Stephen C. Carlson at Hypotyposeis has a post in which he mentions a website with an interesting definition of “The Gospels.”
The website is called the Jargon Database. The purpose of this site is to define words that have become technical jargon. Under the Religious – General category, Jargon Database has the following definition for “The Gospels”:
The first five books of the bible, this term is originally of Greek origin for Good News.
The last time I looked, the first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And they were called The Pentateuch, not The Gospels.
Talk about Biblical illiteracy.
Stephen C. Carlson was right when he wrote: “Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Web.”
Tags: Biblical Illiteracy, Gospels, Jargon Database, Pentateuch
>Claude,As memory serves, there are only four Biblical Gospels as well.-JAK
LikeLike
>Justin,You have a good memory. Maybe whoever wrote that definition of the gospel was thinking of the 5th gospel, the book of Revelation.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>Now that is funny.
LikeLike
>Marcus,It may be funny (and I agree) but it is also sad because it shows that someone who is trying to explain the Bible to others does not know the Bible himself.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
>I'm sorry to contradict you, but I have seen copies of "The Five Gospels", and "the Gospel of Thomas" is the fifth one in that.And, of course, anything "in print" MUST be true. Even if two "books" completely contradict each other.Chuck Grantham
LikeLike
>Chuck,Thank you for this reference to "The Five Gospels." I was not familiar with that one.There are a lot of people who want to include the Gospel of Thomas as the fifth gospel. A few months back, the Science Channel wanted to add "The Gospel of Judas" to the list.Claude Mariottini
LikeLike
Pingback: Sunday School and the Problem of Biblical Illiteracy | Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament