From reading your post, I think I'd be classified as an "unbeliever," so I'll answer this question:
iano writes:
how would you:
- understand 'the gospel' as it has been thus far delivered to you, as unbeliever?
To me, "The Gospel" is the central tenets of the Christian religion. The Gospel houses all the important, life-changing, powerful, undeniable ideas that are at the core of the religion. Specifics on what these parts actually are and how they work vary widely from taking the text literally to incorporating "the Bible as a whole" in order to form many different interpretations. It should be noted that many who also claim to "take the text literally" actually do not, or at least do not agree with many others who also claim to "take the text literally."
The common aspect is that whatever these specific ideas actually are (covering topics including morality, purpose, afterlife and personal peace and happiness), they are always put forward as "the one and only answer for everyone that always concludes with positive results" (although sometimes not until the afterlife).
Identifying this common aspect is what makes it difficult to make a distinction between someone who is "professing The Gospel" and someone who is "selling snake oil." Along with the additional fact that no matter which specific version of The Gospel is being professed, there doesn't exist any group of people who actually possess the claimed positive results which are not also easily available to non-Gospel groups of people through non-religious means. That is, any and all observable results or conclusions that have been claimed to come through "the power of The Gospel" are equally available (and sometimes to a greater extent) without the use of The Gospel in any way.
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