What is gospel definition and bible. Holy Scripture: How is the Gospel different from the Bible? Introduction to the Books of the New Testament

Bible- this book, which became the basis of several world religions, such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Scripture passages have been translated into 2,062 languages, representing 95 percent of the world's languages, with 337 languages ​​that can be read in their entirety.

The Bible has influenced lifestyle and worldview of people from all continents. And it doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not, but as an educated person, you should know what a book is, on the texts of which the laws of morality and philanthropy are based.

The word Bible itself is translated from ancient Greek as "books" and is a collection of texts by various authors written in different languages and at different times with the assistance of the Spirit of God and at His suggestion. These writings formed the basis of the dogma of many religions and are mostly considered canonical. More:

Word " gospel' means 'gospel'. The gospel texts describe the life of Jesus Christ on earth, his deeds and teachings, His crucifixion and resurrection. The gospel is part of the Bible, or rather the New Testament.

Structure

The Bible is made up of Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament includes 50 scriptures, of which only 38 Orthodox Church recognizes as divinely inspired, that is, canonical. Among the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are four Gospels, 21 Apostolic Epistles and the Acts of the Holy Apostles.

The gospel consists of four canonical texts, with the gospel of Mark, Matthew and Luke called synoptic, and the fourth gospel of John was written somewhat later and is fundamentally different from the others, but there is an assumption that it was based on an even more ancient text.

Writing language

The Bible was written by different people for more than 1600 years, and, therefore, it combines texts in different languages. The Old Testament is predominantly written in Hebrew, but there are also writings in Aramaic. The New Testament was written primarily in ancient Greek.

The gospel is written in Greek. However, one should not confuse that Greek not only with the modern language, but also with the one in which the best works of antiquity were written. This language was close to the ancient Attic dialect and was called the "Koine dialect".

Time of writing

In fact, today it is difficult to define not only a decade, but also a century of writing the Holy Books.

So the earliest gospel manuscripts date back to the second or third centuries CE, but there is evidence that the evangelists whose names appear under the texts lived in the first century. There is no evidence that the manuscripts were written at this time, except for a few quotations in texts dating from the end of the first - the beginning of the second centuries.

With the Bible, the question is simpler. It is believed that the Old Testament was written in the period from 1513 BC to 443 BC, and the New Testament from 41 AD to 98 AD. Thus, it took not only one year or a decade, but more than one and a half thousand years to write this great book.

Authorship

A believer, without hesitation, will answer that "The Bible is the word of God." It turns out that the author is the Lord God himself. Then where in the composition of the Bible, say, the Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Job? It turns out the author is not alone? It is assumed that the Bible was written by ordinary people: philosophers, tillers, soldiers and shepherds, doctors and even kings. But these people had a special divine inspiration. They did not express their own thoughts, but simply held a pencil in their hands, while the Lord moved their hand. And yet, each text has its own writing style, it feels like they belong different people. Undoubtedly, they can be called authors, but still they had God himself as co-authors.

The authorship of the Gospel for a long time no one doubted. It was believed that the texts were written by four Evangelists, whose names are known to everyone: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In fact, it is impossible to name them with full certainty as their authors. It is only known for certain that all the actions described in these texts did not take place with the personal testimony of the evangelists. Most likely, this is a collection of the so-called " oral art told by people whose names will forever remain a mystery. This is not the final point of view. Research in this area is ongoing, but today many clergy have chosen to still tell the parishioners that the gospel was written by unknown authors.

Differences between the Bible and the Gospel

  1. The gospel is an integral part of the Bible, refers to the texts of the New Testament.
  2. The Bible is an earlier writing, begun in the 15th century BC and stretching over 1600 years.
  3. The gospel describes only the life of Jesus Christ on earth and His ascension to heaven, the Bible also tells about the creation of the world, about the participation of the Lord God in the life of the Jews, teaches us to take responsibility for each of our actions, etc.
  4. The Bible includes texts in different languages. The gospel is written in ancient Greek.
  5. The authors of the Bible are considered to be divinely inspired ordinary people, the authorship of the Gospel is controversial, although not so long ago it was attributed to four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. More:

ACCORDING TO THE MATERIALS OF THE ORTHODOX PRESS

The gospel is part of the Bible. The Bible is a biography of the peoples from which Christ later came. The gospel is the life story of one man, Christ. The Bible has a complex composition, it is divided into the Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament describes the time from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ. The New Testament, the gospel itself (good news) - from the birth of Christ to Revelation, given by Christ through John (including the Apocalypse) and consists of several books by different authors. The main biographers of the life and deeds of Christ are 4 authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. There are others, including the mythical one from Judas, but all of them, except for these 4 included in the Bible, were recognized ...

