<P> A gospel is a written account of the career and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth . The word originated as a contraction from old English "god spel" meaning "good news", "glad tidings (of the kingdom of God)" and is comparable to the Greek εὐαγγέλιον, evangelion) </P> <P> The word originally meant the Christian message itself, but in the 2nd century it came to be used for the books in which the message was set out . </P> <P> The four gospels of the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--are almost our only source of information on Jesus, and thus occupy a uniquely important place in Christianity . They were all written in the period between c. 70 AD and the end of the 1st century, by anonymous authors, and stand at the end of a process of oral and written tradition that began on, or even before, the death of Jesus . </P> <P> For various reasons modern scholars are cautious of relying on them uncritically, nevertheless, they do provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors . </P>

In which period of time were the gospels written