The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction

161 Pages·2009·3.03 MB·English

by  Paul Foster

TheApocryphalGospels:AVeryShortIntroduction
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Paul Foster
The
Apocryphal
Gospels
A Very Short Introduction
3
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxfordox26dp
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ISBN 978–0–19–923694–7
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Contents
Listofillustrations viii
1
Theapocryphalgospels–what’sinaname? 1
2
The‘gospels’fromNagHammadi 26
3
Theinfancygospels 61
4
GospelssetduringtheearthlylifeofJesus 86
5
Secretrevelationsanddialoguegospels 117
6
Insightsfromthenon-canonicalgospels 132
Furtherreading 139
References 142
Index 151
List of Illustrations
1 Mapshowingthelocationof 7 TheGospelofThomas
manuscriptdiscoveriesin InstituteforAntiquityand
Egypt:Akhmˆım,Nag Christianity,Claremont,
California 33
Hammadi,and
Oxyrhynchus 3
8 Ceilingpanel,‘Jesusvivifies
claybirds’,c.1150,Churchof
2 Oxyrhynchus StMartin,Zillis,Switzerland
CourtesyoftheEgyptian #TheArtAchive/GlanniDagli
ExplorationSociety 5 Orti 66
3 Diggersunearthingscrapsof 9 AlbrechtDu¨rer,Presentation
papyrusatOxyrhynchus oftheVirginintheTemple,
CourtesyoftheEgyptian 1502–3
ExplorationSociety 5 StaatlicheGraphische
Sammlung,Munich 76
4 BernardP.Grenfelland
10 GospelofPetermanuscript
ArthurS.Hunt
InternationalPhotographic
CourtesyoftheEgyptian ArchiveofPapyri,Cairo 93
ExplorationSociety 20
11 Theopeningtwopagesofthe
5 NagHammadi textoftheGospelofPeter
InstituteforAntiquityand InternationalPhotographic
Christianity,Claremont, ArchiveofPapyri,Cairo 94
California 27
12 Thefinalpageofthe
6 NagHammadicodicies manuscriptoftheGospelof
InstituteforAntiquityand Peter
Christianity,Claremont, InternationalPhotographic
California 28 ArchiveofPapyri,Cairo 95
Chapter 1
The apocryphal gospels –
what’s in a name?
TherearealsomanyotherthingswhichJesusdid;wereeveryone
ofthemtobewritten,Isupposethattheworlditselfcouldnot
containthebooksthatwouldbewritten.
(John21.25)
SoendstheGospelofJohn,withanacknowledgementthatit
containedonlyalimitednumberofthetraditionsaboutJesus.Butis
thisstatementmereauthorialhyperbole,ordoesitreflectareality
thatinthegospelwriter’sdaytherewasavastnumberofstoriesand
sayingsattributedtoJesusincirculation?If,eventoalimitedextent,
theauthorofthefourthgospelportraystheprevailingcircumstances
ofhisownday,itbecomesfascinatingtoaskwhathappenedtoall
theseextratraditionsconcerningJesus.Inalllikelihoodthevagaries
ofancienthistorywouldmeanthevastmajoritywerelostinthemists
oftime.Romanticnotionsofsuchmaterialsurvivingthroughlong
chainsoforaltraditionreachingdowntwomillenniaaresimply
fanciful.Forsuchadditionaltraditionstosurvive,theonlyplausible
mechanismwouldbethroughthemediumofwrittentexts:either
copiedandtransmittedbyscribesdownthroughthecenturies,or
throughthechancepreservationofancientmanuscripts.
Upuntilaboutthe1870s,onlythefirstofthesetwoalternatives
wasknowntohaveledtothepreservationofextra-biblical
1