Gospel

===Textual history and canonisation===
{{Main|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The oldest gospel text known is {{Papyrus link|52}}, a fragment of John dating from the first half of the 2nd century.{{sfn|Fant|Reddish|2008|p=415}} The creation of a Christian canon was probably a response to the career of the heretic [[Marcion]] (c. 85–160), who established a canon of his own with just one gospel, the [[Gospel of Marcion]], similar to the Gospel of Luke.{{sfn|Ehrman|2005a|p=34|ps=: "Marcion included a Gospel in his canon, a form of what is now the Gospel of Luke"}} The [[Muratorian canon]], the earliest surviving list of books considered (by its own author at least) to form Christian scripture, included Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. [[Irenaeus of Lyons]] went further, stating that there must be four gospels and only four because there were [[Four corners of the world|four corners of the Earth]] and thus the Church should have four pillars.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=697}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2005a|p=35}} He referred to the four collectively as the "fourfold gospel" (''euangelion tetramorphon'').{{sfn|Watson|2016|p=15}}