gospel

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The proclamation of the redemption preached by Jesus and the Apostles, which is the central content of Christian revelation.
• noun Bible One of the first four New Testament books, describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and recording his teaching.
• noun A similar narrative.
• noun A lection from any of the first four New Testament books included as part of a religious service.
• noun A teaching or doctrine of a religious teacher.
• noun Music Gospel music.
• noun Something, such as an idea or principle, accepted as unquestionably true.
• adjective Of or in accordance with the Gospel; evangelical.
• adjective Of or relating to gospel music.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To instruct in the gospel; fill with sentiments of piety.
• noun (Glad tidings, especially the glad tidings that the Messiah expected by the Jews has appeared in the person of Christ.
• noun The story of Christ's life, teachings, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension; hence, one of the books in which that story was originally told: as, the Gospel of Matthew.
• noun The doctrine and precepts inculcated by Christ and recorded in the original accounts of his life and teachings.
• noun Hence Any doctrine, religious or secular, maintained as of great or exclusive importance.
• noun A portion of Scripture taken from one of the four gospels, and appointed to be read in liturgical churches as a part of the church service.
• noun That which is infallibly true; absolute truth.
• Pertaining or relating to the gospel; accordant with the gospel; evangelical.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb obsolete To instruct in the gospel.
• adjective Accordant with, or relating to, the gospel; evangelical.
• noun Glad tidings; especially, the good news concerning Christ, the Kingdom of God, and salvation.
• noun One of the four narratives of the life and death of Jesus Christ, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• noun A selection from one of the gospels, for use in a religious service.
• noun Any system of religious doctrine; sometimes, any system of political doctrine or social philosophy.
• noun colloq. Anything propounded or accepted as infallibly true.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The first section of the Christian New Testament scripture, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, concerned with the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus.
• noun An account of the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus, generally written during the first several centuries of the Common Era.
• noun A message expected to have positive reception or effect.
• noun Protestantism the teaching of Divine grace as distinguished from the Law or Divine commandments
• noun uncountable gospel music
• noun uncountable That which is absolutely authoritative (definitive).
• verb obsolete, transitive To instruct in the gospel.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul)
• noun an unquestionable truth
• noun a doctrine that is believed to be of great importance
• noun the written body of teachings of a religious group that are generally accepted by that group
• noun the four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings