What are the four Gospels and who wrote them? The word Gospel comes from Greek and means 'Good News', referring to the Good News of Jesus. The fou...

What are the four Gospels and who wrote them?

The word Gospel comes from Greek and means 'Good News', referring to the Good News of Jesus.
The four Gospels are about the same person (Jesus) and the same message (the message of Jesus).
Many authors believe that we should speak of the 'Gospel' in singular but narrated and expressed according to four authors called 'evangelists'.
The four texts are: the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Gospel according to Saint Mark, the Gospel according to Saint Luke, and the Gospel according to Saint John.
The first three follow a very similar scheme and are called 'synoptic' (because they offer a very similar overview); the fourth, on the other hand, presents different characteristics.
Although at the beginning there was only the oral preaching of the Apostles, over time, it was thought that it was convenient to put some things in writing, so that the Christian community could preserve and remember them. That was precisely what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did.
Matthew's intention in writing his version of the Gospel seems to have been to demonstrate to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah announced by the prophets and awaited by the people.
Mark's version of the Gospel is brief and emphasizes the miracles of Jesus.
Luke's version of the Gospel was written directly with the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, and contains data from the infancy of Jesus.
John's Gospel is the most spiritual of all, as it does not begin by talking about the life of Jesus on Earth, but goes back to his divine origin.
Although the four Gospels are historical books, as they contain data about the life, sayings, and works of Jesus, they cannot be read only as a source of historical information. They have a much deeper meaning. They are books with a religious, spiritual content. They transmit to us the best News that ever existed: the News of salvation that Jesus brought and accomplished. Therefore, they cannot be read like a novel, a manual, or a story. They must be read with faith, thinking that their words are the Word of God and that in their lines a message can be found for each one of us: a message capable of transforming our lives and making us find a new meaning in things.