21. What is Holy Scripture? Sacred Scripture is a collection of sacred books that are part of the Bible, which are written by inspiration from the Holy Spirit by the prophets (Old Testament) and the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy apostles (New Testament). The Bible is a Greek word, translated meaning "books" (). 21.2. What are the Old and New Testaments? The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. All the time from the creation of the world to the coming of the Savior to earth is called the Old Testament, that is, the ancient (old) agreement or union of God with people, according to which God prepared people to receive the promised Savior. People had to remember the promise (promise) of God, believe and expect the coming of Christ.

The fulfillment of this promise - the coming to earth of the Savior - the Only Begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is called the New Testament, since Jesus Christ, having appeared on earth, having conquered sin and death, concluded a new alliance or agreement with people, according to which everyone can again ...

A person who comes to the Christian faith, first of all, asks the question, what is the Gospel? Part of the Bible or a separate sacred text? On the whole, questions concerning the Gospel have excited and continue to excite the minds of not only ordinary Christians, but also priests. Let's try to figure out what the gospel is. This will help avoid mistakes and misunderstandings. Holy Scripture in future.

General information

Many sources interpret the gospel in different ways and give different answers to the question of what the word gospel means.

So, most often it is indicated that the Gospel is an early Christian scripture that tells about the life and deeds of Christ. Conventionally, the Gospel can be divided into canonical and apocryphal. When people talk about the canonical Gospel, they mean that it is recognized by the church and included in the New Testament. His creation is attributed to the apostles and is not questioned. These writings are the foundation of the Christian cult. There are four in total…

The Bible is the book that has become the basis of several world religions such as Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Scripture passages have been translated into 2,062 languages, representing 95 percent of the world's languages, with 337 languages ​​that can be read in their entirety.
The Bible has influenced the way of life and worldview of people from all continents. And it doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not, but as an educated person, you should know what a book is, on the texts of which the laws of morality and philanthropy are based.
The word Bible itself is translated from ancient Greek as “books” and is a collection of texts by different authors written in different languages ​​and at different times with the assistance of the Spirit of God and at His suggestion. These writings formed the basis of the dogmatics of many religions and for the most part are considered canonical.
The word "gospel" means "gospel". The gospel texts describe the life of Jesus Christ on earth, his deeds and teachings, His crucifixion and ...

Bible, Gospel, Orthodoxy, Church, prejudice

Who collected in one book - the Bible - all its constituent parts?

A very important and timely question. The history of the Old and New Testaments is different, but there is enough in common between them that allows us to answer the question in one word: the Church.

By the time of the Savior, the Jews had developed a set of sacred books (“Tanakh” - the Law, Prophets, Scriptures), which was adopted without change Christian Church, which was confirmed by local and ecumenical councils. It includes 50 Old Testament books that you will find today in all editions of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church.

However, Jewish rabbis already in the II century after R.Kh. reduced their canon of sacred books, leaving only the most ancient in it. The brightest prophecies about Christ the Savior and many other treasures of spiritual wisdom were excluded. Unfortunately, the Protestants, in the course of disputes with Rome, decided to rely on the authority of the rabbis. As a result…

Let's start with the fact that the New Testament is a smaller part of the Bible, but it is the part that is especially revered by Orthodox Christians and selectively by representatives of other religious denominations. The Gospel (more precisely, the Four Gospels) is the first part of the New Testament, which includes separate Gospels (the names of the whole and parts in this case practically coincide), namely: from Mark, from Matthew, from Luke and from John. Differing in particulars, in small details, they converge on one thing, in the main thing: they confirm the fact of earthly ministry, martyrdom and the miraculous resurrection of the Son of God - Jesus Christ. The term "Gospel" itself is translated into Russian as "good news". The meaning of the New Testament is wider - it is also the book "Acts of the Apostles", and the epistles of the Apostle Paul, and, finally, the book "The Revelation of John the Theologian, or the Apocalypse". These books expand and clarify the content of the Gospels. Sometimes the Four Gospels are printed separately ...

