In Mark 1:1 we read, "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, [the Son of God];" how should one understand the term gospel here?

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John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]

G2098
εὐαγγέλιον
euaggelion
yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on
From the same as G2097; a good message, that is, the gospel: - gospel.

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Matthew Glover
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia

The verse is straightforward. It is the start of (the origin) of the good news of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is the good news that is about Jesus Christ. It is the good news about Him.

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Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

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What does the term mean, not who it refers to?

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John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]

Can one define the term out of its context?

__________________
Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

It means "good news" or "good message".

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My name is Davis. I am the Lord's.

I gather with saints at Bethel Presbyterian Church here in Lake Charles, LA, where I live.

[b][SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE][/b][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]I dwell in the high and holy place, also with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones[/COLOR].[b][SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE][/b] -Our Father, the Lord God (Isaiah 57:15)

Etymologically, yes, it means good news; but words have NO meaning outside of their context. Does the author assume the implied reader would know a larger context? What does it mean in its Old Testament context? Does Isaiah have anything to do with it?

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John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]

I have no idea what you're getting at.

__________________
My name is Davis. I am the Lord's.

I gather with saints at Bethel Presbyterian Church here in Lake Charles, LA, where I live.

[b][SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE][/b][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]I dwell in the high and holy place, also with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones[/COLOR].[b][SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE][/b] -Our Father, the Lord God (Isaiah 57:15)

The context is the Church. The Gospel of Mark was not written in a vacuum. All of its early readers would have understood the Gospel to be the teaching of the Apostles, whose teaching they were very familiar with.

One of the follies of critical scholarship is this idea that the Gospels were recorded as books with no historical Church as a backdrop. You thus have the silliness that Matthew copied from Mark or that they all copied from some mysterious document we don't have.

There was a corpus of oral teaching and letters. The Apostles weren't mute on the things Jesus taught until the Gospel writers suddenly came on the scene and wrote books inscripturating it.

Thus, the reason the Gospels resemble one another in many places is that they're recording the well circulated teaching of the Apostles.

So, when Mark says: "Gospel..." it's not as if the Church sees it for the first time, scratches its head and asks: "What does Mark mean by Gospel?"

__________________
Rich
Northern VA
OPC

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Not in verse one. Verse one simply tells us that this (the following narrative) is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are you referring to the gospel (good news)? Is Mark making a reference in this verse to the gospel being in the Old Testament?

Only if the reference from Isaiah in verse two is connected to the statement in verse one.

__________________
Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

yea, I got it, Bill.

__________________
John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]