The Gospels

Historical Context Essay

Albert Labriola (Duquesne University)
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  • The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

The term “Gospels”, from the Greek word euangelion meaning “good news”, designates the four accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus by Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, which appeared in writing from 60 AD. to 100 AD in the above sequence. Before they were written down, the contents of the Gospels had been disseminated orally. The Greek verb “euangelizomai,” which means “to proclaim the good news,” enables us to refer to the authors of the Gospels as evangelists. In this context, however, the term “authors” does not necessarily refer to the composers of the written gospels. Rather, the so-called four evangelists told the stories of their association with Jesus, and of the association of others with him. The oral …

6333 words

Citation: Labriola, Albert. "The Gospels". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 November 2003 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1335, accessed 24 November 2024.]

1335 The Gospels 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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