GOSPEL

any of four biblical narratives covering the life and death of Jesus Christ. Written, according to tradition, respectively by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the four evangelists), they are placed at the beginning of the New Testament and make up about half the total text. The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term god-spell, meaning "good story," a rendering of the Latin evangelium and the Greek euangelion, meaning "good news" or "good telling." Since the late 18th century the first three have been called the Synoptic Gospels, because the texts, set side by side, show a similar treatment of the life and death of Jesus Christ. See also Diatessaron; individual gospels by author.