The Gnostic Gospels and Acts: A tabulation of the New Testament Apocrypha

Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
The Gnostic Gospels and Acts - a review of the New Testament Apocryphal texts
Introduction The major unanswered questions arising from the discovery of the Gnostic Gospels and Acts and other New Testament Apocyrphal texts, over the last few centuries are: when, and by whom, and why, were the Greek originals authored. Over one hundred separate texts have been categorised into the following six categories .... The Gnostic Gospels (23), The Gnostic Acts (29), The Gnostic Wisdom Sayings (10), Letters and Correspondence (8), Gnostic Apocalypses/Revelations , (12) and Gnostic Treatises (25). The data columns tabulated below are as follows: Column 1: Title of the text linked to an Engish translation of the text itself (where possible) Column 2: Attestation Status according to the Orthodox heresiologists, Column 3: Mainstream Chronology, according to a consensus of contemporary academics Column 4: Alternative chronology proposed by the editor of this table. Column 5: Editorial Comments & Notations, Column 6: Year of discovery, Column 7: Date of earliest manuscript evidence, Column 8: Date of Earliest mention, Column 9: Other collated notes. At the conclusion of the tabulation are some editorial comments. [DRAFT PHASE: March 2011]
Gnostic Gospels .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
The Gospel of the Hebrews	No textual witness	1st-2nd	325-336 CE	No Text - The Gospel of the Hebrews is known from quotations by Cyril of Jerusalem (Discourse on Mary Theotokos 12a), Origen (Commentary on John 2.12.87), Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 2.9.45.5, 5.14.96.3), and Jerome (Commentary on Isaiah 4, Commentary on Ephesians 3, Commentary on Ezekiel 6, De viris illustribus 2).	Not	No extant text.	0324: No text - Papias, Clement, Origen, Jerome, Cyril	Text \| Wiki \| Google - In The Other Gospels, Ron Cameron ... "The Gospel of the Hebrews may have been known to Papias (a church writer who died ca. 130 C.E., whose five-volume 'Exegesis of the Sayings of the Lord' is now lost, preserved only in a few quotations in the writings of Eusebius). Hegesippus (late in the second century) and Eusebius (early in the fourth century) attest to the existence of this gospel, but do not quote from it. Fragments are preserved in the writings of Clement of Alexandria (late in the second century), Origen (early in the third century), and Cyril (Bishop of Jerusalem, ca. 350 C.E.). Jerome (ca. 400 C.E.) also preserves several fragments, all of which he probably reproduced from the writings of Origen. The extent of this gospel is no longer known. According to the list of 'canonical' and 'apocryphal' books drawn up by Nicephorus (Patriarch of Constantinople, 806-818 C.E.), the Gospel of the Hebrews contained 2200 lines, only 300 fewer than Matthew!"
The Gospel of Thomas	Eusebius has witnesses	1st [099]	325-336 CE	Robert M. Grant "... a carefully selected announcement of basic Gnostic doctrines. His monotonous repetition of the phrase "Jesus said", does not prove that his gospel is Christian ....[...]... the environment in which Thomas did his work is almost certainly Gnostic. Indeed, if we make a point-by-point comparison between Thomas and the Naassenes described in the fifth book of Hippolytus's "Refutation", we may well conclude that his gospel not only was used by them but was also composed in support of their doctrines. ......It is important as a witness to the development of Gnostic Christology, not to the teaching of the historical Jesus. [Source]	1945	4th NHC [NHC 02.2]	0324: Eusebius, Cyril,	Text \| Wiki \| Google - Classed as Heretical: Eusebius, for example, included it among a group of books that he believed to be not only spurious, but "the fictions of heretics" that should be thrown out as absurd and impious. In the 4th and 5th centuries, various Church Fathers wrote that the Gospel of Thomas was highly valued by Mani. In the 4th century, Cyril of Jerusalem mentioned a "Gospel of Thomas" twice in his Catechesis: "The Manichćans also wrote a Gospel according to Thomas, which being tinctured with the fragrance of the evangelic title corrupts the souls of the simple sort."[23] and "Let none read the Gospel according to Thomas: for it is the work not of one of the twelve Apostles, but of one of the three wicked disciples of Manes."[24] The 5th century Decretum Gelasianum includes "A Gospel attributed to Thomas which the Manichaean use" in its list of heretical books. Eusebius classifies this text as heretical: "the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious. "
The Gospel of the Ebionites	No textual witness	2nd	325-336 CE	No Text - The Gospel of the Ebionites survives only in brief quotations by Epiphanius in his heresiology Panarion Chapter 30. as a polemic against the Ebionites. His citations are often contradictory and thought to be based in part on his own conjecture.[10][11] The various, sometimes conflicting, sources of information were combined to point out inconsistencies in Ebionite beliefs and practices relative to Nicene orthodoxy, possibly to serve, indirectly, as a polemic against the Arians of his time.	Not	No Text	0324: No text - Irenaeus	Text \| Wiki \| Google - Although Irenaeus (late in the second century) attests to the existence of this gospel, we are dependent solely upon the quotations given by Epiphanius for our knowledge of the contents of the text."
