Apocryphal Gospels Hidden Truths About Jesus?

"THIS is big. A lot of people are going to be  upset."  This changes the history of early Christianity."  These dramatic statements came from scholars welcoming the publication of the  "Gospel of Judas," a text thought lost for over 16 centuries.

There is renewed interest in such apocryphal gospels.  Some people claim that these texts unveil momentous events and teachings from Jesus' life that were long kept hidden.  But what are the apocryphal gospels?  Can they really teach us truths about Jesus and Christianity that we cannot fine in the Bible?


Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels

Between 31 and 98 C.E., Matthew, Mark, Luke,and John wrote down "the history of Jesus Christ."  (Matthew 1:1)  These accounts are sometimes called gospels, meaning "good news" about Jesus Christ. -Mark 1:1.

While there may have been oral traditions as well as other writings about Jesus, these four Gospels were the only ones considered inspired of God and worthy of being par of the Holy Scriptures-providing "the certainty of the things" regarding Jesus' earthly life and teachings.  (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1, 2; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17)  These full gospels  are mentioned in all the ancient catalogs of the Christian Greek Scriptures.  There is no basis  for questioning their canonicity-their status as part of the inspired Word of God.

In time, though, other writings started to appear that were also given the name gospels.  These other gospels were called apocryphal. 

At the end of the second century, Irenaeus of Lyon wrote that those who had apostatized  from Christianity had  "an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings," including gospels that "they themselves have forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish men."  Hence, the apocryphal gospels ended up being considered dangerous not only to read but even to own.

However, medieval monks and copyists kept those works from going into oblivion.  In the 19th century, interest in the subject increased greatly and many collections of texts and critical editions of the apocrypha, including several gospels, came to light.  Today there are editions published in many of the major modern languages.

Next time: Apocryphal Gospels: Far-fetched Accounts about Jesus

The Watchtower, 2012