What
is a gospel?
Before
the birth of Christ, the Greek word (euaggelion)
translated "gospel" meant "good news"
and was commonly used to describe any kind of "news"
or "report." The term acquired a technical meaning
very early in the development of Christianity. Already
by the time Paul wrote his letters in the middle of the
first century, the word "gospel" had become
synonymous with the Christian message and proclamation
(e.g., 1
Corinthians 15:1-5).
By the middle of the second century, it was associated
with written accounts of the life of Jesus (Justin Martyr,
1
Apology 66.3; Dialogue
With Trypho 10.2; 100.1)
And the definition of this word has changed very little
since. On this web site, a gospel is regarded as a written
text that has a primary focus of narrating the events
of the life of Jesus.
What
evidence is there that early Christians wrote more than
four gospels?
Comments such
as the conclusion of the Gospel of John (21:25)
make it clear that early Christians had no shortage of
stories about Jesus. They undoubtedly spoke often of their
recently departed master, sharing all that they remembered
of him with each other and anyone else who was willing
to listen. When it became evident that Jesus' memory could
not be preserved forever by oral traditions dependent
on the recollections of first-hand witnesses, some of
his followers decided to write down what they believed
about him for posterity. According to the Gospel of Luke,
"many" ancient writers endeavored "to draw
up an account " of the activities of Jesus (1:1-4).
Although many of these accounts did not ultimately become
New Testament gospels, they are identified and described
in the writings of numerous early Christian authors, such
as Origen (Homily
on Luke 1:1).
Why
does this web site only include gospels written before
the end of the second century?
Since
the late second century when Irenaeus of Lyons argued
that there could be only four inspired gospels (Against
Heresies 3.11.8), all other accounts of
the life of Jesus have been regarded as suspect by the
greater Christian community. Prior to this time, however,
various Christians used an assortment of different texts
and traditions to get information about Jesus. Followers
of Jesus in Rhossus, for instance, incorporated the Gospel
of Peter into their worship (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical
History 6.12.1-6). Well into the second
century, some Christians rejected written accounts altogether,
regarding them as undesirable modifications of the original
oral tradition that they believed began with Jesus' disciples
(Eusebius, Ecclesiastical
History 3.39.3-4).
Gospels
written during the first two centuries are presented on
this web site because they contain ancient narratives
about Jesus that were important to many of his first followers.
These texts often claim to be based on recollections of
those who knew Jesus. Gospels written later are not included
because their stories are usually derived from Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, or incorporate fanciful legends
that have little to do with the earthly activities and
teachings of Jesus.
What
is the nature of the gospels found on this web site?
Many
classification systems have been employed in the modern
study of early Christian gospels. Traditionally, the ancient
texts have been grouped into two broad categories: canonical
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and apocryphal (all other
gospels). However, this division is unsatisfactory because
it does not accurately reflect the historical situation
of the Christian communities prior to the formation
of the canon. Further, it reflects an obvious bias
against the gospels considered "apocryphal,"
or "of doubtful origin." Finally, it inappropriately
lumps together a wide range of literature written over
a long period of time in diverse locations and cultures.
For instance, fourth and fifth century narratives such
as the story about Christ's descent into hell have little
in common with the late first century Gospel of Thomas.
Recognizing
the need to move beyond the traditional canonical/apocryphal
division, many modern scholars have begun to consider
early Christian gospels as a useful category of texts.
Within this general body of literature, they often subdivide
the gospels into groups based on various internal characteristics
of the texts. While these methods of classification can
be useful and facilitate study, they are somewhat subjective
and tend to reflect the perspectives of those who formulated
them.
The
goal of the classification system developed for this web
site is to organize early Christian gospels written during
the first two centuries into categories that can be objectively
measured, thus leaving interpretation and comparison of
the texts to those who study them. The gospels contained
on this web site have been divided into four categories
by asking two questions about each text: 1. is the gospel
extant? (i.e. have manuscripts containing the text survived
to the present day?); and 2. can the text be identified?
(i.e. is the ancient title of the text known?)
