▪ I. gospel, n.
(ˈgɒspəl)
Forms: 1–5 godspel(l, 3–4 goddspel(l, 4 godspelle, gosspell, 4–7 gospell(e, 5 gospeel, gospille, 6 ghospel(l(e, 3– gospel.
[OE. godspel, doubtless orig. gód spel (see good a. and spell n.), good tidings (cf. láð spel evil tidings), a rendering of the L. bona adnuntiatio (Corpus Gloss. Int. 117) or bonus nuntius (‘Euuangelium, id est, bonum nuntium, godspel’, Voc. c 1050 in Wr.-Wülcker 314/8), which was current as an explanation of the etymological sense of L. evangelium, Gr. εὐαγγέλιον (see evangely). Cf. Goth. þiuþspillôn ‘to preach the gospel’ (εὐαγγελίζεσθαι), f. þiuþ-s good + spillôn to announce (cogn. w. spell). When the phrase gód spel was adopted as the regular translation of evangelium, the ambiguity of its written form led to its being interpreted as a compound, gŏd-spel, f. god + spel in the sense ‘discourse’ or ‘story’. The mistake was very natural, as the resulting sense was much more obviously appropriate than that of ‘good tidings’ for a word which was chiefly known as the name of a sacred book or of a portion of the liturgy. From OE. the word passed, in adapted forms, into the languages of the Teutonic peoples evangelized from England: OS. godspell, OHG. gotspell, ON. guð-, goðspiall; in each case the form of the first element shows unequivocally that it was identified with God, not with good. The ON. form has survived into mod.Icel.; the continental Teut. langs. early discarded the word for adoptions of L. evangelium.
Although the ó in OE. gódspel would necessarily in time have been shortened by the regular operation of phonetic law, it does not appear that this process could have taken place early enough to account for the form of the word in OS. and OHG. The form gŏdspel must therefore (as above explained) be due to a misinterpretation of the written form, originating before the word had any oral currency.]
1. a. ‘The glad tidings (of the kingdom of God)’ announced to the world by Jesus Christ. Hence, the body of religious doctrine taught by Christ and His apostles; the Christian revelation, religion or dispensation. Often contrasted with the Law, i.e. the Old Testament dispensation. Phrase, to preach, † minister the gospel.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ix. 35 Ðe hælend..bodade god⁓spell [so c 1000 Ags. Gosp., c 1160 Hatton Gosp. godspel] rices. c 1205 Lay. 29507 Austin þu scalt..beode þer godes goddspel. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1529 Seinte peter..sende seint Marc..vor to preche þen gospel that he adde imaked. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 348 Þei letten hem for to preche, and speciali Cristis gospel. 1382 ― Acts xx. 24 The gospel of the grace of God. ― Eph. i. 13 Whanne ȝe hadden herd the word of treuthe, resceyueden the gospel of ȝoure heelthe. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke ix. 88 b, Thei had..debarred a certain man from the fraternitee of mynistryng the ghospell. 1550 Latimer Serm. at Stamford 9 Oct. A vij b, In the whole multytude that professe the gospell, all be not good. 1565 Jewel Replie Wks. III. 170 The Jews saw Christ in the law; the Christians see Christ in the gospel. 1611 Bible 1 Thess. ii. 2. 1649 Bp. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. xii. 54 The Gospell is therefore a Covenant of grace. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. M.'s Wks. 1738 I. 473 Let us now consider, whether the Gospel preach up any such Doctrine. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. ii. 208 The advantages we at present enjoy by the gospel. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 342 In strains as sweet As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace. 1827 Whately Logic App. i. (1850) 202 Preaching the Gospel is accordingly often used to include not only the proclaiming of the good tidings, but the teaching of what is to be believed and done, in consequence. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville III. 156 To spread the light of the gospel in that far wilderness. 1857 Maurice Ep. St. John xiv. 228 That Gospel was the announcement that Jesus Christ had manifested the Life of God. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. i. 3 There is nothing obsolete in the original spirit of the Gospel. |
b. Identified by Protestants with their own system of belief, as opposed to the perversions of Christianity imputed by them to their adversaries; also applied by Puritans and modern Evangelicals to the doctrine of salvation solely through trust in the merit of Christ's sacrifice.
