Our word "Gospel" comes from the Old English: gōd spell which means "good tidings." This was a direct translation (in it's day) for the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion): good message... the good news!
Naturally, the vast majority of English Bibles translate euangelion as either good news or gospel. But what does euangelion really mean? Does it really do the concept of euangelion justice to simply translate it literally as good news?
The reason why I bring this up is because recent scholarship (the last few decades) has been revealing that there is a depth of meaning behind euangelion that can't be captured by a literal translation. As more and more manuscripts are discovered that are also written in Koine Greek we can get more context for how certain words are used. It has become clear that the word euangelion is used most frequently in a very specific context: announcements to the citizens of the empire concerning royalty, specifically birth and coronation proclamations.
"The word euangelion was not invented by the Gospel writers... It referred to an announcement of 'glad tidings' regarding a birthday, rise to power, or decree of the emperor that was to herald the fulfillment of hopes for peace and wellbeing in all the world" (Mounce's CEDONTW).
"The idea of good news... had two principle meanings for first-century Jews. First, with its roots in Isaiah, it meant the news of YHWH's long-awaited victory over evil and rescue of His people. Second, it was used in the Roman world for the accession, or birthday, of the Emperor" (NT Wright's glossary in his "for Everyone" series).
So euangelion is not just, "Hey, honey, I've got some good news. I got a raise at work..."
No! Euangelion is all about, "GOOD NEWS!! An heir; a SON has been born to the emperor!" or "GOOD NEWS!! The reign of the new King has just begun! It's the beginning of a new era!"
On top of this, it is of note that in the Gospel of Mark the word euangelion is used 7 times (for those of you unfamiliar with the significance of numbers in the Bible please read: this). Couple this with the fact that the passion narrative in Mark's gospel is "arranged according to the coronation ceremonies of the Roman Emperor" (Velvet Elvis, 64) and I think we are running into a pretty significant theme.
The reason why I bring this up is because I think a lot of Christians are under the impression that the gospel is about personal salvation... but maybe it's not!
Over the next few weeks I'll be developing this line of thought (and it's implications) a bit more.
In the meantime:
What do you think?
How is this similar or different from what you think the Gospel is?
What implications do you see when you encounter this alternative definition of euangelion?
4 comments:
Hey, have you read "What is the gospel?" by Greg Gilbert? It's another one I want to get. Don't know if it's about a similar concept to this or not, though, just thought it looked interesting.
Arlana
It seems to me, looking at the various passages where the word gospel is used, that what you say basically makes sense. The gospel seems to be the truth about Jesus: his birth (incarnation), his life, and particularly his death, resurrection and assention. The "good news" is that the Messiah did actually come which would fit the birth concept. And also that he was glorified, or given authority to judge etc, at the resurrection, right? So kind of like the "crowned" thing.
But it also says that we have reconcilition with God because of his death and that we have the hope of resurrection because he is the first born from among the dead, and all that... so if the gospel is the truth about the life, work and nature of Jesus (which seems to fit with passages like 1 Cor 15 - his work, and 2 Cor 4:4 - his nature) then the "good news" may not be that salvation is available to us, but it is BECAUSE of the "good news" about Jesus that salvation is available to us. So I think they are very much linked. I mean, it's "the gospel of Jesus Christ" and the "gospel of the glory of Chirst", but it is also the "gospel of God's grace" and the "gospel of your salvation", right? I am interested to see what else you find on this.
Arlana
I was thinking about it some more last night, and I think Mark's introduction to his book also indicates that he saw the "gospel" as simply the truth about Jesus, basically the story of Jesus.
Arlana
Thanks, Arlana.
No I haven't read that Gilbert book so I can't speak to his angle on things.
I would totally agree that Gospel and Salvation are closely linked. But we can't blur the two in our thinking... maybe like a car (Gospel) and the engine (Salvation) of a car. The car includes an engine; but the engine is not the car... I dunno, it was just an illustration that popped into my head. It kinda works but don't take it too far.
Anyway, over the next few posts I'm going to "test-drive" this alternate definition to see if it works consistently. Basically, my thesis is that what the Gospel is referring to is THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS.
So, for example, in Mark 1:1 when it says "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" what does this mean? Is he really saying in the first sentence of his book "This is the beginning of my book/story about Jesus..."? That's kind of a given and doesn't really require an announcement.
However, what if he's saying "This is the beginning of the announcement of Jesus' Lordship"? Mark then launches off into the Baptism of Jesus. That makes more sense to me. The Lordship of the Christ began (along with His Kingdom) upon God's blessing of Him (1:11) and the inauguration of His ministry...
This is a bit of an experiment: I'm going do defend this line of thought as best I can to see if it 'holds water'.
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