Yes, there are different gospel presentations.....
Yes, there are different gospel presentations.....
Ridiculous! All good news is not the same good news.
There was a gospel preached prior to Paul in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ("the gospel of the kingdom" Matthew 4:23 KJV) which was the good news that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17 KJV). It did NOT include the fact that "Christ died for our sins" (a crucial element of our gospel 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV)!
Before that, a gospel (the gospel of the uncircumcision) was preached to Abraham (Genesis 15:1-6 KJV).
Noah was given the good news that if he built an ark, it would be to the saving of him and his house (Hebrews 11:7 KJV).
And after the dispensation of the grace of God and a period of time following, the gospel of the kingdom will resume (Matthew 24:14 KJV). Angels will preach an everlasting gospel (Revelatin 14:6 KJV).
So then, you can see just how ridiculous this whole "the only gospel" talk is.
Hi heir,
Correct in recognizing that different 'gospels' exist in the Bible, and relate to different time-periods, situational-contexts and dispensational formats
- Some like to synthesize, mix, blend or coordinate all the various dispensations together sort of, for some kind of 'holistic' message, 'interpreting' passages a parts of a greater whole.
While a MAD view is noted, we need to recognize that there were some Jewish followers of Jesus that rejected Paul's gospel and held to the more traditional Jewish customs with some innovations brought by Jesus, such as the Ebionites and others. Paul's gospel was different in certain respects from the original apostles of Jesus (the pillars of the church in Jerusalem), and Paul as you know openly claims his 'revelation' as '
his gospel'....claiming unique 'ownership' of it, that it was given to him in a special way. But do note,
this is his claim only - but all that asides....you're perfectly free to hold to Paul's gospel as the 'gospel of your salvation',
according to his terms (and that's the catch). - the gospel of the kingdom taught by Jesus original 12 apostles is indeed different in emphasis, as contained in the 4 gospels...yet some are content to keep the standards of that gospel-message while incorporating some of Paul's teachings into it too,...but this 'synthesis' is a problem to some modern day evangelicals who do note a difference between the gospel that Jesus and the original apostles taugh and Paul's gospel. The question or issue......is how to coordinate, differentiate or resolve the tensions between the two. MAD (middle acts dispensationalism) attempts to resolve this issue.
Paul himself is the subject of much controversy, as there are some that stick to
Jesus words only as a matter of pertinence or value, and I've shared many posts/resource sites that are against Paul, exploring some of the problems as perceived by some. I approach it in more of a liberal scholarly manner, besides purely philosophic. In general however I take a universal view and all-inclusive approach seeing the historical/doctrinal development underlying various movements and look at the value and meaning of every school of thought, and how it fits into the greater collective. I lean more towards a more gnostic Paul, seeing the allegorical aspect of his teaching and where they are in accord with universal truths, although I question the whole vicarious blood atonement concept, or may interpret that in different ways.
As to what gospel I preach or have a disposition towards, we'll leave this open for now, since my theology extends beyond a narrow biblical context, as universal truth or inspiration is contained in certain measures in all dispensations. If we take the NT as a whole,...I find the
gospel of the kingdom most foundational,
based on the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, which Paul does teach in his own terms concerning our 'adoption' of 'sonship' with God. The core values of religious ethic and principle still hold (love for God and fellow man) no matter what innovations of theology are built around this base or what philosophical system is used to communicate such.
If you're going to believe Paul's gospel and its terms alone as the one and only saving gospel...then you're trusting his own claims, since his so called 'apostleship' is not attested to by the the original 12.
See: Was Paul a true apostle of Jesus Christ?