The first four books of the New Testament are identified as "gospels" (Gk to euaggelion == good news) . As a literary classification, gospel is post-New Testament.  Originally the term denoted the content of the apostolic preaching; only later did it come to refer to the literary works that we know as gospels. (We use the term in both ways today.)  As B. F. Westcott says, "The characteristic work of the Apostles was preaching, and not writing; that they were inclined to this form of teaching by character and training, no less than by their special commision; that the first 'Gospel' was consequently an oral message, and not a written record; that the books of the Old Testament were the sufficient Apostolic Scriptures (cf. 2 Tim iii. 15) (Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, 190).  The written "gospels" derive from the original oral "gospel."  Presumably, these four literary works share a common literary genre, since they bear the same name.  But what is a gospel?

     Although there are some similarities between them and Greco-Roman biographies, the four canonical gospels are literarily unique in the ancient world, being sui generis (see L. Hurtado, "Gospel (Genre)," Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels [eds. J. Green, S. McKnight, and I. H. Marshall; Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity, 1992] 276-82). The gospels have in common with Greco-Roman biography that they are an account of the words and deeds of an individual, in this case, Jesus.  But what distinguishes a gospel from all other literature is that it is the kerygmatic record of the words and deeds of Jesus; they are different enough from ancient biography to be classified as a unique genre, contrary to D. Aune, who prefers to classify the gospel as a distinctive-type of the genre of Greco-Roman biography (The New Testament in Its Literary Environment [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987] 17-76). The words and deeds of Jesus are not simply recounted, as in Greco-Roman biography, in order to present the ethos of a person, his or her essence or manner of life. Rather, the concern is to present Jesus as the Messiah and his death and resurrection as part of his messianic calling. This is why a gospel must be defined as the kerygmatic record of the words and deeds of Jesus. Kerygmatic is an adjective derived from the noun kerygma, which is the Greek word meaning proclamation or preaching.  In the New Testament, it denotes the content of the message that Jesus is the Messiah, the one anointed by God to bring eschatological salvation to Israel, rejected, crucified and vindicated by being raised from the dead (see Rom 16:25; 1Cor 1:21; 2:4; 15:14; 2 Tim 4:17; Titus 1:3).  (In most cases, it seems that the noun kerygma is the functional equivalent of euaggelion.)  As already indicated, before there were written "gospels," there was the proclamation of the oral "gospel." To say that the gospel genre is the kerymatic record of the words and deeds of Jesus is to say that its ultimate purpose is to set down in writing the originally-oral proclamation of this kerygma.  In fact, the literary genre of the gospel could only have been produced in Jewish circles, because only there do we find the idea of the Messiah.  This fact invalidates the attempt to classify the gospels as a type of Greco-Roman biography.

    The gospel genre could be described as a literature of fulfillment. Contained in the Old Testament is the promise of eschatological salvation, often associated with the appearance of an idealized Davidic king. The central premise of the gospels--and the New Testament generally--is that Jesus is this promised Davidic king and that through him is mediated the Kingdom of God; the gospels, in other words, are the literary by-product of the eschatological salvation of God. (Ironically, Jesus' rejection and death are also understood as fulfillments of God's promise of eschatological salvation; these are viewed as ordained by God and even foretold in scripture.) The numerous Old Testament texts said by Jesus or by the gospel writers to have been fulfilled in some aspect of Jesus' appearance most readily confirms the gospels' status as a literature of fulfillment. For example, Jesus quotes Isa 61:1-2 as having come to fulfillment in his appearance in history (Luke 4:16-21). Similarly, Jesus himself interprets his death in light of the destiny of the suffering servant (see Mark 10:45; Luke 22:37). Oscar Cullmann shows that the Gospel of John as narrative is full of salvation-history references, indicating that, in the author's opinion, the events outlined in the narrative happened in accordance with a salvation-historical timetable, as ordained by God (see John 1:17; 3:14; 7:6, 8; 8:56; 9:2-3; 18:32) ("L'evangile johannique et l'histoire du salut" New Testament Studies 11 [1964]: 111-122).

    A convention of the gospel genre is a foundational irony underlying the depiction of the life of Jesus.  As the Messiah, Jesus comes to the Jewish people, but ironically is rejected, which leads to his trial and crucifixion.  Yet, contrary to expectation, Jesus is vindicated by God by being raised from the dead, with the result that, again ironically, his death and resurrection become the means of eschatological salvation not only for the Jews, but also for the nations.