant, it is useful to define the notion of repentance. In very basic terms, this idea is changing one’s mind. So, what scripture speaks of about the believing the Gospel is about changing one’s mind, presumably from unbelief therein. The key departure from the some understandings of the Gospel and one that is probably closer to scripture is that the focus of the idea is both on Jesus and on the person in question. The Gospel spoken of in scripture is not nearly as concerned with what individual people do as most churches teach; the Gospel of scripture is indeed the announcement of victory, the announcement that Jesus, Lord of literally everything, became flesh, lived perfectly and died, thus fulfilling scriptures, and raised from the dead, thus defeating death as righteous and proven King. In the scriptures, the Gospel is not what you do to go to Heaven; the Gospel is the announcement that Jesus and God are one, that He is the Messiah of Israel, and that He has perfectly exemplified YHWH’s character.  

The Gospel is about salvation, but that is secondary to the announcement of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. In scripture, salvation is attained by way of depending or standing on this Gospel, depending on Jesus being who He says he is and that He is indeed sufficient to atone for sin. The Gospel is not about what people do, but about what Jesus has done. The repentance involved cannot be rightly explained as behavior or action, or even cessation from any sort of action, but of changing one’s mind and believing that this Gospel is true, a notion that assumes one’s unbelief. This idea is in some cases quite a departure from common thought and teaching concerning the Gospel and what it entails; many local traditions interpolate their own ideas and theologies, teaching about the requisite of righteousness or of some action. This does not seems to be explained by scripture. In sum, the Gospel isn't about me or about you. It's about Jesus, who came as Lord, died as Savior, and Rose as King. He killed sin so that by depending on Him, we might be adopted back into His family. That's the Gospel: the good news that Jesus has done everything that we need and that we lack the ability to do it ourselves.