CosmosFour Evangelists
Four Evangelists
Also called: Tetramorph
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the four Gospel writers.In this narrative, they sit at the four turning points of the year, the four positions the sun passes through.
Established facts
Tradition holds that the New Testament's four Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.Early church art symbolized these four writers as a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.These four symbols are drawn from the four living creatures in Revelation 4.The spring and autumn equinoxes are the days the sun crosses the equator, while the summer and winter solstices are the days the sun reaches its highest and lowest points.The zodiac is a set of twelve constellations dividing the sun's yearly path.Libra is the constellation the sun passes through around the autumn equinox.
The sun that halts at the winter solstice and rises again is said to be the skeleton of the Jesus story.
In this narrativeFour writers, four seasons
This picture draws the zodiac as two unfolded semicircles in a diagram1.It attaches one name to each of the four points: the solstices and the equinoxes1.It places John at March 21 and Matthew at June 211.It places Mark at September 21 and Luke at December 211.That seats the four Gospel writers at the four positions the sun occupies through the year1.In this narrative, the Gospels become a record of the sun's yearly path, transcribed.
In this narrativeLibra's place
Libra is the point where the sun finds balance moving from summer into winter1.The autumn equinox, when day and night are equal length, falls at this point1.That is why Libra is drawn as a set of scales1.In this narrative, the scales mark the moment the seasons flip1.A diagram of the twelve zodiac signs arrayed clockwise on a circular chart sits below it1.
In this narrativeDifferent maps, different signs
Another source on this site seats the twelve apostles one each on the twelve zodiac signs1.In that map, Matthew sits on Capricorn and John on Leo1.This differs from the map that seats the four Gospel writers at the four seasonal turning points1.The two maps read the same figures onto different constellations1.Even so, both maps share one thing: overlaying the Gospel writers and apostles onto the zodiac.
Connected concepts
- Zodiac and the Twelve Disciples →One frame, the zodiac, seats both the four Gospel writers and the twelve apostles on constellations.
- Jesus as the Sun →Once the Gospel writers sit in the sun's positions, the whole Jesus story becomes the sun's yearly course.
- Winter Solstice →December 21, where Luke sits, is the winter solstice, the day that overlaps the Jesus birth story.