| 1552 [see gospeller 4]. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. Wks. IV. 213 Ye make yourself game, M. Harding, for that the preaching of the gospel issued first out of Wittenberg, and not from Rome. Mod. ‘Why don't you go to church?’ ‘Because the Gospel is not preached there.’ |
† c. to talk gospel: to ‘talk religion’.
| 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. ii. i. (1841) I. 172 Don't thou talk gospel too. |
d. gen. Any revelation from heaven.
| 1481 Caxton Myrr. iii. xiii. 164 God made neuer so good a gospel but some myghte torne it contrarye to trouthe. 1878 D. Campbell Rational & True Gospel xxii. 122 Flowers are gospels of grace and love from the Unseen. |
¶ the Gospel Perdurable: a book produced in 1255 under the title of
Euangelium Eternum, siue Euangelium Spiritus Sancti. (See note in Skeat
Chaucer (1894) I. 447.)
e. Short for
gospel music.
| 1956 M. Stearns Story of Jazz i. 8 It can be heard in the field-holler and the work song, the spiritual and gospel, minstrelsy and ragtime. 1971 It 2–16 June 18/3 Oh, yes, it's all well-played stuff, ranging from country thru' rock and blues and gospel. 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. i. 10/4 Tunes are a mixed bag of rock, calypso, disco, swing and gospel. |
2. a. The record of Christ's life and teaching, contained in the books written by the ‘four evangelists’.
| a 1000 Andreas 12 (Gr.) Matheus..se mid Iudeum ongan godspell ærest wordum writan. c 1200 Ormin 1800 Swa summ þe Goddspell kiþeþþ. c 1290 Beket 2109 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 167 For in the godspel it is i-writen þat [etc.]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4013 In þe godspelle. c 1400 Three Kings Cologne 59 Wher-of spekeþ þe euangelist in þe godspell. 1794 Paley Evid. i. ix. §3 (1817) 226 Ignatius..speaks of the Gospel..in terms which render it very probable that he meant by the Gospel the book or volume of the Gospels. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. III. 299 The promises..given to the human race, in the psalms or the gospel. |
b. One of the books written by the four Evangelists;
† sometimes
pl. in sing. sense. Also applied to certain ancient lives of Christ of a legendary character (
apocryphal gospels), as
the Gospel of Nicodemus,
the Gospel of the Infancy, etc.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 71 Vre drihten us seið on þe godspelle þe sein lucas makede. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 28/58 Þe godspelles of seint Mathev. a 1300 Cursor M. 21243 Marc..þe godspel [Fairf. gosspellis] in itali he wratte. c 1315 Shoreham 48 Wet he ther redde thou myȝt se Ine seynt Lukes godspelle. 1357 Lay Folks Catech. 573 Als saint Iohn saies in his godspel. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 257 We ben proued þe prijs of popes at Rome, And of gretest degre as godspelles telleþ. Ibid. 709 Wiþ glosinge of godspells þei gods worde turneþ. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. li. Wks. (1876) 119 As is shewed in the gespell [sic: misprint] of Luke. 1695 Locke Reas. Chr. 193 The rest of St. John's Gospel. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 397 A beautiful manuscript of the gospels, written in golden letters, in the year 870. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 291 The four gospels are particularly mentioned by Julian. 1845 Stoddart in Encycl. Metrop. (1847) 145/1 So in the Anglo-Saxon Gospels. |
† c. In extended sense: The Holy Scriptures.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 234 The godspel ys herageyn, as gomes may reden [Quotes Ezek. xviii. 20]. 1483 Caxton Cato H j, The gospel sayth that yf thou wylte lyue longe on the erthe thou must honoure..thy fader and moder. |
3. Eccl. the gospel (for or of the day): the portion from one of the four gospels read at the Communion Service. (
Cf. epistle 3.)
