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The Gospels were originally written in [[Greek]], the common lingua franca (common or commercial language among diverse peoples) of the Roman Orient. No original Gospels have been found in [[Aramaic]]; the only known Aramaic Gospels are translations from Greek versions. The general consensus is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written particularly for [[Jews]]; the Gospel according to Mark was written particularly for [[Romans]]; the Gospel according to Luke was written particularly for [[Greeks]]; and the Gospel according to John was written for everyone.
The Gospels were originally written in [[Greek]], the common lingua franca (common or commercial language among diverse peoples) of the Roman Orient. No original Gospels have been found in [[Aramaic]]; the only known Aramaic Gospels are translations from Greek versions. The general consensus is that the Gospel according to Matthew was written particularly for [[Jews]]; the Gospel according to Mark was written particularly for [[Romans]]; the Gospel according to Luke was written particularly for [[Greeks]]; and the Gospel according to John was written for everyone.
According to historians, gospels are believed to be the only literary form that originated in the Christian community. History.com explains a gospel as: "not a biography, although it bears some resemblance to biographies of heroes, human and divine, in the Greco-Roman world. A gospel is a series of individual accounts of acts or sayings, each having a kind of completeness, but arranged to create a cumulative effect. The writers of the Gospels apparently had some interest in chronological order, but that was not primary. Theological concerns and readers' needs strongly influenced arrangement of materials. One would expect, therefore, that even though all four New Testament Gospels center on Jesus of Nazareth and all four are gospels in literary form, differences would still exist among them. And that is the case. Apart from the accounts of Jesus' arrest, trial, death, and resurrection, which are strikingly similar in all four, the Gospels differ in important details, perspectives, and accents of interpretation."[http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=53444&display_order=3&sub_display_order=15&mini_id=53426]
Since there were numerous gospels circulating in the early Christian community, church leaders felt that there needed to be a stronger sense of unity. The four canonical gospels were chosen due mostly to the work of Irenaeus, the Second Bishop of Lyon. According to one of his works, ''Against Heresies'', he deduced that it would be fitting to have four gospels since there are four directions of the wind.