GOSPEL. — 1. The meaning of the term.—
'Gospel,' a compound of the O.E. gdd, 'good,' and spel, 'tidings,' has been employed from the beginnings of English translation of the NT to render the Greek evayy^Xtov. In the classics this term denotes (a) the reward for good tidings, and is so used in the LXX (2 S 4'"), <^ ?5et fie doOvat ei;- ayyeXia (pi.), ' the reward I had to give him for his tidings'; but (b) in later Greek the word stands for the glad message itself. In the NT, however, evayyiXiov refers not to the written record, as in the modern usage of ' gospel' = 'book,' but to the message as delivered and proclaimed. The gospel of >J., e.g., is the good news as N. announced it, and St. Paul's gospel is the message brought by the Apostle in his preaching. As long as oral teaching and exhortation could be had from eye-witnesses and intimates of our Lord's ministry, ' gospel ' was reserved for thistestimony ; accordingly, the Apostle John (1 Jn 1') writes, 6 171' air dpx'^^ ^ dKr^Koay-ev, & eupaKafiev toIs 6<pda\iJ.ois rnj-Qv, S ideacrdfieGa Kal al Xf'pes ijixQv i\l/ri\d(priaav, irepl tov 'S.6yov rrjs fw^s, ' that which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.' These are the cre- dentials of his message, and the persuasion of it to the hearts of his hearers. Among the early Chris- tians these memories — dwoixv7]fiov€vjj.aTa — were most prized, and that word rather than eiiayyiXiov was the primitive term for the gospel (cf. Moflatt, LNT, 1911, p. 44, with foot-note).
But as the eye-witnesses and their immediate successors passed away, believers had to fall back, perforce, upon a written record. The earliest certain use of the word in the modern sense is found in Justin Martyr (c. 150 A.D.) — ' The apostles in the memoirs written by themselves, which are called " Gospels" ' [Apol. i. 66 ; cf. SDB, DCG, and HDB, s.v.y
The passage which rules the use of eiayyiKiov in the NT is Mk 1", '}j\6ev b 'Iijo-oOy eh Trjp TaXiXalav K-qpvaawv rb evayy4Xiov toD 6eo0 (the gen. is both subj. and obj. ; all aspects are included), 'Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God,'
The word, probably, came into favour through the use by the LXX of the cognate evayyeXl(;'eiv and iuayyeXigeadai. in 2 Is. and in the Restoration- Psalms (cf. our Lord's discourse [Lk 4'^] in the synagogue of Nazareth concerning the glad tidings of His Mission, based on Is 61^. But, while the term (noun and verb) is of fairly frequent occur-
472
GOSPEL
GOSPEL
rence in the Synoptics, it owes its predominance in apostolic Christianity to the Apostle of the Gentiles. ' It evidently took a strong hold on the imagination of St. Paul in connexion with his o^vn call to missionary labours (evayyiXioi' sixty times in Epp. Paul, besides in Epp. and Apoc. only twice ; ev- ayyeXii^effOat, twenty times in Epp. Paul, besides once mid. seven times pass. )' (Sanday-Headlam,jBomans^ p. 5f.).
In Mk V, dpxv Toi' e{iayye\lov'lT](rov XptffTov, and Kev 14^, Kal eI5ov &\\ov dyyeXov . . . ^xovra ei- aYyi\iovalwvi.ov evayyeXlffai, we see the word in almost the transition stage between a spoken message and a book. Before the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, * gospel ' was the glad message of the King- dom, brought and proclaimed by Himself and those whom He sent out to prepare the way before Him. But in Ac 20-* ' the gospel of the grace of God,' Ro p-3 'the gospel of God regarding His Son,' and 2 Co 4'' ' the gospel of the glory (manifested perfection) of Christ,' the second stage is approached.
2. The content of the gospel.— As to the subject- matter of the apostolic gospel, one can scarcely say that the content varied ; it was ratiier that the emphasis was changed. In his synagogue ministry to the Dispersion, St. Paul found the soil in some measure prepared. The 7rat5a7ary6y had brought men so far that certain beliefs might be taken for granted as a foundation laid by the Spirit of Revelation in the OT Scriptures both legal and prophetic. This would rule the content of his gospel message to them. The case was different, however, in purely missionary and pioneer work, not only in rude places such as Lystra, but also among the more cultured, though equally pagan, populations in the great cities of the Empire, both in Asia and in Europe. The pioneer gospel, there- fore, would have notes of its own. Then, again, after a district had been evangelized and churches planted, we can see how the emphasis of the message would change, as apostolic men, prophets and teachers, sought to lead the primitive Christian communities up to * the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph 4'»; cf. He 6^).
From 1 and 2 Thess. we may gather the content of St. Paul's evangelistic gospel in his heathen mission. ' Those simple, childlike Epistles to the Thessalonian Church are a kind of Christian primer ' (A. B. Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 15 fl".). From the address on Mars' Hill (Ac 1730-31) ^yg have further indications of the staple of his message to those outside. But, perhaps more succinctly and perfectly than anywhere else, in 1 Co 15*"* we have the evangelistic Pauline gospel — ' for I delivered to you, among the most important things {iv irpuiTois), that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures ; and that he was buried ; and that he has been raised on the third day according to the scriptures ; and that he appeared unto Cephas ; then to the twelve : then lie appeared to above five hundred brethren at once ; of whom the majority survive to this day, tiiough some have fallen asleep. Tlien he appeared to James ; then to all the apostles. And last of all, as to the one untimely born, he appeared to me also.' This summary of the Chris- tian Creed reveals what, to St. Paul, constituted the essential content of the gospel (cf. J. E. McFadyen, The Epistles to the Corinthians [Inter- l.reter'sCom., 1911], p. 205 f!".).