Theological Term of the Week: Gospels

Gospels

The four books of the New Testament which tell the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

• The dedication at the beginning of The Gospel According to Luke:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4 ESV).

• The purpose statement included in The Gospel According to John:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31 ESV).

• The glossary of the ESV Literary Study Bible:

Primarily the Gospels inform us about the person and work of Christ. The material is divided approximately evenly between narrative (events) and discourses. The Gospels combine three primary ingredients: Jesus’ teaching and preaching (what Jesus said and taught); Jesus’ actions (what Jesus did); the responses of people to Jesus (what others said and did). Jesus’ conversations and controversies are a hybrid that combine all three ingredients: they are a form of teaching, that are speech acts that have the effect of an action, and they involve people’s responses to Jesus. Numerous subgenres converge in the Gospels—birth stories; stories of calling, recognition, witness/testimony, conflict/controversy, encounter, miracle, pronouncement; saying, parables, and discourses/sermons by Jesus; passion and resurrection stories. The overall aim of the Gospels is persuasive, as the writers seek to give readers adequate reason for believing that Jesus is the Savior of the world and to appeal to them to place their faith in Jesus. The Gospels thus have affinities with biography, but biography tends to be packaged as a straightforward factual account, not as an embodiment of the dialogues, stories, and discourses. 

Learn more:

1. ESV Study Bible: Reading the Gospels and Acts
2. GotQuestions.org: Why did God give us four Gospels?
3. Christianity.com: Why Are There Four Gospels?
4. The Gospel Coalition: Introduction to the Gospels and Acts
5. Ligonier Ministries: How to Read the Gospels

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• epistle
• literary genres of the Bible

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Theological Term of the Week: Exegesis

exegesis

The process of analyzing a text of scripture to draw out its author-intended meaning.

• From scripture:

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV). 

• From What Does It Mean? by F. F. Bruce:

The question, ‘What does it mean?’, may be understood in more ways than one. It may imply, ‘What does it mean for me, or for us, today?’ Or it may imply, ‘What did it mean when it was first said? What did the speaker or writer intend to convey by this, and how was it understood by those for whom it was first designed?’ When we have found the answer to the last question (or set of three questions), we have found the primary interpretation. We have to do more thinking if we are to discover what it means for us today, but if its meaning for us today is to have any validity it must arise out of its primary meaning. The plenary sense of Scripture consists of its primary meaning plus whatever further meaning has been validly discerned in it by the people of God in succeeding generations. The plenary interpretation of Scripture in the church, it has been said, accrues like compound interest, but there must be a secure relationship between the compound interest and the primary deposit.

Learn more:

1. Simply Put: Exegesis and Eisegesis
2. Kevin Gardner: What Is Exegesis?
3. Daniel Doriani: The Importance of Sound Exegesis
4. J. I. Packer: The Interpretation of Scripture
5. Kevin DeYoung: Your Theological System Should Tell You How to Exegete

Related terms:

• analogy of faith
• biblical hermeneutics
• eisegesis
• literary genres of the Bible

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Theological Term of the Week: Epistle

epistle

A  letter from a New Testament author to a church, a collection of churches, or an individual. Of the New Testament books, all but Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts and Revelation are epistles. 

• From the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul’s greeting and closing blessing:

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me, 

To the churches of Galatia: 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen (Galatians 1:1-5 ESV).

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen (Galatians 6:18 ESV).

• From the glossary of the Literary Study Bible:

[An epistle is] a NT letter that possesses the usual ingredients and structure of letters generally. An epistle is not a sermon or treatise. Most NT epistles are occasional letters, meaning that specific questions or crises gave rise to them and shaped their content. NT epistles, except for Romans, are thus not freestanding treatises; they are embedded in a specific occasion and setting. NT epistles follow the customary conventions of Greek and Roman letters of the same era, with modifications. Three of the stock ingredients of NT epistles correspond to the letters of the day: salutation, body, and conclusion. But even here we find innovations, as the salutation, for example becomes a theologically charged “grace and peace” formula, and the body deals specifically with moral and religious issues. Additionally, NT letters have two unique units: a thanksgiving that consists of a liturgically formulated statement of thanks and praise for spiritual blessings, and a paraenesis composed of lists of virtues and vices, or moral commands.

• From 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible by Robert Plummer, page 282:

The letters in the New Testament are not abstract treatises of systematic theology. They are often passionate appeals, written to specific persons in particular situations in the first century A.D. In a word, they are occasional—addressing specific occasions.

At one level, the occasional nature of the New Testament letters makes them challenging to apply. The writer of 1 Corinthians, Paul, is long dead, along with all the believers in Corinth whom he addressed in the letter. Furthermore, while we find analogous situations in modern times, none of the matters addressed in the letter are exactly the same as those today. Yet, even in these occasional letters, we see intimations that the original authors and recipients saw a timeless authoritativeness in their compositions. Paul’s letters are called “Scripture” by Peter (2 Peter 3:16). Paul insists that his letters be copied and read by churches to which they were originally not addressed (Col. 4:16). Furthermore, the authors of New Testament letters write authoritatively (1 Cor. 5:4-5), presenting their teaching, not as ad hoc suggestions, but as passing on “the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3). Even letters to individuals, such as Paul’s letters to Philemon and Timothy, give intimations that the broader church is intended to hear and heed the personal letters’ instructions (Philem. 2; 1 Tim. 6:21; 2 Tim. 4:22).

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is an epistle?
2. Christianity.com: What is an epistle? What are the epistles in the Bible?
3. Benjamin L. Merkle: Introduction to the Epistles and Revelation 
4. NET Bible Study Dictionary: Epistle

Related terms:

• biblical hermeneutics
• exegesis
• literary genres of the Bible
• mirror reading

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.