allusively (
cf.4).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 42 marg., Ðys godspel sceal to mænies confessores mæsse-dæᵹe. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 5 Nu leoue broðre nu ic eou habbe þet godspel iseid. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 173 Ðe holi godspel of þis dai specð of ure helende and of two broðren. a 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 642 Forȝete not þe god-spelle For þing þat may bi-falle. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 21 After the gospeel to reherse my name opynly with De profundis for my soule. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, One appointed to reade the Gospel. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) II. 246 Two desks..on which formerly the epistles and gospels were read. 1877 J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 332 The Deacon advances to read the Gospel. |
| allusively 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 110 But these sayinges be nether in the gospell of the day, ne of the nyght. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 295 A madmans Epistles are no Gospels, so it skilles not much when they are deliuer'd. |
4. Something as ‘true as the gospel’; a statement to be implicitly received. Also
† with
a,
no, and
to take for († a, the) gospel.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1268 For-thi seide Alfred swithe wel And his worde was goddspel, That [etc.]. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1265 God wot I wende, O lady bright Criseyde, That every word was gospel that ye seyde! 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) vi. xiii. 254/1 Yet what they saye, the people taketh it for a gospell. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 46 All is not gospell that thou doest speake. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Hen. VI, xxviii, Whose wordes to be no gospel tho, I to my griefe haue found. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 407 The onely triall that a Ladie requireth of hir louer, it is this..that..euery gloase [be] a gospell. 1625 Impeachm. Dk. Buckhm. (Camden) 212 All the Cardinal sayes is not gospel, for two moneth's pay is yet behinde. 1678 Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 133 Oates was encouraged, and everything he affirmed taken for gospel. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull ii. iv, She took them [her dreams] all for the gospel. 1807 Crabbe Library 268 And all was gospel that a monk could dream. 1824 Byron Juan xvi. vi, Those holier mysteries which the wise and just Receive as gospel. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. ii. i. (1849) 43 Offered me two hundred and fifty dollars—gospel, by the living jingo! 1887 G. R. Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 74 It's gospel every word. |
5. a. Something that serves as a guide to human action; something that men swear by.
b. A doctrine ‘preached’ with fervour as a means of political or social ‘salvation’.
| a. 1652 Milton Sonn. to Cromwell, Help us to save free conscience from the paw Of hireling wolves, whose Gospel is their maw. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 456 ¶4 The Law of the Land is his Gospel. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women & B. II. xi. 284 Brute force was his law, and contempt of the many his gospel. |
| b. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. (ed. 2) 18 The propagators of this political gospel are in hopes their abstract principle would be overlooked. 1829 in Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 87 The Gospel of Economy. 1870 Baldw. Brown Eccl. Truth 274 La carrière ouverte aux talens was, according to Mr. Carlyle, the gospel of the Revolution. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life x. iii. (1875) 351 Is he to go and preach the gospel of the intellect in the kitchen? 1878 Hooker & Ball Morocco 81 We were assured that even here the modern gospel of soap and water has made much progress. |
† 6. = Gospel-oath.
Obs.—1| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 84/2, I toke on a tyme a gospelle in prayeng god that he wold gyue me..contynence..I wente to the bourdel and forgate the gospel upon me. |
† 7. jocularly.
wooden gospels: the four divisions of a board for the game of tables.
Obs.| 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. xxii, After supper were brought in..the faire wooden Gospels, and the books of the foure Kings, that is to say, many paires of tables and cardes. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as (sense 1: often
= such as accords with, or is enjoined by, the gospel)
gospel-artillery,
gospel-blessing,
gospel-champion,
gospel-church,
gospel-crew,
gospel-day,
gospel-dispensation,
gospel-duty,
gospel-freedom,
gospel-liberty,
gospel-light,
gospel-minister,
gospel ministry,
gospel-morality,
gospel music,
gospel-news,
gospel-peace,
gospel-phrase,
gospel-purity,
gospel-righteousness,
gospel-sabbath,
gospel shout,
gospel-sufferer,
gospel-times,
gospel-trump,
gospel-union,
gospel-unity,
gospel-way,
gospel-word, (sense 2)
gospel-record, (sense 3)
gospel-lectern.
b. objective, as
gospel-monger,
gospel-preacher,
gospel-preaching,
gospel singer,
gospel-teacher,
gospel-writer.