1. The main, cardinal differences, from the point of view of the Bible, between religions and the Gospel:

1. In all religions, a person tries to reach God on his own, but none of the seekers can testify: "I have found personal contact with God, peace in my heart, my sins are forgiven, I feel that I will live forever." In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, God Himself speaks to us. Like a bridge, He throws the cross over the abyss of sin and gives us salvation. Whoever accepts it can testify: "For I am sure that neither death nor life ... can separate us from the love of God" (Rom. 8:38-39).

2. Prophetic announcements about the Savior in the Old Testament (eg Gen. 3:15; Numbers 24:17; Is. 11:1-2; Is. 7:14) are fulfilled literally. In no other religion is there such a fulfillment of the proclaimed prophecies.

3. God condemned all religions as idolatry and magic (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:8). Whoever does this is under God's condemnation: "A deceived heart brought him in. . . .

Any educated person should know how the Gospel differs from the Bible, even if he is not. The Bible, or as it is also called the “book of books”, has had an undeniable impact on the worldview of thousands of people around the world, leaving no one indifferent. It contains a large layer of basic knowledge that is reflected in art, culture and literature, as well as in other areas of society. It is difficult to overestimate its significance, but it is important to draw a line between the Bible and the Gospel.

The Bible: Main Content and Structure

The word "Bible" is translated from ancient Greek as "books". This is a collection of texts dedicated to the biography of the Jewish people, whose descendant was Jesus Christ. It is known that the Bible was written by several authors, but their names are unknown. It is believed that the creation of these stories happened according to God's will and admonition. Thus, the Bible can be viewed from two angles:

  1. Like a literary text. This is a large number of stories of different genres, united by a common theme and style. Bible stories then used as the basis for their works by writers and poets of many countries.
  2. Like Holy Scripture, which tells about miracles and the power of God's will. It is also evidence that God the Father really exists.

The Bible has become the basis of several religions and denominations. Compositionally, the Bible is built from two parts: the Old and New Testaments. The first created a description of the period of the creation of the whole world and before the birth of Jesus Christ. In the new earthly life, miracles and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Orthodox Bible includes 77 books, the Protestant - 66. These books have been translated into more than 2,500 languages ​​of the world.

This Holy Scripture of the New Testament has many names: the New Testament, the Holy Books, the Four Gospels. It was created by St. Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In total, the Gospel includes 27 books.

"Gospel" is translated from ancient Greek as "good news" or "good news". It talks about greatest event- the birth of Jesus Christ, his earthly life, miracles, martyrdom and resurrection. The main message of this scripture is to explain the teachings of Christ, the commandments of the righteous Christian life and bring the message that death has been conquered and people saved at the cost of the life of Jesus.

A distinction must be made between the Gospel and the New Testament. In addition to the Gospel, the New Testament also includes the "Apostle", who tells about the deeds of the holy apostles and conveys their instructions for the life of ordinary believers. In addition to them, the New Testament includes 21 books of Epistles and the Apocalypse. From the point of view of theology, the gospel is considered the most important and fundamental part.

Holy Scripture, be it the Gospel or the Bible, has great importance for the formation of spiritual life and growth in the Orthodox faith. These are not just unique artistic texts, without knowledge of which it will be difficult in life, but an opportunity to touch the mystery of Holy Scripture. However, to know how the Gospel differs from the Bible, modern man not enough. It will be useful to familiarize yourself with the text itself in order to obtain the necessary information and eliminate gaps in knowledge.

Perhaps there are very few people in the civilized world who do not know about the existence of the Bible and the Gospel. But the whole paradox lies in the fact that at the same time, very few people have a firm idea of ​​what, in fact, is the difference between the Bible and the Gospel.

Some believe that these names of sacred books are identical, others, on the contrary, think that they are not related to each other and exist on their own. It should be noted that both of these opinions do not correspond to the actual state of affairs. We will talk about the difference between the Bible and the Gospel in reality today.

The meaning of the word "bible"

To understand what is the difference between the Bible and the Gospel, let's take a look at what each of these concepts separately represents. What is the meaning of the word "bible"? In translation from it means the word "book" in the plural. The latter comes from the name of the writing material, which was distributed first in Egypt, and then throughout ancient world. It also had a Latin name - "papyrus", which is better known to us. The Greeks called it "biblios", as it was produced in the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos, on the Mediterranean coast.

