As a Catholic, it's not hard to find other Christians who say my religion teaches a false gospel,

and so it isn't even Christian. Thankfully, most Protestants don't make these unpleasant claims,

which is why I call them pleasant Protestants. Their unpleasant counterparts, however,

say Catholicism is not Christian because it teaches a false gospel. But unpleasant Protestants

shoot themselves in the

foot because they can't consistently and biblically answer this question. What is the gospel?

The word gospel comes from the Greek word Eugelion, literally good news. But in almost every case,

the word is used in scripture without any explanation of what the good news is. Matthew refers to the good news of the kingdom or the good news being preached.

Mark describes Jesus speaking of the good news or the good news of God.

Luke shows Jesus preaching good news for the poor.

And these passages also point back to verses in Isaiah, proclaiming the good news of God's victory over his enemies. We know the gospel was

preached during Christ's earthly ministry, but what was initially preached was not a message about

Christ's death, his resurrection, or how he would redeem humanity from sin. At this point, the gospel was

just the good news that God's kingdom was entering the world and things would finally be set right.

After Christ's resurrection, we find some passages in Paul's letters that are closer to a

definition of the gospel as we know it today. Romans 116 says the gospel is the power of God

for salvation to everyone who believes. At verse Corinthians 15, Paul says, now I would remind you, brethren,

in what terms I preach to you the gospel, the good news, which you received, in which you stand,

by which you are saved, if you hold it fast, unless you believed in vain. Paul then describes

this good news through what many scholars identify as an early creed that was formulated just a few years after Christ's crucifixion.

It says Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose three days later, and appeared to numerous people, including Paul.

Notice though that there's no description of the gospel being about our individual salvation from damnable sin, even though that is how the gospel is often summarized.

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