In Christianity, a gospel (from Old English, "good news") is generally one of four canonical books of the New Testament that describe the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, but also encompasses numerous non-canonical texts, see list of gospels.

The four canonical texts are the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, probably written between 65 and 100 AD.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. More generally, the term refers to works of a genre of Early Christian literature. It originally meant the "good news" (evangelium) of redemption.Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, unspecified article

The first canonical gospel written is Mark (c 65-70), which in turn was used as a source for the gospels of Matthew and Luke.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. Matthew and Luke may have also used a common source, the hypothetical Q document.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. These first three gospels are called the synoptic gospels because they share a similar view.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. The last gospel, the gospel of John, presents a very different picture of Jesus and his ministry from the synoptics.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. The canonical gospels were originally written in Greek.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.

The synoptic gospels are the source of many popular stories, parables, and sermons, such as Jesus' humble birth in Bethlehem, the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Last Supper, and the Great Commission. John provides a theological description of Jesus as the eternal Word, the unique savior of humanity. All four attest to his Sonship, miraculous power, crucifixion, and resurrection.

Other gospels circulated in early Christianity. Some, such as the Gospel of Thomas, lack the narrative framework typical of a gospel. These gospels are later than the canonical gospels, though in the case of Thomas, scholarship is divided on the exact date.

Etymology

The word gospel derives from the Old English god-spell (rarely godspel), meaning "good tidings" or "good news". It is a calque (word-for-word translation) of the Greek word lang: εὐαγγέλιον, euangelion (eu- "good", -angelion "message"). The Greek word "euangelion" is also the source of the term "evangelist" in English. The authors of the four canonical Christian gospels are known as the four evangelists.