| c 1660 South Serm. Prov. iii. 17 (1715) I. 34 Pilgrimages, going barefoot, Hair-Shirts, and Whips, with other such *Gospel-Artillery. |
| 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §7 The bestowing of such mercies which do suppose the greatest unworthiness of them, as *Gospel blessings do. |
| 1862 E. Trollope in Rep. Linc. Archit. Soc. 120 A bold, eager *gospel-champion. |
| 1680 Allen Peace & Unity 87 And if the Parishioners in a Parish, do usually Assemble together upon the same account [for Communion in Gospel Ordinances], are not those *Gospel Churches as well as the other? |
| 1715 Rowe Lady Jane Grey iv. i, There own our Sovereign's Title and defy Jane and her *Gospel-Crew. |
| 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. Apol. (1862) 5, I writing of the Way And Race of Saints, in this our *Gospel-day. 1738 Wesley Psalms cxxx. vi, O that his Mercy's Beams would rise, And bring the Gospel-Day. |
| 1736 Butler Anal. ii. i. 156 This has also a particular Reference to the *Gospel-dispensation. |
| 1658 Whole Duty Man xvi. §1 (1687) 126 This is the great *Gospel-duty so often enjoyned us by Christ. |
| a 1683 Oldham Ode Wks. (1685) 99 When Christian Fools were obstinately good, Nor yet their *Gospel-freedom understood. |
| 1877 J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 332 The Gospel Pulpitum or Ambo, or the portable *Gospel Lectern. |
| 1687 Dryden Hind & P. ii. 415 The rest some fundamental flaw wou'd see, And call Rebellion *gospel-liberty. |
| 1674 Allen Danger Enthus. 86 The highest Dispensation of *Gospel-light as ever shined upon the World. a 1771 Gray Fragm., When love could teach a monarch to be wise, And gospel-light first dawn'd from Bullen's eyes. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 234 They may..better have recourse to their horse or their apothecary, than to their *gospel-minister. |
| 1721 Jrnls. Ho. Repr. Mass. III. 187 The first settled and Ordained Minister..that Shall Live and Dye in the Work of a *Gospel Ministry. 1831 J. M. Peck Guide Emigrants 255 The object is, ‘to educate pious, indigent young men for the gospel ministry’. |
| 1764 Low Life 90 The *Gospel-Mongers, alias Ministers. |
| 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. xiii. 218 So closely does the law of England enforce that excellent rule of *gospel-morality of ‘doing to others as we would they should do unto ourselves’. |
| 1955 Keepnews & Grauer Pict. Hist. Jazz i. 3 The spirituals and *gospel music that were the Negro's own interpretation of the white man's religion. 1971 Ink 12 June 19/1 In an attempt to give bigness to their white gospel music, they tried everything from accordion to horns. |
| 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 75 So preached one his *gospel-news. |
| 1738 Wesley Psalms iv. viii, Of *Gospel-Peace possest, Secure in thy Defence. |
| 1682 Dryden Medal 191 In *Gospel phrase their Chap⁓men they betray. |
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Philem. 32 My fellow *ghospell preacher, brother Timothie. |
| ― Erasm. Par. 2 Tim. i. 6–12 Thys *ghospell preachynge is committed vnto me. |
| a 1861 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady (1863) 139 Priests sworn to God, whose daily lives Preached *gospel purity and kindliness. |
| 1833 Rock Hierurg. (1892) I. 247 The *Gospel-record of the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. |
| 1738 Warburton Faith working by Charity ii. 7 The Law of Nature came to be shunned as a dangerous and fallacious Guide; and Faith, traditional, not scriptural, had usurped its Province of interpreting *Gospel-righteousness. |
| a 1711 Ken Divine Love Wks. (1838) 278 Thou, O my God, didst ordain the Judaical Sabbath as a shadow of the true *Gospel-sabbath. |
| 1958 ‘F. Newton’ in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz v. 73 The great *gospel singers..are the legitimate heirs of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, and their rise in the late 1930s and 1940s is one of the most cheering phenomena for the blues-lover. |
| 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene iv. 54 A local piano style, based on ragtime and Appalachian *gospel shouts. |
