What is the origin of the English word “gospel”?
The English word gospel comes from the Old English / Anglo-Saxon “godspell” meaning good news or good tidings. This is according to the New International Dictionary of the Bible p.396 and the skeptical Asimovs Guide to the Bible p.770. The English Dictionary edited by Charles Earle Funk, Litt.D. p.1122 adds the Old English “spell” means story, tidings, or statement. “spell”, meaning to signify, comes from the Old French espeler, which is from the Middle Lower German spellen, “say”. Q: What is the origin of the English word “evangelist”? A: It comes from the French word evangeliste (evangelist) as well as the Latin evangelicus which ultimately came from the Greek euangelion (eu = good and angelia = message.) Q: Who was the first to write a book answering questions on the gospels? A: The earliest I have found is Eusebius of Caesarea (313-339/340 A.D.) who wrote two works. The first is called Gospel Questions and Solutions Addressed to Stephanus, which is also entitled Questions and Solut
