GOSPEL SIDE OF the Altar, the right side of the altar or communion-table, looking from it, at which, in tlie English Church service, the Gospel appointed for the day is read. It is of liigher distinction than the epistle side, and is occupied by the clergyman of highest ecclesiastical rank who happens to be present. In some cathedrals, one of the clergy has tliis special duty to perform, and is designated tlie Gospeller.
Gospeller. (1.) A term of reproach, though real- ly an honorable epithet, applied hy the Romanists to those who advocate the circulation of the Scriptures. It was first given in England to the followers of Wick- liffe, when that eminent reformer translated the New Testament (Eden). (2.) A term applied in the Refor- mation period to certain Antinomians. " I do not find anything objected to them as to their belief, save onlj' that the doctrine of predestination having been genei'- ally taught by the reformers, many of this sect began to make strange inferences from it, reckoning that since everything is decreed, and the decrees of God could not be frustrated, therefore men were to leave themselves to be carried l\y these decrees. This di-ew some into great impiety of life, and others into desper- ation. The Germans soon saw the ill effects of this doctrine. Luther changed his mind about it, and !Me- lanctlion openly writ against it; and since that time the whole stream of the Lutheran churches has run the other waj'. But both Calvin and Bucer were still for maintaining the doctrine of these decrees ; onlv thej' warned the people not to think much of them, since they were secrets which men could not penetrate into; Init thej' did not so clearly show how tliese con- sequences did not flow from such opinions. Hooper,
and many other good writers, did often dehort people from entering into these curiosities ; and a caveat to that same purpose was put afterwards into the article of the Church about predestination" (Burnet, History of Reformation, pt. ii, bk. i, p. 180). (3.) It is custom- iXTj in the Church of England for the ministers to read the gospel and epistle for the day at the communion- table. He who read the gospel, standing at the north side of the altar, was formerly called the Gospeller; and he who read the epistle at the opposite side, was called the Epistoler. In the canons of queen Eliza- beth, we find that a special reader, entitled an Episto- ler, is to read the epistle in collegiate churches, vested in a cope (P'arrar).
Gospels, a term evidently of Anglo-Saxon origin (according to some, i. q. God's Spell, i. e. Word of God; but according to most and better authorities, i. q. good spell, i. e. glad news) is the rendering of f/my- ■y'tXiov, Wt. good message (originally spoken of a reward for good news. Homer, Odyssey, xiv, 152, 1G6; Plutarch, Ages. 33 ; then of glad tidings itself, and so Sept. for IT;^i-J3, 2 Sam. xviii, 20, 22), constantly used in the N. T. (but not in Luke nor bj^ John, and onlj^ twice in Acts, once in Peter, and once in Rev.) to denote, 1. The annunciation of the kingdom of the Messiah, as ushered in by the coming and life of Christ; 2. The Gospel scheme or plan of salvation thus inaugurated, especially in its promulgations ; and, 3. The records or histories which constitute the original documents of this system of faith and practice. Justin Martj-r eni- plo3's for the last the less appropriate term cmropvev- l^iara, memoirs; and other ancient writers occasionally style them /^/ot, lives; but tliey were not so much de- signed as biographical sketches, whether complete or otherwise, but rather as outlines of the divine econo- my introduced in the New Dispensation. The central point of Christian preaching was the joyful intelli- gence that the Saviour had come into the world (Matt, iv, 23 ; Rom. x, 15) ; and the first Christian preachers, who characterized their account of the person and mis- sion of Christ by the term £('iayyEA(oj', were themselves called li'ayyiXirrrai (Ephes. iv, 11 ; Acts xxi, 8). The former name was also prefixed to the written accounts of Christ ; and as this intelligence was noted down by various writers in various forms, the particle Kara, "according to" (e. g. eiiayytXiov Kara MarBcilov) was inserted. AVe possess four such accounts ; the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the promised King of the kingdom of God ; the second bj' Mark, de- claring him "a prophet might}^ in deed and word" (Luke xxiv, 19); tlie third by Luke, of whom it might be said that he represented Christ in the special char- acter of the Saviour of sinners (Luke vii, oG sq. ; xv, 18-9 sq.) ; the fourth by John, who represents Christ as the Son of God, in whom deity and humanitj'^ be., came one. The ancient Church gave to Matthew the sj'mbol of the ox, to iNIark that of the lion, to Luke that of the man, and to John that of the eagle ; these were the four faces of the cherubim. The cloud in which the Lord revealed himself was borne by the cherubim, and the four evangelists were also the bearers of that glory of God which appeared in the form of man.