DEFINITION OF GOSPEL (Euaggelion): A Birth or military victory
By Andre Austin
I first learned of the technical definition of the word Gospel from reading Joe Atwill’s books Caesar’s Messiah p.150 and his other book Shakespeare’s Secret Messiah p. 351
“Euaggelion was a technical term of the imperial Cult indicating the good news of a Caesar, particularly a birth or military victory”. This was the foundation of the second Coming of the Son of man to raze the Jewish temple. Atwill cites examples of Emperor Titus & Jesus from Luke 4:42-43 & War of the Jews 3, 10, 503-504 of “the good news (euaggelion) of the greatest part of the war was over”
Recall Jesus said he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword! (Matthew 10:34)
Even the famous writer Reza Aslan’s Zealot: The life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth p. 71 citing Isaiah 61:1-2 (Liberty to captives of a prior military campaign against the Jews)
Randel Helms’s Gospel fictions p.24-25 gives a “good” explanation also:
“When the author of Mark set about writing his Gospel, circa 70AD, he did not have to work in an intellectual or literary vacuum. The concept of mythical biography was basic to the thought-processes of his world, both Jewish and Graeco-Roman, with an outline and vocabulary already universally accepted: a heavenly figure becomes incarnate as a man and the son of a deity, enters the world to perform saving acts, and then returns to heaven. In Greek, the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world, such a figure was called a savior (soter), and the statement of his coming was called gospel or good news (euangelion). For example, a few years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the provincial assembly of Asia Minor (Turkey) passed a resolution in honor of Caesar Augustus:
“…Wheareas, finally that the birthday of the God Caesar Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangelion) concerning him, therefore, let all reckon a new era beginning from the date of his birth…”.
“mark begins his mythical biography of Jesus with ready-made language and concepts, intending perhaps a challenge: Euangelion is not of Caesar but of Christ!”.
Christians, who now sit in the pews, are dangerously ignorant of the full context of the entire meaning of Good news (euggelion) to their own disadvantage.
notes please see for further info:
http://craigaevans.com/Priene art.pdf
By Andre Austin
I first learned of the technical definition of the word Gospel from reading Joe Atwill’s books Caesar’s Messiah p.150 and his other book Shakespeare’s Secret Messiah p. 351
“Euaggelion was a technical term of the imperial Cult indicating the good news of a Caesar, particularly a birth or military victory”. This was the foundation of the second Coming of the Son of man to raze the Jewish temple. Atwill cites examples of Emperor Titus & Jesus from Luke 4:42-43 & War of the Jews 3, 10, 503-504 of “the good news (euaggelion) of the greatest part of the war was over”
Recall Jesus said he didn’t come to bring peace but a sword! (Matthew 10:34)
Even the famous writer Reza Aslan’s Zealot: The life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth p. 71 citing Isaiah 61:1-2 (Liberty to captives of a prior military campaign against the Jews)
Randel Helms’s Gospel fictions p.24-25 gives a “good” explanation also:
“When the author of Mark set about writing his Gospel, circa 70AD, he did not have to work in an intellectual or literary vacuum. The concept of mythical biography was basic to the thought-processes of his world, both Jewish and Graeco-Roman, with an outline and vocabulary already universally accepted: a heavenly figure becomes incarnate as a man and the son of a deity, enters the world to perform saving acts, and then returns to heaven. In Greek, the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world, such a figure was called a savior (soter), and the statement of his coming was called gospel or good news (euangelion). For example, a few years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the provincial assembly of Asia Minor (Turkey) passed a resolution in honor of Caesar Augustus:
“…Wheareas, finally that the birthday of the God Caesar Augustus has been for the whole world the beginning of the gospel (euangelion) concerning him, therefore, let all reckon a new era beginning from the date of his birth…”.
“mark begins his mythical biography of Jesus with ready-made language and concepts, intending perhaps a challenge: Euangelion is not of Caesar but of Christ!”.
Christians, who now sit in the pews, are dangerously ignorant of the full context of the entire meaning of Good news (euggelion) to their own disadvantage.
notes please see for further info:
http://craigaevans.com/Priene art.pdf