The Origin of the word "Gospel"

It would be an understatement to say the term gospel is an important term in the Scriptures. Not only is it central in Scripture, but churches have adopted the term as their most beloved adjective. You have gospel churches, gospel-centered ministries, gospel-centered websites, sermons, discipleship, parenting, community, counseling, parents, family, youth ministry, teaching, marriage, kids’ ministry, and hospitality.

If all the gospel-centered titles were collected, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that have been written. But confusion still exists about what this term actually means. What did gospel mean in Jesus’s day? Where did it come from? How was it used? A survey of its use both in the Bible and outside the Bible reveals that “gospel” was a term that communicated political victory. In literature outside of the Bible, “to gospelize” is the activity of a messenger with a beneficial report. The messenger was sent from the field of battle by ship, horse, or on foot to proclaim victory. Usually this was associated with the defeat of an army, or the death or capture of an enemy.

Also included in this was the news of a ruler’s birth, coming of age, or enthronement. A calendar inscription speaks of the birth of the emperor Augustus as “the beginning of good news” for the world. “[Augustus] . . . has made war to cease and . . . put everything in peaceful order; and . . . the birthday of our god [emperor] signaled the beginning of ‘the gospel’ for the world because of him.”