The Apocryphal Gospels

A new translation of the oldest non-canonical Christian gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of JudasIn the early years of Christianity, several groups produced 'hidden' or 'apocryphal' gospels, alternative versions of the story of Christ. Sometimes these texts complemented the four canonical gospels, sometimes they subverted them and often they were completely different. We hear the young Jesus making live birds from clay, words of wisdom collected by his disciples, details of his trial, gnostic cosmologies, strange angels and the Harrowing of Hell. Often kept secret by their readers and frequently attacked by their detractors, these gospels shine a fascinating light on the early Christian Church and its surprising manifestations.

“A deeply impressive scholarly achievement, with first-class translations of many notoriously complex texts”

-- Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
This hugely useful volume is the best sort of scholarship . . . We are deeply in his debt -- Diarmaid McCulloch, author of A History of Christianity
This will become the standard version both for the general reader and for scholars -- John Barton, author of A History of the Bible

Simon Gathercole (External Editor)Simon Gathercole received a double First in Classics and Theology at Cambridge, and studied further at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and the Universities of T bingen and Durham. He has written several books on the New Testament and apocryphal Christian literature, and is editor of the journal New Testament Studies. He is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity in the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

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