The Bible is God's revelation

Studying the question of the difference between the Bible and the Gospel, let us briefly consider what the essence of Holy Scripture is. At its core, the Bible is a collection of a number of texts that are revered as sacred by both Jews and Christians, which is why it is also called Holy Scripture. It should be noted that the latter concept in Judaism and Christianity is different. In Judaism, it is also called the Jewish Bible, and for Christians it is the Old Testament, as well as the New, one of the parts of which is the Gospel.

At the same time, the Old Testament contains the Tanakh and other sacred texts. Here it would be appropriate to talk about such a concept as "canon" (rule, norm). Based on it, Jews and Christians, as well as various Christian denominations, include certain books in the Bible. Based on this, we will consider the differences between the Bible and the Gospel in Orthodoxy. The latter, the entire text of the Bible, which is canonical, considers it a revelation of God, calling it divinely inspired. This means that it was written under the most direct influence of the Holy Spirit, therefore it serves as the primary source and rule of faith.

The Bible is the most published book

Ancient Greek manuscripts containing the full text of the Bible date back to the 4th century AD. The Tanakh manuscripts that have come down to us, dated to the 10th century, are written in Hebrew and Aramaic. But there is also the Vatican Codex (4th century), which includes the Septuagint - a translation into ancient Greek of the Old Testament.

The Bible is the most published book in human history today. Its average annual sales are approximately 100 million copies. The Bible has a huge impact on literature, history, art, and culture in general.

First revelation

As mentioned above, the Old Testament is the first, most ancient part of the Bible. All Christians borrowed it from the Tanakh, and the Orthodox also borrowed it from other religious Jewish scriptures.

The books included in the Tanakh were written from the 13th to the 5th century BC. Their main language is Hebrew, with the exception of some parts included in the books of Ezra and Daniel (they are written in Aramaic). As for the rest of the books that make up the Old Testament, the time of their creation is the last 4 centuries BC. e., and the language is part Hebrew, part Greek. In the future, everything that was written in Hebrew was translated into Ancient Greek.

From the point of view of Christians, the Old Testament is the first of three revelations, which is a preliminary announcement of the divine will to people, as well as God's revelation of himself to mankind.

Structure of the Old Testament

To better understand the difference between the Bible and the Gospel, consider the content of the main part of the Old Testament - the Tanakh, which consists of 39 books. It includes:

  1. Pentateuch, or Torah. It covers events from the act of creating the world and man to the moment the Jews came to Moab. It also describes how the fall into sin occurred, how Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, it is said about global flood, Noah's ark, life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph in Egypt. This part ends with the division of Israel into 12 tribes.
  2. Prophets. It tells of the period beginning with the conquest of Canaan and ending with the division of the kingdom of Israel. It is described how the tribes of Israel are settled, a kingdom is created, David and Solomon rule, Jerusalem is laid, the first temple is built, two kingdoms are formed (Judea and Israel).
  3. Scriptures. They cover the period from the division of the kingdoms to the construction of the second temple. They include a description of the Babylonian captivity, the destruction of the first temple, the construction of the second, events from the life of Queen Esther, the writings of the prophet Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah.

The authors of the Old Testament are several people who lived and wrote in different centuries. Most of the books, as the story tells, had specific authors, whose names these books are named. However, some modern researchers are of the opinion that the overwhelming majority of the books of the Old Testament were created by anonymous authors.

New Testament - the main revelation

Trying to understand the difference between the Bible and the Gospel, let's move on to consider the structure of the New Testament. As Christians believe, the New Testament is the main revelation of oneself and one's will to humanity by the Most High. The NT contains 27 books written in ancient Greek.

There is such an option for dividing the books of this part of the Holy Scriptures:

  1. The Law Books are the four Gospels attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
  2. Historical - Acts of the Holy Apostles.
  3. Teaching, which includes 7 cathedral Peter, John, Jude, James) and 14 epistles written by the Apostle Paul.
  4. Prophetic - Revelation of John the Theologian.

