The four New Testament accounts of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The Gospels are the four New Testament accounts of Jesus Christ — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are the foundational documents of Christianity, recording Jesus's life, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection. The four Gospels were not written immediately after Jesus's life. They were composed between approximately 65 and 95 AD by authors who had either witnessed the events or had access to those who had. The earliest is Mark (c. 65-70 AD), Matthew and Luke followed (c. 75-85 AD), and John was last (c. 90-95 AD). The first three (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are called the 'Synoptic Gospels' because they share so much material in common and present Jesus's life from similar angles. John, written later and from a more theological angle, contains different material — long discourses, the famous 'I AM' statements, deeper theological reflection. Each Gospel has its own emphasis and audience. Matthew, addressing primarily Jewish readers, emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and the new Moses. Mark, the shortest and most action-packed, presents Jesus as the suffering Son of God who came to give his life as a ransom for many. Luke, written for Gentile readers, emphasizes Jesus's compassion for the poor, outcast, and marginalized. John, the deepest theologically, presents Jesus as the eternal Word who became flesh — the Son of God whose signs reveal his divine identity. Together the four Gospels provide what no single Gospel alone could: four complementary portraits of the same person. They are not biographies in the modern sense (they include almost nothing of Jesus's childhood and skip his physical appearance entirely) but theological narratives — telling the story of Jesus in a way that calls readers to believe in him.
The four Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are the New Testament's accounts of Jesus Christ's life, teaching, miracles, death, and resurrection. The first three (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are called the Synoptic Gospels because they share much material in common. John, written later and from a different theological angle, has distinct material including the seven 'I AM' statements.
Christian tradition identifies the authors as: (1) Matthew — the apostle and former tax collector; (2) Mark — companion of Peter, traditionally writing Peter's preaching; (3) Luke — Gentile physician and companion of Paul; (4) John — the apostle, son of Zebedee. Modern scholarship has questioned some of these traditional attributions but the church's identification has been remarkably stable since the 2nd century.
The four Gospels provide four complementary portraits of Jesus from different angles. Matthew emphasizes Jesus as fulfillment of Jewish messianic prophecy. Mark presents Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Luke emphasizes Jesus's compassion for the marginalized. John highlights Jesus's divine identity. Together they offer a fuller picture than any single account could. The early church recognized this — Irenaeus (2nd century) defended the four-Gospel canon as essential.
The Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The word 'synoptic' comes from Greek meaning 'seeing together' — these three Gospels share so much material in common that they can be read in parallel columns. Scholars generally agree Mark was written first, and Matthew and Luke both used Mark as a source, supplemented by additional material (including a hypothetical 'Q' source). John, written later and from a different angle, is not a synoptic Gospel.