The Gospel of the Egyptians	No textual witness	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	No Text - Fragmentary quotations. Not be confused with the Gnostic Gospel of the Egyptians found within the NHC	Not	No Text	0324: No text - Clement, Hippolytus	Text \| Wiki \| Google - The Gospel of the Egyptians is no longer extant but was mentioned by Hippolytus and Epiphanius. Most of our citations come from Clement of Alexandria, and there is also a reference in the Excerpts of Theodotus.
The Gospel of the Lord [by Marcion]	No textual witness	2nd	325-336 CE	No text		No Text	0324: Eusebius?	Text \| Wiki \| Google - Marcion is reconstructed via Eusebius ... Tertullian's Adversus Marcionem and Epiphanius' Panarion
The Gospel of the Nazarenes	No textual witness	2nd	325-336 CE	No text		No text	0324: No text - Papias, Hegesippus, Origen	Text \| Wiki \| Google - The first reference to the Gospel of the Nazoreans was made ca. 180 C.E. by Hegesippus (a church writer whose five-volume 'Memoirs' are now lost, preserved only in a few quotations in the writings of Eusebius). Fragments are preserved in the works of Origen (early in the third century) and Eusebius (early in the fourth century); Epiphanius (late in the fourth century) attests to the existence of this gospel, but does not quote from it. Most of the fragments that are to be assigned to the Gospel of the Nazoreans come from the writings of Jerome (ca. 400 C.E.), who incorrectly identifies this gospel with the Gospel of the Hebrews, but who, his testimony notwithstanding, certainly had firsthand knowledge only of the Gospel of the Nazoreans."
The Gospel of Mary [Magdalene]	No Early witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	Peter is peeved. .... "Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?"	1896: codex Papyrus Berolinensis 8502	5th (aka Akhmim Codex)	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google - In her introduction in The Complete Gospels, Karen King names the manuscripts available for the Gospel of Mary, "Only three fragmentary manuscripts are known to have survived into the modern period, two third-century fragments (P. Rylands 463 and P. Oxyrhynchus 3525) published in 1938 and 1983, and a longer fifth-century Coptic translation (Berolinensis Gnosticus 8052,1) published in 1955."
The Gospel of James (Infancy)	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [150]	325-336 CE	the birth of Jesus in a cave, with its Mithraic overtones	1958; (Papyrus Bodmer 5).	4th century	0324: ** Origen	Text \| Wiki \| Google - The terminus a quo is set by the use of Matthew and Luke. The terminus ad quem is set by a reference from Origen and by the Bodmer papyrus. Within this range, a dating in the middle of the second century is most likely.
The Gospel of Judas	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	Was Jesus a sorceror? Judas is presented as one of twelve "daimons". None of the twelve "daimons" can look at Jesus in the eyes. Jesus is presented as a "Head Daimion" or sorceror.	1970: Irenaeus; Codex Tchacos	4th (Codex Tchacos)	0324: ** Irenaeus "Against Heresies"	Text \| NatGeo \| Wiki \| Google - the Judas gospel takes the form of dialogues between Jesus and Judas, and Jesus and the twelve disciples. Like many Gnostic works, the Gospel of Judas claims to be a secret account, specifically "the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot." Judas tells Jesus he has had a vision where he is stoned to death by the eleven remaining apostles. Jesus in various instances criticizes the other disciples for their ignorance and their followers of immorality. When they tell Jesus about a vision, he points out its true meaning as follows: "Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar — that is who you are. That is the God you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you saw brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. (. . .) will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to Him."
The Gospel of Peter	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [170]	325-336 CE	Docetic - The Cross walks and talks!: Jesus is lead from the tomb by two giant figures whose heads to the sky. Jesus's head is described as being higher than the sky; The cross follows along behind Jesus at a walk. The cross speaks its own talk. It says "YEAH!". Eusebius classifies this text as heretical: "the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious. "	1886: In the winter of 1886-7 a large fragment of	8th	0324: ** Origen, Serapion	Text \| Wiki \| Google - Classed as Heretical: Docetism: Christ's cry from the cross, in Matthew given as Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? which Matthew explains as meaning My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? is reported in Peter as My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me. Immediately after, Peter states that when he had said it he was taken up, suggesting that Jesus did not actually die. This, together with the claim that on the cross Jesus "remained silent, as though he felt no pain", has led many early Christians to accuse the text of docetism. F. F. Bruce writes (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 93): Apart from its docetic tendency, the most striking feature of the narrative is its complete exoneration of Pilate from alll responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate is here well on the way to the goal of canonisation which he was to attain in the Coptic Church. He withdraws from the trial after washing his hands, and Herod Antipas takes over from him, assuming the responsibility which, in Luke's passion narrative, he declined to accept. Roman soldiers play no part until they are sent by Pilate, at the request of the Jewish authorities, to provide the guard at the tomb of Jesus. The villians of the piece throughout are 'the Jews' - more particularly, the chief priests and the scribes. It is they who condemn Jesus to death and abuse him; it is they who crucify him and share out his clothes among themselves.