| 1694 Kettlewell Comp. Persecuted 6, I have directed their eye to the true spirit, duty, and carriage of *Gospel-sufferers. |
| 1550 Bale Image Both Ch. ii. xi. b vj, They that were monkes, priestes, and friers are nowe become *gospell teachers. |
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 837, I..do not doubt But bear⁓baiting may be made out, In *gospel-times, as lawful as is Provincial or parochial classis. |
| 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Advent Sund., Again the *Gospel-trump is blown. |
| 1672 Disc. conc. Evangelical Love 107 This is that *Gospel-Vnity which we are to labour after. |
| Ibid. 108 The means appointed by Christ for attaining *Gospel-Vnion. |
| 1649 in Milton's Prose Wks. (1753) I. 387 Such as..invent damnable errors, under the specious pretence of a *gospel-way and new light. 1886 M. E. Braddon One Thing Needful ii, He would have England walk in gospel ways. |
| 1538 Starkey England ii. iii. 197 Surely thys ys *gospel word. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 468 To transmit his Master's doctrines for their benefit in the plainness of a *gospel-writer. |
9. Special comb.:
gospel-gossip, one who is always talking of sermons, texts, etc.;
gospel-hardened a., rendered incapable of being moved by the gospel, through constant hearing of it;
† gospel-lad, a
covenanter;
† gospel-mass-monger nonce-wd., ? a professed Protestant who favours Romish doctrine;
gospel-oak (see
quot. 1862);
gospel-oath, an oath sworn upon the gospels, or an oath of an equally binding character;
gospel-place, a place where the ‘gospel’ was recited at the perambulation of boundaries;
gospel-right, a right expressly sanctioned or prescribed in the Gospel;
gospel-sharp, a Western
U.S. term for a Christian minister of religion;
gospel-shop, a derisive name for a Methodist chapel;
gospel-side, the side of the altar at which the gospel is read, the north side;
gospel-sin, sin against the light of the gospel; so
gospel-sinner;
gospel song, a song characterized by its fervour or evangelistic message;
gospel-title, an indisputable title (
cf. 4 and
gospel-right);
gospel-tree = gospel-oak;
gospel-true a., as true as the gospel (
cf. next);
gospel-truth, (
a) the truth or truths contained in the gospel; (
b) something as true as the gospel (
cf. sense 4);
gospelwards adv., in the direction of the gospel;
† gospelwright, a composer of a gospel
= evangelist 1.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 46 ¶6, I am one of those unhappy Men that are plagued with a *Gospel-Gossip, so common among Dissenters (especially Friends). |
| 1844 J. C. Miller Serm. 2 June 22 Have the Sabbaths and Sermons of a life been in vain? Am I *Gospel-hardened or Gospel-saved? 1871 H. Macmillan True Vine vii. (1872) 299 Decent church⁓going professors, who are gospel-hardened. |
| c 1679 Loudon Hill iii. in Child Ballads vii. 107/1 Weel prosper a' the *gospel-lads That are into the west countrie Ay wicked Claverse to demean. |
| 1554 Bradford in Coverdale Lett. Mart. (1564) 347 Wil the lawes of the realme..excuse oure *gospell Masse⁓mongers conscience then? |
| 1830 J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 34 The *Gospel Oak near Stoneleigh stands in a little retired coppice. 1862 Toulm. Smith in Parl. Remembrancer Oct. 189 Every one knows how many ‘Gospel oaks’ there are in different places:—the ancient mark-trees, distinguishing boundaries, and at which the perambulators have, for ages, been accustomed to stand..while the ‘gospel’ has been pronounced, cursing him who moves the landmarks. |
| 1891 Flügel Germ. & Eng. Dict., Auf das Evangelium schwören, to take a *gospel-oath. |
| 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 318 This it seems they doe too at all *Gospell-places, whether wells, trees, or hills. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 102 The landholder having no better *gospel-right to his nine parts than the parson has to his tithe. |
| 1872 ‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It xlvii. 333 ‘What we want is a *gospel-sharp. See?’ ‘A what?’ ‘Gospel-sharp. Parson.’ 1897 A. H. Lewis Wolfville 50 I've took the trouble to bring a gospel-sharp over from Tucson to do the marryin'. 1902 C. Morris Stage Confidences 224 There's another gospel-sharp out on the edge of town. |
