Are there preeminent writings which form the basis of the New Testament?
Within the corpus of the Bible, and even within the New Testament, one group of books occupies a supreme place: the Holy Gospel, proclaimed in the four books of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. As St Irenaeus teaches, the Gospel is one, yet given in fourfold form, as the four winds and the four faces of the cherubim (St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, III.11.8; see Q024, Q090).
Only the four Gospels are placed upon the altar table in the sanctuary, as supreme scriptural witnesses to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ: the Gospel book rests on the holy table as Christ enthroned in his own word, is carried in solemn procession at the Little Entrance, and is venerated with the kiss of honor.
