Those divine men who lived before the law were not taught by writings and books, but they had a pure mind and so were enlightened by the radiance of the Holy Spirit. Thus they knew the will of God, and He Himself conversed with them mouth to mouth. Such were Noah, Abraham, Job, and Moses. But when men grew weak and became unworthy to be enlightened and instructed by the Holy Spirit, God Who loves mankind gave the Scriptures so that at least by these means they might be made mindful of the will of God. So also did Christ converse in person with the apostles, and He sent the grace of the Spirit to be their teacher. But after these events heresies would arise and our morals would be corrupted. Therefore it was His good pleasure that the Gospels be written down in order to teach us the truth, so that we would not be drawn away by the falsehood of these heresies, and our morals would not altogether be corrupted. He gave us four Gospels, perhaps because we learn from them the four universal virtues: courage, prudence, righteousness, and self-control. We learn courage when the Lord says, "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (Mt. 10.28); we learn prudence when He exhorts, "Be ye wise therefore as serpents" (Mt. 10:16); we learn righteousness when He teaches, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Mt. 7:12); and we learn self-control when He declares, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Mt. 5:28). For another reason are there four Gospels: because these are pillars of the world. As the world is divided into four parts, east, west, north, and south, it was right that there also be four pillars. And for another reason are there four Gospels: because these contain four elements: teachings, commandments, warnings, and promises. To those who believe the teachings and observe the commandments, God promises the good things that are to come. But those who do not believe the teachings and do not keep the commandments, He threatens with the punishments that are to come.

It is called "Gospel" because it announces to us things that are good, namely, remission of sins, being counted as righteous, ascent into the heavens, and adoption as sons by God. It also announces that we can receive these things easily. For we ourselves have not labored to obtain these good things, nor have we received them as a result of our own accomplishments, but by God’s grace and love for man we have been deemed worthy of such good things.

There are four evangelists; two of them, Matthew and John, were of the company of the twelve, and two, Mark and Luke, were of the seventy. Mark was also a follower and disciple of Peter, and Luke, of Paul. Matthew, then, first wrote the Gospel, in the Hebrew language for the Jews who believed, eight years after Christ’s Ascension. Some say that John translated it from the Hebrew language into Greek. Mark wrote his Gospel ten years after the Ascension, instructed by Peter. Luke wrote his Gospel fifteen years after the Ascension, and John the most wise Theologian, thirty two years after the Ascension.

It is said that after the death of the first three evangelists, the three Gospels were brought to John while he yet lived that he might see them and judge if they had been composed according to the truth. When John saw them he fully accepted the grace of the truth in them; and whatever the other evangelists had omitted, he himself completed, and whatever they had touched on briefly, he elaborated in his own Gospel. This was the beginning of theology. Since the other evangelists had not mentioned the existence of God the Word from before the ages, John himself spoke the word of God, that is, theology, concerning this, so that no one would think that God the Word was a mere man, that is, without divinity. For Matthew speaks only of the existence of Christ in the flesh, as he was writing for the Jews for whom it sufficed to learn that Christ was begotten from Abraham and David. A Jew who believes is content to know that Christ is from David.

You might ask, "Was not one evangelist enough?" Listen, then: one was enough, but four were allowed to write so that the truth might be revealed all the more. When you see these four evangelists, not convening in one place, nor sitting down together, but each one in a different place writing about the same things as if with one mouth, do you not marvel at the truth of the Gospel and say that they spoke by the Holy Spirit? And do not say to me that they do not agree in all points. Look at those things in which they do not agree. Does one evangelist say that Christ was born, and another, that He was not? Or one, that He rose, and another, that He did not? Indeed not! For in the things that are crucial and essential, they speak with one voice. Therefore, if they did not diverge in the essential points, why do you marvel if they appear to vary in minor details? It is precisely because they did not agree in every detail that we can see that they present the truth. For if they had agreed in every point it would cause the suspicion that they had sat down and deliberated together to write the Gospels. Instead, what one evangelist has omitted, another has written down, and it is for this reason that they seem to be at variance on some points. This having been said, let us now turn to the text.