The apocryphal gospels refer to early Christian texts that are not part of the canonical New Testament. These texts claim to recount events from the life of Jesus Christ and his followers, but were ultimately not included in the Bible for various reasons. While they provide interesting historical insights, most biblical scholars do not view them as scripture or as historically reliable as the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Some of the most well-known apocryphal gospels include:
- The Gospel of Thomas – A sayings gospel discovered in Egypt in 1945. It contains 114 sayings attributed to Jesus.
- The Gospel of Peter – A narrative gospel recovered in Egypt in 1886. It focuses on the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
- The Gospel of Mary – A gospel written in the 2nd century and found in Egypt in 1896. It highlights Mary Magdalene’s prominence among the disciples.
- The Infancy Gospel of James – A text from the 2nd century describing Jesus’s birth and the life of Mary. It claims that Mary was born miraculously and perpetually virgin.
- The Gospel of Judas – A controversial Gnostic text from the 2nd century. It portrays Judas in a positive light as the only disciple who truly understood Jesus.
- The Gospel of Philip – A 3rd century Gnostic codex discovered in Egypt in 1945. It emphasizes the sacraments and goddess imagery, and includes references to Mary Magdalene.
- The Gospel of Truth – A Gnostic text found in Egypt in 1896. It emphasizes gnosis (secret knowledge) over faith as the way to salvation.
There are over 40 known apocryphal gospels from antiquity, though most exist only in fragments. While they present some intriguing extra-biblical stories and viewpoints, there are good reasons why the apocryphal gospels were excluded from the biblical canon:
- They were written too late – Most apocryphal gospels date to the 2nd century or later, too far removed from the life of Jesus to contain historically reliable information.
- Stylistically different – The apocryphal gospels are more mythological and imaginative compared to the simple style of the biblical gospels.
- Theological differences – Many contain Gnostic themes that conflict with orthodox Christianity, such as salvation through secret knowledge.
- Not written by apostles – They lack verification of apostolic authorship or lineage, unlike the biblical gospels attributed to Matthew and John.
- Not accepted by the early church – From the earliest lists in the 2nd century, the church uniformly recognized only the four canonical gospels.
While fascinating in their own right, the apocryphal gospels ultimately paint an incomplete, historically dubious, and theologically divergent portrait of Jesus compared to the reliable witness of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The church has historically affirmed only those gospels written by apostles or their close associates that faithfully lined up with apostolic teaching. The New Testament itself warns against false teachings creeping in that would distort the authentic gospel revealed in Scripture (Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Peter 2:1).
Below is an overview of some of the major apocryphal gospels and their contents:
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas is one of the earliest and best-known apocryphal gospels, discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945. While it calls itself a “gospel”, it takes the form of a sayings collection attributed to Jesus rather than a narrative account of his life and ministry. The Gospel of Thomas contains 114 sayings, approximately half of which have similarities with sayings found in the biblical gospels. The other sayings present completely new revelations and conversations supposedly from the lips of Jesus. The Gospel of Thomas does not contain a passion narrative, genealogy, or concrete biographical details about Jesus common to the canonical gospels, making impossible to nail down its historical context. Instead, it portrays Jesus as a dispenser of wisdom and insight more than as Lord and Savior.
The Gospel of Thomas includes some teachings compatible with biblical Christianity, but also elements of Gnosticism that conflict with the traditional gospels. For instance, Jesus at one point states “Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find me there” (saying 77), promoting a mystical understanding of God’s presence in all things. The Gospel of Thomas emphasizes salvation via secret gnosis or knowledge rather than through faith in Jesus’s atoning sacrifice. It was likely composed in the mid-to-late 2nd century, making it far too late to have been written by the apostle Thomas himself, contrary to its claim. The early church fathers were aware of the Gospel of Thomas but universally rejected it as heretical and untrustworthy. While intriguing, the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas ultimately paint an irreconcilable depiction of Jesus compared to the reliable testimony of the four canonical gospels.
The Gospel of Peter
The Gospel of Peter is one of several apocryphal narrative gospels providing an account of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. A fragment of the Gospel of Peter was discovered in Egypt in 1886, though its composition dates to the 2nd century. It claims to have been authored by the apostle Peter, but was clearly pseudonymous. The Gospel of Peter aligns closely with the canonical gospels in recounting the trial, suffering, and death of Jesus. However, it departs dramatically from Scripture in its description of the events following the crucifixion.
Unlike any of the biblical accounts, the Gospel of Peter narrates a talking cross, supernatural darkness, resurrected saints walking in Jerusalem, a giant emerging Jesus whose height reaches the heavens, and a walking, talking giant Jesus whose head bobbles up to reach the sky. In this account, the narrative focus and reverence seems to shift away from Jesus and onto these fantastic occurrences. The Gospel of Peter also stresses Pilate’s innocence and the Jewish leaders’ guilt for the crucifixion more forcefully than any canonical gospel. The Gospel of Peter’s divergence from the plain, historical accounts of Jesus’s resurrection in the biblical gospels strongly suggests its lack of historical reliability and its origin in later legend rather than eyewitness testimony.
The Gospel of Mary
The Gospel of Mary is a fragmentary apocryphal text discovered in 1896 in Cairo, Egypt. Like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary takes the form of a revelation dialogue between Jesus and his disciples rather than a narrative account of Jesus’s ministry. Composed in the 2nd century, it is attributed to Mary Magdalene and highlights her prominence among the disciples. The main content involves Mary consoling the other disciples after Jesus’s ascension and encouraging them to preach the gospel despite persecution. Jesus imparts secret revelations to Mary through a vision, indicating that He provided her with unique understanding of His spiritual teachings. The disciples question Mary’s authority and are skeptical of her vision at first but eventually affirm her leadership.
