The gospel narrates the life of Jesus Christ.
The term gospel comes from a Greek word that means “good news” and refers to the story of the existence, miracles and postulates of Christ . This story is narrated in four books known by the name of those who narrated them (the evangelists ) and which form the so-called New Testament .
The gospels narrate the life of Jesus and the teachings he left to his disciples and on which most of the beliefs of the Catholic faith are based.
The recognized gospels and the apocryphal gospels
In these beliefs it is assumed that these four books were written by the evangelists Matthew , John , Luke and Mark and are known as the canonical gospels .
The apocryphal gospels are, however, other books about the figure of Jesus that were born in the first decades of Christianity but were not recognized or accepted by the Catholic Church .
The two sources theory
The theory of the two sources attempts to explain the similarities between the gospels of Mark , Matthew and John . He maintains that Mark 's is the oldest gospel and that it served as a source for those of Luke and Matthew .
Furthermore, both evangelists used a second source known as Fuente Quelle (Q) , which would have collected the sayings of Christ . The gospel of John , finally, would have been the last to be written.
Catholicism is based on the gospels.
Doubts about the gospels
There are many theories about the veracity of the events narrated in the gospels, some of them based on the exaggerated contradictions that exist about the same events between some books and others. Many of these inconsistencies take place in one of the fundamental moments in the story of Jesus: his death. Below, we present some of them.
* One of them answers the question of whether Judas really kissed Jesus . Matthew (26:48-50) states that it was, while John (18:3-12) states that it was not possible since they were not close enough.
* Another is related to the moment in which the veil of the temple was torn ; Was it before or after Jesus' death ? In Matthew 27:50-51 and Mark 15:37-38 it can be read that it was before, contrary to what is expressed in Luke 23:45-46.
* Regarding what the centurion expressed when Jesus died , in Luke 23:47 it is said that his words were "Truly this man was righteous", while in Mark 15:39 it is read "he was the son of God."
* Finally: did Jesus ascend to Heaven on the same day of his death? According to Luke 23:43, Jesus himself told the good thief that that same day he would be with him in paradise, while in John 20:17 he refuses, because when Jesus met Mary Magdalene he told her that he had not yet ascended, when two days had passed since his death.
The concept in colloquial language
In a colloquial sense, an absolute truth that is beyond dispute is known as gospel.
For example: “My father's word is the gospel for any member of the family.”