The four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. (For the gospel [message] use `the-gospel` tag.) Includes narratives unique to one gospel or shared between gospels.
See also: mark, matthew, luke, john, and (for questions applying to the first three) synoptics.
Disambiguation: for questions related to the gospel message itself, use the-gospel tag.
"Gospel" as a genre of literature came into being sometime between the mid-first century and the mid-second century, and the four books of the New Testament that relate Jesus' ministry, passion, and resurrection are catalogued in this genre.
The first three Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are known as the Synoptic Gospels ("seen together") as they overlap considerably in content, order, and often exact wording.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were listed together by Irenaeus of Lyons (writing circa AD 180) as the only Gospels that were accepted by the church, and are the only Gospels that were generally accepted as canonical in the 4th century (Easter letter of Athanasius in 367, Synod of Hippo, Council of Carthage).
Many other Gospels were written in later years and are not considered canonical by Christians. This tag focuses on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
