Chapter 54 of 404

Examples from the Apocryphal Gospels

The character of Jesus in some of these “gospels” differs noticeably from the character of the Jesus in our extant first-century sources. Thus, for example, in the Infancy Story of Thomas (not the same as the earlier Gospel of Thomas), Jesus strikes dead a boy who bumped him. When the deceased boy’s parents complain to Joseph, Jesus strikes them blind, to his stepfather’s dismay.³¹ When another observer complains because Jesus made clay sparrows on the Sabbath, Jesus claps his hands and the birds fly off.³² A child died accidentally and when Jesus was accused of having pushed him, Jesus raised him to testify.³³

The apocryphal gospels vary in kind,³⁴ including infancy gospels (such as those attributed to James and Thomas); a passion gospel (Acts of Pilate); and the Gospels of Bartholomew; of Nicodemus; and so forth. For some, like the Gospels of Barnabas, the Ebionites, and the Hebrews, we possess only fragments quoted by other authors. Some of the apocryphal gospels are very late (the Apocryphal Gospel of John, for example, not to be confused with our canonical Gospel of John, may derive from the eleventh century). Others probably stem from the second century, though probably dependent on our canonical Gospels.³⁵

A small minority of scholars think that the Gospel of Peter comes from the first century;³⁶ it is not docetic and has some apocalyptic elements. Thus Crossan, an “alternative gospel” advocate, dates part of it (the so-called Cross Gospel) earlier than any of the canonical Gospels, and relies on it for part of his reconstruction of events surrounding Jesus.³⁷ Its date, however, is surely later than the first century. The ninth-century document scholars today call the “Gospel of Peter” has no title, and its putative original is dated to the second century only because some have supposed it to be the work condemned (though not really described) by an ancient bishop later quoted by Eusebius. Some argue that our document is not in fact the one referred to in Eusebius; if they are correct, the original version of this work could date as late as the ninth century.³⁸

In any case, it would be difficult to argue that this text, with its self-rolling stone, walking cross, and other features strikingly uncharacteristic of the securest Jesus tradition, is earlier than the canonical gospels.³⁹ It appears to draw on all four canonical Gospels, and sometimes apparently includes wording characteristic of those sources.⁴⁰ The level of anti-Jewish prejudice resembles some second-century works.⁴¹ Most importantly, the work is so far removed from any knowledge of early Judaism as to portray Jewish leaders keeping watch in a cemetery at night (obviously violating Jewish belief and practice regarding ritual purity).⁴² Our standards and expectations for novels, however, differ from those for biographies and histories.

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