Sunday, March 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Apocryphal Gospels

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Texts

An Arabic Infancy GospelAn apocryphal infancy narrative preserved in Arabic — miracles of the infant Jesus from Nativity through the finding in the Temple.The Gospel of BartholomewAn apocryphal text in which the apostle Bartholomew questions the risen Christ about the mysteries of incarnation and hell, and confronts Satan himself bound in fiery chains.The Gospel of JamesThe Protevangelium of James -- the most influential apocryphal infancy narrative, primary source for Christian traditions about the Virgin Mary's birth, childhood, and perpetual virginity.The Gospel of Nicodemos (the Acts of Pilate)One of the most influential medieval apocryphal texts, combining a dramatic account of Jesus's trial before Pilate with the Descensus ad Inferos -- Christ's harrowing of hell narrated by two men raised from the dead.The Gospel of PeterThe only early Christian gospel narrated in Peter's own voice, famous for its account of the resurrection itself -- two figures descending from heaven, a walking cross, and the cross that answers 'Yea.'The Gospel of Pseudo-MatthewA Latin infancy gospel in which dragons bow before the infant Christ, a palm tree bends at his command, and clay sparrows fly at his word -- the folk imagination of early Christianity made vivid.The Gospel of the Nativity of MaryA ninth-century Latin infancy gospel of the Virgin Mary whose scenes of Joachim and Anna, the Temple, and the flowering rod became the standard source for Marian iconography in Western art.The Gospel of Thomas Fragments from OxyrhynchusGreek papyrus fragments of the Gospel of Thomas discovered at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, dating from the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE -- among the earliest physical witnesses to Jesus's sayings outside the canon.The Infancy Gospels of JesusAn Arabic infancy gospel of Jesus's childhood from Nativity through the Temple, blending Eastern traditions of healing, exorcism, and wonder that influenced Islamic accounts of the young Christ.The Secret Gospel of MarkA letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria preserving two fragments of a secret, esoteric version of Mark's Gospel, discovered at Mar Saba monastery in 1958 and still fiercely debated.