| 1782 G. Parker Hum. Sk. 88 From Whitfield and Romaine to Pope John range; Each *gospel shop ringing a daily change. a 1791 J. Lackington Life xix. (1794) 120 My next enquiry was for Mr. Wesley's Gospel-shops. |
| 1891 Order Divine Services for Yr. (Hayes) 52 The people in the centre of the church are incensed first, then those on the Epistle side and lastly those on the *Gospel side. |
| 1647 Trapp Comm. 2 Thess. ii. 10 This is the great *Gospel-sin, punished by God with strong delusions, vile affections, just damnation. |
| 1678 Yng. Man's Call. 30 You..are, though but young people, yet old sinners, great sinners, *gospel-sinners. |
| 1905 Methodist Rev. LXXXVII. 704 The attitude to take toward the sort of tune..variously denominated, ‘*gospel song’, ‘spiritual song’, ‘pennyroyal’, has cost the Commission a good deal of vexation of spirit. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene ii. 32 Good examples of contemporary negro gospel song groups. 1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence 41 Next time they came we were singing gospel songs. |
| 1763 Churchill Gotham i. 9 The Man, who finds an unknown Country out, By giving it a name acquires, no doubt, A *Gospel title. |
| 1648 Herrick Hesper., To Anthea 18 Dearest, bury me Under that Holy oke, or *Gospel-tree. 1801 Shaw Staffordsh. II. i. 165 The boundaries..are marked out by what are called Gospel trees, from the custom of having the Gospel read under or near them, by the clergy⁓man attending the parochial perambulations. |
| c 1854 Thackeray Wolves & Lamb (1869) 343 It's all true. *Gospel-true. |
| 1647 Trapp Comm. Titus ii. 12 Every *Gospel-truth strikes at some sin, and thereby may be discerned. 1738 Wesley Psalms cxxxii. v, If..thy Children..The glorious Gospel-Truth obey, The Truth shall make them free indeed. 1833 Jurist Feb. 5 It has been believed, nay, clung to as Gospel truth. 1843 Haliburton Attaché II. vii. 128 Fact I assure you, it's gospel truth. 1865 Pusey Truth Eng. Ch. 272 This is, of course, fundamental Gospel-truth. 1911 Brereton & Rothwell tr. Bergson's Laughter i. 41 ‘A red nose is a painted nose’, ‘A negro is a white man in disguise’, are also absurd to the reason which rationalises; but they are gospel truths to pure imagination. |
| 1880 Ruskin Lett. to Clergy 349 The simplest travelling tinker inclined *Gospel⁓wards. |
| c 1200 Ormin 5789 Her hafe I nemmnedd nu till ȝuw Þa fowwre *Goddspellwrihhtess. |
Hence
ˈgospelless a., devoid of the gospel.
| 1882–3 J. A. Gilfillan in Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. III. 2602/1 More progress made by them [Indians]..than in all the previous hundred years of gospelless wars. 1896 J. Orr in Un. Presbyt. Mag. Oct. 436 His Gospelless Gospel found a hearing. |
▪ II. gospel, v. (
ˈgɒspəl)
[f. prec. n.; in OE. godspellian.] † a. trans. To preach the gospel to; to imbue with the principles of the gospel, to convert to the gospel;
= evangelize v. 3.
Obs. b. intr. To preach the gospel.
rare.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxvii. 12 God ᵹifeð gleaw word god⁓spellendum. a 1300 [see gospelling vbl. n.]. c 1550 Cheke Matt. xi. 5 Y⊇ blind seeth, and y⊇ laam walketh,..y⊇ deed be raised, and y⊇ beggars be gospeld. 1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 6 Iff any man doo ghospell vnto yow, besyde that whiche yow haue receyued, be he accursed. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 88 Are you so Gospell'd, to pray for this good man, And for his Issue, whose heauie hand Hath bow'd you to the Graue? 1659 Howe in H. Rogers Life iv. (1863) 93 They [the army] think it necessary to have the Parliament gospelled or dissolved. 1867 Bushnell Mor. Uses Dark Th. 196 We have a great many gospeling—that do not come to thought. |
Hence
ˈgospelling ppl. a.| 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iii. 99 This is the playne dealing of ghospelling Bishoppes. 1579 J. Knewstub Confut. **2 a, The hatred that the Gospelling Churches beare vnto such frensies. |