Four Evangelists
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In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts. In the New Testament, they bear the following titles: the Gospel of Matthew; the Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of Luke; and the Gospel of John. These names were assigned to the works by the early church fathers in the 2nd century AD; none of the writers signed their work.[1]
Gospels
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the
- Matthew– a former tax collector (Levi) who was called by Jesus to be one of the Twelve Apostles
- Mark – a follower of Peter and so an "apostolic man"
- Paul of Tarsus
- John – a disciple of Jesus and the youngest of his Twelve Apostles
They are called
Symbols
In
The meanings accruing to the symbols grew over centuries, with an early formulation by Jerome,[6] and were fully expressed by Rabanus Maurus, who set out three layers of meaning for the beasts: representing first the Evangelists, second the nature of Christ, and third the virtues required of a Christian for salvation.[7] These animals may have originally been seen as representing the highest forms of the various types of animals: man, as king of creation, as the image of the creator; the lion, as king of beasts of prey (meat-eating); the ox, as king of domesticated animals (grass-eating); the eagle, as king of birds.
- first gospel account, is symbolized by a winged man, or angel. Matthew's gospel starts with Joseph's genealogy from Abraham; it represents Jesus's incarnation, and so Christ's human nature. This signifies that Christians should use their reason for salvation.
- second gospel account, is symbolized by a winged lion—a figure of courage and monarchy. The lion also represents Jesus's resurrection (because lions were believed to sleep with open eyes, a comparison with Christ in the tomb), and Christ as king. This signifies that Christians should be courageous on the path of salvation.
- Zechariah in the temple; it represents Jesus's sacrifice in his Passion and Crucifixion, as well as Christ being high priest (this also represents Mary'sobedience). The ox signifies that Christians should be prepared to sacrifice themselves in following Christ.
- Jesus the Logos and goes on to describe many things with a "higher" christology than the other three (synoptic) gospels; it represents Jesus's Ascensionand Christ's divine nature. This symbolizes that Christians should look on eternity without flinching as they journey towards their goal of union with God.
Each of the symbols is depicted with wings, following the biblical sources first in Ezekiel 1–2, and in Revelation. The symbols are shown with, or in place of, the Evangelists in early medieval Gospel Books, and are the usual accompaniment to Christ in Majesty when portrayed during the same period, reflecting the vision in Revelation. They were presented as one of the most common motifs found on church portals and apses, as well as many other locations.[8]
When surrounding Christ, the figure of the man usually appears at top left—above Christ's right hand, with the lion above Christ's left arm. Underneath the man is the ox and underneath the lion is the eagle. This both reflects the medieval idea of the order of "nobility" of nature of the beasts (man, lion, ox, eagle) and the text of
Naming
Matthew is often cited as the "first Gospel account", not only owing to its place in
It is customary to refer to the gospels phrased as "Gospel of Matthew" rather than "Matthew's Gospel", not least because of its shorter length; the ancient titles do not use the possessive case of modern English and the preposition "according to" signifies that each evangelist sets forth the one "Gospel of God" according to his own capacity, but not in the sense of creating his own story.
Depictions
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Rubens, 1614
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Symbol facing evangelist portrait at the start of the Gospel of St. John; Egmond Gospels, Royal Library of the Netherlands
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Codex Amiatinus, earliest surviving complete Vulgate Bible, 8th century
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Carolingian depiction from an Aachen Gospel, 820
See also
- Authorship of the Johannine works
- Four Gospels
- Gospel
- Gospel harmony
- Tetramorph
References
- ^ Denova, Rebecca (2021-02-26). "The Gospels". World History Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ISBN 978-1-4411-8822-9.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-2501-8.
- ^ Schaff, Philip. "Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Archived from the original on 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ Mark 1:1
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8132-0117-7. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ ISBN 978-0064300322.
- ^ a b Male, op. cit.