GOSPEL99“God” is also understood differently in
traditions that affirm the unity of God
and nature. According to pantheism,
God is in some sense everything. In
panentheism, the world (or nature or
“creation”) is thought to exist within God.
Some nonrealists treat the concept of
God noncognitively and believe “God”
does not refer to a creator or some other
transcendent being. On their view, talk of
God is to be understood as a way of culti-
vating certain values and feelings such
as compassion and loving your neighbor.
GOD, DEATH OF. A dramatic meta-
phorical declaration that the concept of
God is no longer legitimate—philosophi-
cally, religiously, or theologically. It is
most famously traced to Nietzsche’s Thus
Spake Zarathustra (1883–1885), but it was
a term used earlier by Hegel and Emerson.
GOD OF THE GAPS. Arguments for
God’s existence that rely on the explana-
tory gaps of other theories. If, for example,
evolutionary biology cannot explain the
emergence of human life from nonhu-
man animals, a theist may use this as part
of a case for creationism.
GOD OF THE PHILOSOPHERS. Pascal
once juxtaposed God as conceived of by
philosophers with the God of religion.
Some believe the former is too intellec-
tual or abstract and not immediately
relevant to ordinary believers.
GODDESS. A female god, often associ-
ated with indigenous religions and nature
or earth worship. Some feminist theo-
logians think that religious practices that
were defined by goddess worship were
more pacific, collaborative, and matri-
focal than the patriarchy linked with the
worship of a male god.GOLDEN RULE. “Do onto others as
you would have others do onto you.” This
ethical command occurs in numerous
religious traditions, although usually in
the negative form; e.g., Confucius said
“What you do not want done to yourself,
do not do to others.”GOOD, THE. Most commonly used in a
broad, Platonic context to refer to good-
ness in general or the form or property by
which good things are good. Platonists
have traditionally held that the goodness
of particular things and acts are good in
virtue of the property the Good.GOSPEL. In Greek, euangelion, “good
news.” The Gospels contain accounts of
the life of Jesus. Christians recognize four
canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. The first three are known as the
synoptic gospels and have much material
in common. Most scholars accept a two-
source hypothesis for the relationship
between the synoptic gospels, according
to which Mark’s gospel was written
first. Matthew and Luke then drew from
Mark’s gospel and a second source, called