In your plan: Week 14, Thu, 21 Jan 2027.
Start here · 1 min read
Overview
The Gospels are the four accounts of the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth that make up the opening of the Christian New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Christians read them as the foundation of their faith. Historians read them as ancient texts written decades after the events by communities that believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They contain some of the most influential moral teaching in world literature, including the Sermon on the Mount and the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
Context
Jesus was a Jewish teacher in Roman-ruled Galilee and Judea, executed under Pontius Pilate in the early 30s CE. The Gospels were written in Greek, most scholars think between about 70 and 100 CE, after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. They draw on earlier oral traditions and possibly written sources. In Islam, Jesus (Isa) is honoured as a prophet and the Injil is believed to have been revealed to him, a view distinct from the Christian reading of the four Gospels.
Read the full guide: chapter summaries, competing interpretations, key terms
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Curator's notes
- Why it matters
- Love of enemies, the dignity of the lowly, forgiveness. Reshaped the moral imagination of half the world.
- Use in training and coaching
- Servant leadership; forgiveness; the Good Samaritan as a lesson in who counts as "my neighbour"
- Connects to
- Augustine; Tolstoy; Gandhi; King
- What to read
- Matthew 5–7 (Sermon on the Mount); Luke 10, 15
- Text (date)
- The Gospels (c. 70–100 CE)
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