After considering the content of the New Testament, the difference between the Bible and the Gospel becomes easily understandable. To consolidate this understanding, let us turn directly to the Gospel itself.

good news

In Greek, "gospel" means "good news". IN broad sense the essence of this message is that Jesus Christ and the apostles proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God and the salvation of the human race. In a narrow sense, the Gospel is a story about the birth of the Son of God, his earthly ministry, resurrection and ascension to heaven.

By the 2nd century A.D. e. these narratives took the form of the four canonical books of the above authors, called the evangelists. In addition to describing the life of Jesus, they contain his sermons, parables and teachings. At the same time, each of the authors in his Gospel paid special attention to precisely those moments in the life of Christ that seemed to him the most important.

Thus, we have come to the final conclusion about the difference between the Bible and the Gospel, which is based on the understanding that the second is an integral part of the Holy Scripture - the Bible.

holy book Christian religion, a record of God's revelations to man received over many millennia. This is a book of divine instructions. She gives us peace in grief, a solution life problems, condemnation of sin, and spiritual maturity, so necessary to overcome our worries.

The Bible cannot be called one book. It is a whole collection of books, a library, written under the guidance of God by people who lived in different ages. The Bible has history, philosophy, and science. It also includes poetry and drama, biographical information, and prophecy. Reading the Bible Gives Us Inspiration It is no surprise that the Bible, in whole or in part, has been translated into more than 1,200 languages. Every year, the number of copies of the Bible sold worldwide exceeds the number of copies sold of any other book.

The Bible truthfully answers the questions that have worried people from time immemorial "How did man appear?"; "What happens to people after death?"; "Why are we here on earth?"; "Can we know the meaning and meaning of life?" Only the Bible reveals the truth about God, shows the way to eternal life and explains the eternal problems of sin and suffering.

The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament, which tells about the participation of God in life Jewish people before the coming of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament, which gives information about the life and teachings of Christ in all His truth and beauty.

(Greek - "good news") - the biography of Jesus Christ; books revered as sacred in Christianity that tell about the divine nature of Jesus Christ, his birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension.

The translation of the Bible into Russian was started by the Russian Bible Society by the Highest order of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander I in 1816, resumed by the Highest permission of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander II in 1858, completed and published with the blessing of the Holy Synod in 1876. This edition contains the text Synodal translation of 1876, re-checked with the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and the Greek text of the New Testament.

The commentary on the Old and New Testaments and the appendix "The Holy Land in the Time of Our Lord Jesus Christ" are reprinted from the Bible published by the Brussels publishing house "Life with God" (1989).

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Listen mp3 Gospel of John

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
2 as it is written in the prophets: Behold, I am sending my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths.
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins....

1 Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.
2 Abraham begat Isaac; Isaac begat Jacob; Jacob begat Judah and his brothers;
3 Judah begat Perez and Zerah by Tamar; Perez begat Esrom; Esrom begat Aram;
4 Aram begat Aminadab; Aminadab begat Nahshon; Nahshon begat Salmon;...

  1. As many have already begun to compose narratives about events that are completely known between us,
  2. as those who from the very beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word told us,
  3. then I also decided, after a careful study of everything from the beginning, to describe to you in order, venerable Theophilus,
  4. so that you may know the solid foundation of the doctrine in which you have been instructed....
Evangelist Luke

Introduction to the Books of the New Testament

The Scriptures of the New Testament were written in Greek, with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew, which is said to have been written in Hebrew or Aramaic. But since this Hebrew text has not survived, the Greek text is considered the original for the Gospel of Matthew. Thus, only the Greek text of the New Testament is the original, and numerous editions in various modern languages all over the world are translations from the Greek original. The Greek language in which the New Testament was written was no longer the classical ancient Greek language and was not, as previously thought, a special New Testament language. This is a spoken everyday language of the 1st century. according to P. X., which has spread throughout the world and is known in science under the name "common dialect", nevertheless, both the style and turns of speech, and the way of thinking of the sacred writers of the New Testament reveal Hebrew or Aramaic influence.

