What does gospel mean?

Definitions for gospel
ˈgɒs pəlgospel

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word gospel.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. Gospel, Gospels, evangelnoun

    the four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings

  2. gospel, gospel truthnoun

    an unquestionable truth

    "his word was gospel"

  3. gospel, gospel singingnoun

    folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)

  4. religious doctrine, church doctrine, gospel, creednoun

    the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group

  5. gospelnoun

    a doctrine that is believed to be of great importance

    "Newton's writings were gospel for those who followed"

Wiktionary

  1. gospelnoun

    The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus.

  2. gospelnoun

    An account of the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus, generally written during the first several centuries of the Common Era.

  3. gospelnoun

    A message expected to have positive reception or effect.

  4. gospelnoun

    the teaching of Divine grace as distinguished from the Law or Divine commandments

  5. gospelnoun

    gospel music

  6. gospelnoun

    That which is absolutely authoritative .

  7. Gospelnoun

    One of the first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

  8. Etymology: From godspel (corresponding to, i.e. "good tidings"), used to translate ecclesiastical Latin bona annuntiatio, itself a translation of evangelium / Ancient Greek, literally "good news". Compare Old Norse and Icelandic guðspjall.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. GOSPELnoun

    Etymology: godes spel, or God's or good tidings; ἐυαγγέλιον; soskkel, skeal suach, happy tidings, Erse.

    Thus may the gospel to the rising sun
    Be spread, and flourish where it first begun. Edmund Waller.

    How is a good Christian animated and cheered by a stedfast belief of the promises of the gospel! Richard Bentley, Sermons.

  2. To Gospelverb

    To fill with sentiments of religion. This word in William Shakespeare, in whom alone I have found it, is used, though so venerable in itself, with some degree of irony: I suppose from the gospellers, who had long been held in contempt.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    Are you so gospell’d
    To pray for this good man, and for his issue,
    Whose heavy hand hath bow’d you to the grave? William Shakespeare.

Wikipedia

  1. 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 and deeds of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. Modern scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors.The four canonical gospels were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (with the modern names added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources. The authors of Matthew and Luke both independently used Mark for their narrative of Jesus's career, supplementing it with a collection of sayings called the Q source and additional material unique to each. There is near-consensus that John had its origins as the hypothetical Signs Gospel thought to have been circulated within a Johannine community. The contradictions and discrepancies between the first three and John make it impossible to accept both traditions as equally reliable.Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. Important examples include the gospels of Thomas, Peter, Judas, and Mary; infancy gospels such as that of James (the first to introduce the perpetual virginity of Mary); and gospel harmonies such as the Diatessaron.

ChatGPT

  1. gospel

    The term "gospel" is derived from the Old English term "god-spell," meaning "good news" or "glad tidings." In a religious context, it refers to the first four books of the New Testament in the Christian Bible – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – which chronicle the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. More broadly, the term can refer to the message or teachings of Jesus, or any doctrine that is seen as of utmost importance. In a non-religious context, "gospel" may refer to any kind of message or information that is enthusiastically received or promoted. It also refers to a genre of music that is spiritual and deeply rooted in the Christian church.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Gospel

    glad tidings; especially, the good news concerning Christ, the Kingdom of God, and salvation

  2. Gospel

    one of the four narratives of the life and death of Jesus Christ, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

  3. Gospel

    a selection from one of the gospels, for use in a religious service; as, the gospel for the day

  4. Gospel

    any system of religious doctrine; sometimes, any system of political doctrine or social philosophy; as, this political gospel

  5. Gospel

    anything propounded or accepted as infallibly true; as, they took his words for gospel

  6. Gospeladjective

    accordant with, or relating to, the gospel; evangelical; as, gospel righteousness

  7. Gospelverb

    to instruct in the gospel

  8. Etymology: [OE. gospel, godspel, AS. godspell; god God + spell story, tale. See God, and Spell, v.]

Wikidata

  1. Gospel

    A gospel is an account that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The most widely known examples are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but the term is also used to refer to the apocryphal gospels, the non-canonical gospels, the Jewish-Christian gospels and the gnostic gospels. Christianity traditionally places a high value on the four canonical gospels, which it considers to be a revelation from God and central to its belief system. Christians teach that the four canonical gospels are an accurate and authoritative representation of the life of Jesus, but many scholars agree that not everything contained in the gospels is historically reliable. In Islam the Injil is the Arabic term for a book given to Jesus. Injil is sometimes translated as 'gospel'. This is one of the four Islamic holy books that the Qur'an reports as having been revealed by God. Islam holds that over time the Injil became altered, and God sent the prophet Muhammad to reveal the last book.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Gospel

    gos′pel, n. the Christian revelation: the narrative of the life of Christ, as related by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John: the stated portion of these read at service: the teaching of Christ: a system of religious truth: absolute truth.—v.t. (Shak.) to instruct in the gospel.—n. Gos′peller, a preacher: an evangelist.—v.t. Gos′pellise, to square with the gospel. [A.S. godspell; commonly derived from A.S. gód, good, and spell, story, and so a translation of Gr. eu-anggelion, good news; but more prob. from god, God, and spell, a narrative, God-story; so also the Ice. is guðspjall, God-story, and not góðspjall, good-story; and the Old High Ger. was gotspell, got (God) -spel, not guot (good) -spel.]

Suggested Resources

  1. gospel

    Song lyrics by gospel -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by gospel on the Lyrics.com website.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Gospel

    From the Anglo-Saxon God-spell, “good news.”

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'gospel' in Nouns Frequency: #2489

How to pronounce gospel?

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of gospel in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of gospel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of gospel in a Sentence

  1. Mark Milley:

    This is a Reichstag moment, the gospel of the Fuhrer.

  2. Pastor Greg:

    I don’t think anyone will ever take Billy’s place. But we can all, in our own way, follow Billy Graham example and proclaim the same Gospel as Billy Graham did, billy Graham served God’s purpose for Billy Graham generation and then Billy Graham died.

  3. Jimmy Carter:

    Billy Graham's ministry for the gospel of Jesus Christ and Billy Graham matchless voice changed the lives of millions, Vice President Pence said. We mourn Billy Graham passing but I know with absolute certainty that today Billy Graham heard those words,' well done good and faithful servant.' Thank you Billy Graham.

  4. Todd Nettleton:

    VOM has had to find very creative ways to communicate the Gospel and to get Bibles into the country.

  5. William Lee Golden:

    One of the most popular Gospel songs of all time is ‘Old Country Church,’ it was important for me to include this on the project because I grew up singing this song — and in an old country church.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

gospel#1#5219#10000

Translations for gospel

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"gospel." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/gospel>.

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