A gospel (a contraction of Old English god spel, meaning 'good news/glad tidings', comparable to Greek εὐαγγέλιον, evangelion)^[1] is a written record of the teachings of Jesus, usually in the form of an account of his life and career.^[2] The term originally meant the Christian message itself, but came to be used for the books in which the message was set out^[3] in the 2nd century.

Gospels are a genre of ancient biography in Early Christian literature. The New Testament has four canonical gospels, which are accepted as the only authentic scripture by the great majority of Christians, but many others exist, or used to exist, and are called either New Testament apocrypha or pseudepigrapha. Some of these have left considerable traces on Christian traditions, including iconography.

Canonical gospels

• Synoptic gospels:
  • Gospel of Matthew
  • Gospel of Mark
  • Gospel of Luke
• Longer ending of Mark (see also the Freer Logion)
• Gospel of John

Hypothesized sources of the synoptic gospels

• Q source – Q is material common to Matthew and Luke, but not found in Mark
• M source – M is material unique to Matthew
• L source – L is material unique to Luke

Hypothesized sources of the Gospel of John

• Signs Gospel – narrative of the Seven Signs
• Discourses Gospel – source of the discourse material

Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha

Gnostic gospels

• Gospel of Thomas – The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical sayings gospel.
• Gospel of Marcion – 2nd century, potentially an edited version of the Gospel of Luke (see: Marcionism)
• Gospel of Basilides – composed in Egypt around 120 to 140 AD, thought to be a Gnostic gospel harmony of the canonical gospels
• Gospel of Truth (Valentinian) – mid-2nd century, departed from earlier Gnostic works by admitting and defending the physicality of Christ and his resurrection
• Gospel of the Four Heavenly Realms – mid-2nd century, thought to be a Gnostic cosmology, most likely in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples
• Gospel of Mary – 2nd century Gnostic text
• Gospel of Judas – 2nd century, documents Gnostic teachings in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and Judas
• Greek Gospel of the Egyptians – second quarter of the 2nd century
• Gospel of Philip – 3rd-century non-canonical sayings gospel
• Gospel of the Twelve Apostles – a Syriac language gospel titled the Gospel of the Twelve, this work is shorter than the regular gospels and seems to be different from the lost Gospel of the Twelve.^[4]
• Gospel of Perfection – 4th century, an Ophite poem that is only mentioned once by a single patristic source, Epiphanius,^[5] and is referred to once in the 6th century Syriac Infancy Gospel
• Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians – also called Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit

Jewish-Christian gospels

• Gospel of the Hebrews
• Gospel of the Nazarenes
• Gospel of the Ebionites
• Gospel of the Twelve

Infancy gospels

• Armenian Infancy Gospel^[6]
• Protoevangelium of James
• Libellus de Nativitate Sanctae Mariae (Gospel of the Nativity of Mary)
• Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
• History of Joseph the Carpenter
• Infancy Gospel of Thomas
• Latin Infancy Gospel (also known as the "J Composition")^[7]
• Syriac Infancy Gospel

Other gospels

• Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Coptic collection of 37 oracles; around 500 AD)^[8]

Partially preserved gospels

• Gospel of Peter

Fragmentary preserved gospels

Fragmentary gospels are those preserved from primary sources.

• Gospel of Eve – mentioned only once by Epiphanius around 400 AD, who preserves a single brief passage in quotation
• Gospel of Mani – 3rd century – attributed to the Persian Mani, the founder of Manichaeism
• Gospel of the Saviour (also known as the Unknown Berlin gospel) – highly fragmentary 6th century manuscript based on a late 2nd or early 3rd century original, a dialogue rather than a narrative, heavily Gnostic in character in that salvation is dependent upon possessing secret knowledge
• Coptic Gospel of the Twelve – late 2nd century Coptic language work – although often equated with the Gospel of the Ebionites, it appears to be an attempt to retell the Gospel of John in the pattern of the Synoptics; it quotes extensively from the Gospel of John.