The original text of the New Testament has come down to us in a large number of ancient manuscripts, more or less complete, numbering about 5000 (from the 2nd to the 16th centuries). Before recent years the most ancient of them did not ascend further than the 4th century BC. by P. X. But for Lately many fragments of ancient manuscripts of the New Testament on papyrus (3rd and even 2nd century) were discovered. For example, Bodmer's manuscripts: Jn, Lk, 1 and 2 Pet, Jude - were found and published in the bos of the 20th century. In addition to Greek manuscripts, we have ancient translations or versions in Latin, Syriac, Coptic and other languages ​​(Vetus Itala, Peshitto, Vulgata, etc.), of which the oldest existed already from the 2nd century to P.X.

Finally, numerous quotations from the Church Fathers in Greek and other languages ​​have been preserved in such quantity that if the text of the New Testament were lost and all ancient manuscripts were destroyed, then specialists could restore this text from quotations from the works of the Holy Fathers. All this abundant material makes it possible to check and refine the text of the New Testament and to classify its various forms (the so-called textual criticism). Compared with any ancient author (Homer, Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Cornelius Nepos, Julius Caesar, Horace, Virgil, etc.), our modern - printed - Greek text of the New Testament is in an exceptionally favorable position. And by the number of manuscripts, and by a short time. separating the most ancient of them from the original, and by the number of translations, and by their antiquity, and by the seriousness and volume of the work carried out over the text critical works it surpasses all other texts (for details, see: "The Hidden Treasures and new life", Archaeological Discoveries and the Gospel, Bruges, 1959, p. 34 f.).

The text of the New Testament as a whole is fixed absolutely irrefutably.

The New Testament consists of 27 books. They are subdivided into 260 chapters of unequal length by the publishers for ease of reference and quotation. The original text does not contain this division. The modern division into chapters in the New Testament, as in the whole Bible, has often been ascribed to the Dominican Cardinal Hugh (1263), who worked it out in composing a symphony to the Latin Vulgate, but it is now thought with great reason that the division goes back to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, who died in 1228. As for the division into verses now accepted in all editions of the New Testament, it goes back to the publisher of the Greek New Testament text, Robert Stephen, and was introduced by him into his edition in 1551.

The sacred books of the New Testament are usually divided into law-positive (Four Gospels), historical (Acts of the Apostles), teaching (seven conciliar epistles and the seventeen epistles of the Apostle Paul) and prophetic: the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John the Theologian (see Metropolitan Philatera's Long Catechism)

However, modern experts consider this distribution outdated: in fact, all the books of the New Testament are both law-positive and historical teaching, and there is prophecy not only in the Apocalypse. New Testament scholarship pays great attention to establishing the exact chronology of the gospels and other New Testament events. Scientific chronology allows the reader to trace with sufficient accuracy the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the original Church according to the New Testament (see Appendixes).

The books of the New Testament can be distributed as follows.

  • Three so-called Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and separately, the fourth - the Gospel of John. New Testament scholarship devotes much attention to the study of the relationship of the first three Gospels and their relation to the Gospel of John (the synoptic problem).
  • The book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul ("Corpus Paulinum"), which are usually divided into:
    - Early Epistles: 1 and 2 to the Thessalonians;
    - Great Epistles: to the Galatians, 1 and 2 to the Corinthians, to the Romans;
    - Messages from bonds, i.e., written from Rome, where ap. Paul was in prison: to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Ephesians, to Philemon;
    - Pastoral Epistles: 1 to Timothy, to Titus, 2 to Timothy;
    - Epistle to the Hebrews;
  • Catholic Epistles ("Corpus Catholicum")
  • Revelation of John the Evangelist. (Sometimes in the New Testament they single out "Corpus Joannicum", i.e., everything that the Apostle John wrote for a comparative study of his Gospel in connection with his epistles and Revelation)

