All credit goes to Allen Parr. I would not be able to create this page, "An Introduction to the Gospel," without his YouTube video, "The Gospel of Mark EXPLAINED in 60 Minutes and an Introduction to the Gospels | The Gospels in HD".

I do not receive any commission or payments for promoting Allen Parr's Website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I do this because Mr. Parr is a good teacher, and he knows how to deliver the Word of God in a way that helps the viewer to understand the Holy Bible. Also, I do this solely because I want you, the reader, to develop a closer relationship with God by reading the Bible, Studying the Bible, Praying to God, and Seeking God's face.

An Introduction to the Gospels

What is a Gospel?

The word Gospel comes from the Greek word euangellion, which means "good news." This is where we get our English word for evangelism. The good news is about what Jesus Christ has done for us. HE died for our sins, and whoever believes in Jesus and that God has raised Him from the dead shall be saved. " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV Bible).

Why Do We Have Four Gospels

1. Content

   1. Each Gospel presents a different picture of Jesus Christ.

2. Communication

   1. Each Gospel was written to a different group of people with different needs in different places and at different times.

3. Clarity

   1. Things that may appear unclear in one Gospel are clarified and complemented in the other.

   2. Matthew 9:20 says, " And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment."

   3. Luke 8:43 says, " and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone."

   4. Mark 5:25-26 says, " And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse."

When you read Matthews, Mark, and Luke with the same account, then there are specific details that you will get from each of the Gospels. It will bring about a complete story of what is happening.

4.	Confirmation

	1. Four different men writing at different times and places presenting the same facts further confirm the accuracy of the accounts. That is important because four different men were writing at different times and places, which gives a stronger testimony than one man writing all four Gospels. 

Why Were The Gospels Written

1. Preservation

   1. To preserve the stories and the teachings of Jesus Christ for future generations. The Gospels used to be passed around by oral communication. The first-century age thought the second coming of Jesus Christ would come soon. As that generation began to die, they realized that they needed to pass these accounts and events about Jesus to the future generation. So, the culture moved from oral communication to written communication.

2. Instruction

   1. To provide instruction for new converts on the fundamental beliefs and practices of the Christian faith.

3. Accuracy

   1. To provide the church with a standard, accurate account of the life of Jesus. Many things were written about Jesus, but not all were true and not accurate. For example, the Gospel of Thomas wasn't correct. And the early church knew this through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the ones inspired by God.

How Were The Gospels Written

1. Synoptic Gospels

   1. Syn-optic means " to see together." Matthew, Mark, and Luke are considered the synoptic gospels because they are similar in structure and content. They give a "synopsis" of the life of Christ. The Gospel of John is unique. So, the word Syn means with or together, and Optic means to see. That is why synoptic means " to see together."

2. What is the Synoptic Problem (2-Source Hypothesis)?

   1. The problem is how Mark, Matthew, and Luke Gospel related to each other?

   2. Scholars believed and accepted that Mark was the first Gospel that was written. Because Mark was the first Gospel written, Matthew and Luke got their information from Mark. 7% of Mark is unique. Therefore, what you see in Matthew and Luke came from Mark.

   3. Because Mark is the shortest Gospel, where did Matthew and Luke get the other information? So, this led scholars to believe that there is another source from where Matthew and Luke got their information? The "Two-source Hypothesis" proposes that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were written independently, each using Mark and a second hypothetical document called "Q" as a source.

   4. The letter Q stands for the word " Quelle," which means source. Sometimes this source is called the " Q-Document, Q-Gospel or the Quelle-Source." " Quelle" is a German word that means " source."

   5. The "Q" Source is a hypothetical document containing sayings, parables, teachings, miracles, stories, and sayings of Jesus from which Matthew and Luke borrowed from. So, the extreme similarity between Matthew and Luke shows that they must have been using the same source.

   6. The Q-document is the Church's Oral Gospel Traditions. The church passed the Gospel of Jesus by word of mouth, so the beginning stage of the written Gospel started through the Oral Tradition. 

1. The first stage of the Gospel: Oral; by mouth. They told stories of Jesus, the healings, parables that were taught by Jesus and etc.

2. The second stage of the Gospel: The Oral Tradition, began to write down everything they remember about the life of Jesus.

3. The third stage of the Gospel: The church decided to combine all stories, teaching, healing, and parables. The early Christians combined the collections and the oral tradition called the " proto-gospel."

4. The fourth stage of the Gospel: The four Gospel authors pull from the " proto-gospel," the collections, and the oral tradition still circulating during those times. That is how we got the book of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Who are the main characters in the Gospels?

1. Jesus: The Son of God and second Person of the Trinity.

2. John the Baptist: He prepares the people's hearts for the coming Messiah by offering a baptism of repentance and preaching a message of repentance.

3. Apostles (one who has been sent): 12 disciples were chosen to be sent out to do His work.

4. Disciples (a learner or follower): Every day, people are interested in the teachings of Christ.

5. Pharisees ( means "to separate"): They were the legalists of the time and were the main continual antagonists to Jesus' ministry. They studied and interpreted the law for the people. These people thought they knew it all and became very religious. They thought there were better than everybody else, so they separated themselves and set a high standard of living.

6. Herods: Roman Kings who tried to kill Jesus at His birth and ordered Him to be killed at death.

7. Pontius Pilate: a Roman governor who executed Jesus.

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