The Gospel of Mary exhibits themes of Gnosticism that were common in 2nd century pseudo-Christian writings but foreign to the biblical gospels. It portrays the material world negatively and argues for escaping physicality and embracing the divine spirit within. The Gospel of Mary also argues for salvation through special spiritual knowledge given only to certain enlightened initiates rather than through the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Most significantly, it elevates Mary Magdalene far beyond her minor role as a disciple in the biblical record. The Gospel of Mary offers imaginative extra-biblical elaboration of Mary Magdalene rather than historically reliable information about her relationship to Jesus.
The Infancy Gospel of James
Also known as the Protoevangelium of James, the Infancy Gospel of James is an apocryphal text attempting to fill in details regarding Jesus’s birth that aren’t included in the biblical narratives. Likely composed in the mid-2nd century, it claims to have been authored by Jesus’s brother James, but this is universally rejected by scholars. The Infancy Gospel of James focuses on glorifying Mary more than illuminating Jesus’s early life. It claims that Mary’s own birth was miraculous, her parents previously being infertile. It claims Mary was raised in the Temple from a young age like a temple virgin and was perpetually virgin her entire life, even avoiding ritual uncleanness during childbirth. It also tries to explain how Mary came to be betrothed to the much older Joseph.
While some details align with the image of Mary and Joseph in the biblical gospels, much of the Infancy Gospel of James strays into excessive veneration of Mary as an exalted, almost divine figure lacking biblical precedent. By portraying even Mary’s birth as miraculous and claiming she remained a virgin despite giving birth, the Infancy Gospel of James steps into doctrinal contradictions absent from the biblical account. The clinical description of the physical particulars around Jesus’s birth also diverges from the pious reserve of the gospel narratives. The Infancy Gospel of James may provide a window into some early Christian beliefs about Mary but includes legendary developments inconsistent with the far more reliable canonical gospels.
The Gospel of Judas
Perhaps the most controversial apocryphal gospel is the Gospel of Judas, a Gnostic text likely composed in the 2nd century. It was discovered in Egypt in the 1970s and translated in 2006. Like other apocryphal gospels, it takes the form of a post-resurrection dialogue between Jesus and his disciples. In stark contrast to the biblical account, the Gospel of Judas portrays Judas as the most spiritually insightful of the disciples, the only one who truly understood Jesus’s mission. It presents Judas betraying Jesus on Jesus’s own request in order to fulfill the divine plan.
Beyond this shocking recasting of the biblical villian Judas as the enlightened hero, the Gospel of Judas diverges from Christian orthodoxy in several other ways. It rejects faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice as the way of salvation, instead emphasizing special mystical knowledge. It presents an ascetic view that disparages the physical creation as corrupt, contrary to God declaring His creation good in Genesis. Perhaps not surprisingly, early church leaders condemned the Gospel of Judas as heretical fiction. While its rehabilitation of Judas grabs attention, scholars overwhelmingly agree the Gospel of Judas lacks any historical reliability.
The Gospel of Philip
The Gospel of Philip is yet another Gnostic apocryphal gospel discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945. Likely composed in the 3rd century, it takes the form of a collection of theological reflections rather than a narrative gospel. It exhibits strong Gnostic themes, opposing the material world and embracing the divine truth within. The text emphasizes the sacraments as the means of salvation and indicates initiates to some higher order had exclusive access to its teachings. Interspersed teachings argue for the collapse of gender and ethnic distinctions between enlightened souls.
The Gospel of Philip makes several references to Mary Magdalene, highlighting her special relationship to Jesus more than any other apocryphal gospel. It controversially claims Jesus loved Mary more than the other disciples and would often kiss her on the mouth. However, the missing context makes it unclear how to interpret this statement. The Gospel of Philip may preserve some authentic traditions about Mary Magdalene but likely develops them well beyond historical realities. As a late, Gnostic-influenced text, the Gospel of Philip cannot be treated as equal to the far earlier, orthodox canonical gospels.
The Gospel of Truth
The Gospel of Truth is another Gnostic text, discovered among the Nag Hammadi cache in Egypt in 1896. Scholars date it to the mid-2nd century and attribute it to the Gnostic teacher Valentinus. True to Gnosticism, the Gospel of Truth emphasizes secret knowledge rather than faith as the path to salvation. It describes Jesus imparting this special knowledge about humanity’s divine origins to a select group of disciples. The text speaks dismissively about the darkness of material existence and those wallowing in ignorance. In contrast to the Christian vision of community and corporate worship, it advocates for solitary enlightenment.
While exhibiting some parallels with Christian doctrine, the Gospel of Truth denies essential biblical truths like Jesus’s incarnation and bodily resurrection. It focuses on mystical knowledge and denial of physicality rather than humanity’s need for a suffering savior to atone for sins. As church father Irenaeus explained in Against Heresies, the Gospel of Truth was favored among Gnostic heretics rather than orthodox Christians. While interesting from a historical perspective, its divergence from apostolic Christianity precludes it as scripture.
This survey provides just a sampling of the diversity of apocryphal gospels discovered throughout history, with more undoubtedly still waiting to be found. While all claim some connection to the historical Jesus, they reflect wide-ranging motives and belief systems distinct from the biblical accounts. Some apocryphal gospels appear to have been deliberately crafted as “pious fiction” to promote theological agendas. Others may represent well-meaning but spurious attempts to speculate about unknown details of Jesus’s life and teachings. While worthy of study, ultimately none demonstrate the authenticity and reliability that characterize Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The church’s historic hesitancy to embrace the apocryphal gospels as scripture has proven wise.