four gospel

  1. The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news". This is how our Lord Jesus Christ Himself called his teaching (Matthew 24:14; 26:13; Mark 1:15; 13:10; 19:; 16:15). Therefore, for us, the "gospel" is inextricably linked with Him: it is the "good news" of salvation given to the world through the incarnate Son of God. Christ and His apostles preached the gospel without writing it down. By the middle of the 1st century, this sermon was fixed by the Church in a persistent oral tradition. The Eastern custom of memorizing sayings, stories, and even large texts helped the Christians of the apostolic age to accurately preserve the unwritten First Gospel. After the 1950s, when eyewitnesses to Christ's earthly ministry began to pass away one by one, the need arose to record the gospel (Luke 1:1). Thus, the "gospel" began to denote the narration of the teachings of the Savior recorded by the apostles. It was read at prayer meetings and in preparing people for baptism.
  2. The most important Christian centers of the 1st c. (Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Ephesus, etc.) had their own gospels. Of these, only four (Mt, Mk, Lk, Jn) are recognized by the Church as inspired by God, that is, written under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. They are called "from Matthew", "from Mark", etc. (the Greek kata corresponds to the Russian "according to Matthew", "according to Mark", etc.), because the life and teachings of Christ are set forth in these books by these four priests. Their gospels were not brought together in one book, which made it possible to see gospel story from various points of view. In the II century. St. Irenaeus of Lyon calls the evangelists by name and points to their gospels as the only canonical ones (Against Heresies, 2, 28, 2). A contemporary of St. Irenaeus Tatian made the first attempt to create a single gospel narrative, composed of various texts of the four gospels, the Diatessaron, i.e., the gospel of the four.
  3. The apostles did not set themselves the goal of creating a historical work in modern sense this word. They sought to spread the teachings of Jesus Christ, helped people to believe in Him, correctly understand and fulfill His commandments. The testimonies of the evangelists do not coincide in all details, which proves their independence from each other: the testimonies of eyewitnesses are always individual in color. The Holy Spirit does not certify the accuracy of the details of the facts described in the gospel, but the spiritual meaning contained in them.
    The minor contradictions encountered in the presentation of the evangelists are explained by the fact that God gave the clergymen complete freedom in conveying certain specific facts in relation to different categories of listeners, which further emphasizes the unity of meaning and direction of all four gospels.

New Testament books

  • Gospel of Matthew
  • Gospel of Mark
  • Gospel of Luke
  • Gospel of John

Acts of the Holy Apostles

Cathedral Messages

  • The Epistle of James
  • First Epistle of Peter
  • Second Epistle of Peter
  • First Epistle of John
  • Second Epistle of John
  • Third Epistle of John
  • The Epistle of Jude

The Epistles of the Apostle Paul

  • Epistle to the Romans
  • First Epistle to the Corinthians
  • Second Epistle to the Corinthians
  • Epistle to the Galatians
  • Epistle to the Ephesians
  • Epistle to the Philippians
  • Epistle to the Colossians
  • First Epistle to the Thessalonians
  • Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
  • First Epistle to Timothy
  • Second Epistle to Timothy
  • Epistle to Titus
  • Epistle to Philemon
  • Hebrews
Revelation of John the Evangelist

Bible. Gospel. New Testament. Download Bible. Download Gospel of: Luke, Mark, Matthew, John. Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse). Acts of the Apostles. Epistle of the Apostles. Download format: fb2, doc, docx, pdf, lit, isilo.pdb, rb

How to Study the Bible

Suggested Tips to Help Make Your Bible Study More Fruitful
  1. Read the Bible daily, in a quiet and peaceful place where no one disturbs you. daily reading even if you don't read much every day, it's more beneficial than any occasional reading You can start with 15 minutes a day and then gradually increase the time allotted for Bible reading
  2. Set a goal to know God better and achieve deep love for God in your fellowship with Him. God speaks to us through His Word, and we speak to Him in prayer.
  3. Begin your Bible reading with a prayer Ask God to reveal Himself and His will to you Confess to Him sins that may hinder your approach to God.
  4. Take brief notes as you read the Bible Write your comments in a notebook or keep a spiritual diary to record your thoughts and inner feelings
  5. Read one chapter slowly, maybe two or three chapters You can only read one paragraph, but be sure to reread at least once everything that you have read before in one sitting
  6. As a rule, it is very useful in understanding the true meaning of a particular chapter or paragraph to give written answers to the following questions: a What is the main idea of ​​the read text? What is its meaning?
  7. Which verse of the text expresses the main idea? (Such “key verses” should be memorized by reading them aloud several times Knowing the verses by heart will allow you to meditate on important spiritual truths during the day, for example, when you are standing in line or riding in public transport, etc. Is there a promise I can claim to keep? d How can I benefit from accepting the truth in the text? Avoid general and vague statements Try to be as clear and specific as possible In your notebook, write how and when you will use the teaching of this or that paragraph or chapter in your life)
  8. End with prayer Ask God to give you the inner spiritual strength to draw closer to Him this day Keep talking to God throughout the day His presence will help you be strong in any situation