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All KJV Words

Archaic KJV Word

Gospel

Modern equivalent: good news

What Was Lost

The herald's proclamation. In the Roman world, euangelion was the announcement that a new emperor had taken the throne or that a great military victory had been won. Mark's opening line was a political and theological earthquake: this is the victory announcement -- God's King has arrived.

Closest Survivor in Modern English

gospel (still used but flattened -- 'the gospel truth' now just means 'really true')

Peak Usage (1611)

KJV Mark 1:1 -- 'The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God'

Died still used but diluted (~1950)

Overuse and genericization. From Old English god-spell ('God's story' or 'good story'), the word became a generic term for 'good news' and then a music genre, draining its specific theological content.

What Replaced It

good news

Any positive information; gospel specifically meant the earth-shattering announcement that God had acted decisively in history through Christ

message

Neutral and generic; gospel was a proclamation with the authority of a royal herald announcing a king's victory

Related KJV Words