Reconstructed gospels

Reconstructed gospels are those preserved from secondary sources and commentaries.

• Secret Gospel of Mark – suspect: the single source mentioning it is considered by many to be a modern forgery, and it was lost before it could be independently authenticated.
• Gospel of Matthias – a lost text from the New Testament apocrypha. The content has been surmised from descriptions in works by church fathers.

Lost gospels

• Gospel of Cerinthus – around 90–120 AD – according to Epiphanius,^[9] this is a Jewish gospel identical to the Gospel of the Ebionites, and apparently, a truncated version of the Gospel of Matthew according to the Hebrews.
• Gospel of Apelles – mid- to late 2nd century, a further edited version of Marcion's edited version of Luke
• Gospel of Valentinus^[a]
• Gospel of the Encratites^[b]
• Gospel of Andrew – mentioned by only two 5th century sources (Augustine and Pope Innocent I) who list it as apocryphal^[c]
• Gospel of Barnabas – this work is mentioned only once, in the 5th century Decree of Gelasius, which lists it as apocryphal.
• Gospel of Bartholomew – mentioned by only two 5th century sources, which list it as apocryphal.^[d]
• Gospel of Hesychius – mentioned only by Jerome and the Decree of Gelasius that list it as apocryphal.^[e]
• Gospel of Lucius – mentioned only by Jerome and the Decree of Gelasius that list it as apocryphal.
• Gospel of Merinthus^[f] – mentioned only by Epiphanius; probably the Gospel of Cerinthus, and the confusion due to a scribal error.
• An unknown number of other Gnostic gospels not cited by name.^[g]
• Gospel of the Adversary of the Law and the Prophets^[11]
• Memoirs of the Apostles – lost narrative of the life of Jesus, mentioned by Justin Martyr, the passages quoted by Justin may have originated from a gospel harmony of the Synoptic Gospels composed by Justin or his school.

Fragments of possibly unknown or lost (or existing) gospels

Fragmentary gospels are those preserved from primary sources.

• Papyrus Egerton 2 – late 2nd century manuscript of possibly earlier original; contents parallel John 5:39–47, 10:31–39; Matthew 1:40–45, 8:1–4, 22:15–22; Mark 1:40–45, 12:13–17; and Luke 5:12–16, 17:11–14, 20:20–26, but differ textually; also contains incomplete miracle account with no equivalent in canonical Gospels
• Fayyum Fragment – a fragment of about 100 Greek letters in 3rd century script; the text seems to parallel Mark 14:26–31
• Oxyrhynchus Papyri – fragments #1, 654, and 655 appear to be fragments of Thomas; #210 is related to Matthew 7:17–19 and Luke 6:43–44 but not identical to them; #840 contains a short vignette about Jesus and a Pharisee not found in any known gospel, the source text is probably mid-2nd century; #1224 consists of paraphrases of Mark 2:17 and Luke 9:50
• Gospel of Jesus' Wife – modern forgery based on the Gospel of Thomas^[12][13]
• Papyrus Berolinensis 1171book of Enoch 0 – 6th century Greek fragment, possibly from an apocryphal gospel or amulet based on John.
• Papyrus Cairensis 10735 – 6th or 7th century Greek fragment, possibly from a lost gospel, may be a homily or commentary
• Papyrus Merton 51 – fragment from apocryphal gospel or a homily on Luke 6:7
• Strasbourg Fragment – fragment of a lost gospel, probably related to Acts of John

Medieval gospels

• Gospel of the Seventy – a lost 8th or 9th century Manichean work
• Gospel of Nicodemus – a post-10th century Christian devotional work (or works) in many variants, the first section is highly dependent upon the 5th century Acts of Pilate
• Gospel of Barnabas – a 16th century harmony of the four canonical gospels, probably of Spanish (Morisco) origin, or possibly Italian
• Gospel of the Secret Supper – a 12th century Cathar scripture

Modern gospels