Gospel Paper

7/28/2019 Gospel Paper

1/4

Liz Nadolny

Project 2

A Gospel About Gospel

There are many viewpoints and beliefs on what the term gospel means. When

one hears the word gospel, the first thing that generally comes to mind is the Bible.

However, nowadays the meaning of the term gospel is heavily weighted in the context

it is used, which tends to create many unique views and interpretations of the term. In

order to create a firm foundation on the understanding of the term gospel, the best place

to start is in its biblical origins and work out towards the more abstract secular uses.

In Christian culture the term gospel is most commonly known as the telling of

good news. But what is this good news and how does the gospel spread it? Bakers

Evangelical Dictionary states The gospel bears witness to every aspect of Christ's saving

work, from his birth and public ministry to his second coming and the last judgment. But

Christ's death and resurrection, the crucial saving events, are the gospel's most prominent

themes(Elwell).Eastons Bible Dictionary proclaims that the gospel spreads good news

by teaching men how to avail themselves of the offer of salvation, the declaring of all

the truths, precepts, promises, and threatenings of Christianity (Easton).

An article on information leaks in the music industry from Alternative Press

accentuates their article by saying that they are more concerned when fallacies and plain

old lies are being perceived as gospel truths(Pettigrew). This secular use of the term

gospel is heavily rooted in its Christian origins in that it symbolizes a coming of good

news that is truly believed by many fans. However, the article uses it as the complete


2/4

opposite of truthful good news, to convey their difficulties of people spreading lies about

events, and their gullible fan base.

In 1889, a very successful businessman named Andrew Carnegie published a

book in which he titled The Gospel of Wealth. Andrew lived up to his word, and gave

away his fortune to socially beneficial projects, most famously by funding libraries

(Halsall). In a way, the title alludes to the telling of Jesus great deeds by telling the story

of his own accomplishments enlightening his readers to follow in his footsteps. Because

Carnegie uses the word gospel in the title of his book, the audience is subconsciously

swayed into good feelings toward book, even though it is filled with conniving financial

tricks like death taxes.

The Case of George Adamski is yet another entertaining illusion to the original

definition of the term gospel. Adamski was a con artist who founded the Royal Order

of Tibet claiming that his teachings drew on his psychic channelings from Tibetan

masters(George). Adamski basically forged some fake UFO pictures and claimed to

have contact with aliens. In Adamski's wake other contactees emerged to spread the

interplanetary gospel and to count the take at gatherings of the faithful (George). The

use of the word gospel in this context is very similar to the way that Jesus was trying to

spread the good news; however, Adamskis news was vastly different.

An article by antimusic associates the term gospel to emphasize a false belief that

is imposed in an article by L.A. times about the traits of people who associate themselves

in the electronic music scene. Antimusic states, that L.A. Times treated the opinions of a

few people as gospel, turned everyone who enjoys electronic music events into villains,

and ignored anyone that did not agree with their biased opinion(Rave). Antimusics use


3/4

of the term gospel in this context adds a pang of hostility in their argument; which

connotes the reader into feeling a sense of betrayal in the L.A. Times false preachings.

Another example of false preachings is an article titled The Batman Gospel. The use of

gospel in the title is misleading because the entire article explains why the new Batman

game was not enjoyable in the eyes of the author (Elwell).

Both the religious and nonreligious uses of gospel are similar in that they are

both striving to convey a predominant idea. The main difference between the two types

of uses is that the religious use of the term is rooted in its historical context of the actual

gospel, while the secular use of the term is much more versatile and can be used in many

other contexts.


4/4

Sources

Easton, Matthew. "Gospel."BibleStudyTools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013..

Elwell, Walter. "Gospel."BibleStudyTools.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013..http://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-

adamski.htm

Elwell, Walter A. "The Batman Gospel."Jelani Greenidge. Meungai Media, n.d. Web.

13 Feb. 2013. .

"George Adamski and the Space Brothers."HowStuffWorks. The Editors of Publications

International, Ltd., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

.

Pettigrew, Jason. "February 15, 2013."Alternative Press. Alternative Press, n.d. Web. 15

Feb. 2013.

.

Halsall, Paul. "Internet History Sourcebooks."Internet History Sourcebooks. N.p., n.d.

Web. 15 Feb. 2013. .

"Rave Drug Report Sparks Controversy - AntiMusic.com."Rave Drug Report Sparks

Controversy - AntiMusic.com. Iconoclast Entertainment Group, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2013..
http://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htmhttp://www.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/george-adamski.htm

Gospel Paper

Documents

Transcript of Gospel Paper