The Gospel of Truth	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [160]	325-336 CE	Valentinian gnostics	1945	4th NHC [NHC 01.3]	0324: Irenaeus	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Some conjecture authorship by Valentinus himself "He was nailed to a cross. He affixed the edict of the Father to the cross" CONTENT: The text describes a theory of the rise of Error in personified (female) form. The ignorance and yearning to see the Father bred fear, which coalesced into a fog by which Error gained power. It then describes Jesus as having been sent down by God to remove the ignorance. Jesus was a teacher confounding the other scribes and teachers, and asserted they were foolish since they tried to understand the world by analysing the law. But Error grew angry at this, and nailed Jesus to a tree. It also proceeds to describe how it is knowledge that grants salvation, which constitutes eternal rest, describing ignorance as a nightmare. Having next described the parable of the good shepherd, in an esoteric manner, it then describes how feeding the hungry and giving rest to the weary is to be understood as feeding spiritual hunger, and resting the world weary. This is followed by a parable about anointing, the meaning of which is obscure, but may be connected with the way in which a sealed amphora meant it was full, a metaphor for knowledge - having the final "seal" in the jigsaw and you understand, but without it, the scraps of understanding you have put together can still be easily undone: But those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect. For full jars are the ones that are usually anointed. But when the anointing of one jar is dissolved, it is emptied, and the reason for there being a deficiency is the thing through which its ointment goes. For at that time a breath draws it, one by the power of the one with it. But from him who has no deficiency no seal is removed, nor is anything emptied. But what he lacks the Perfect Father fills again. Aside from a final description of achieving rest by gnosis, the remainder of the text concerns a treatise on the connection between the relationship between the Son and the Father, and the relationship of a name to its owner. The prime example of this is the phrase it uses that the name of the Father is the Son, which is to be understood in the esoteric manner that the Son is the name, rather than as meaning that Son was a name for the Father.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd/3rd	325-336 CE	The Child Jesus as a malevolent trickster wizard	?	6th century Syriac version, and a Latin palimpsest at Vienna of the 5th or 6th century	0324: (Origen?)	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The text describes the life of the child Jesus, with fanciful, and sometimes malevolent, supernatural events, comparable to the trickster nature of the god-child in many a Greek myth. One of the episodes involves Jesus making clay birds, which he then proceeds to bring to life, an act also attributed to Jesus in Qur'an 5:110;[1] although in the Quran it is not attributed to him as a child. In another episode, a child disperses water that Jesus has collected, Jesus then curses him, which causes the child's body to wither into a corpse, found in the Greek text A, and Latin versions. The Greek text B doesn't mention Jesus cursing the boy, and simply says that the child "went on, and after a little he fell and gave up the ghost," (M.R. James translation). Another child dies when Jesus curses him when he apparently accidentally bumps into him. In the latter case, there are three differing versions recorded the Greek Text A, Greek Text B, and the Latin text. Instead of bumping into Jesus in A, B records that the child throws a stone at Jesus, while the last says the boy punched him. When Joseph and Mary's neighbors complain, they are miraculously struck blind by Jesus. Jesus then starts receiving lessons, but arrogantly tries to teach the teacher instead, upsetting the teacher who suspects supernatural origins. Jesus is amused by this suspicion, which he confirms, and revokes all his earlier apparent cruelty. Subsequently he resurrects a friend who is killed when he falls from a roof, and heals another who cuts his foot with an axe. After various other demonstrations of supernatural ability, new teachers try to teach Jesus, but he proceeds to explain the law to them instead. There are another set of miracles in which Jesus heals his brother who is bitten by a snake, and two others who have died from different causes. Finally, the text recounts the episode in Luke in which Jesus, aged twelve, teaches in the temple.
The Gospel of Philip	No Early witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	Jesus came to crucify the world. Where did Jesus kiss Mary many times?	1945	4th NHC [NHC 02.3]	No early mention	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Dismissed by Ian Wilson (Jesus: The Evidence, 2000 p.88) who argues that it "has no special claim to an early date, and seems to be merely a Mills and Boon-style fantasy of a type not uncommon among Christian apocryphal literature of the third and fourth centuries." Much of the Gospel of Philip is concerned with Gnostic views of the origin and nature of mankind and the sacraments of baptism, unction and marriage. The Gospel emphasizes the sacramental nature of the embrace between man and woman in the nuptial chamber, which is an archetype of spiritual unity, which entails the indissoluble nature of marriage[7] Many of the sayings are identifiably gnostic, and often appear quite mysterious and enigmatic. Exactly where Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene is emminently questionable. The coptic text of the source document known as the Gospel of Philip is reported to be damaged at that precise place. Poetically, the translators have often opted for "her mouth". Other more conservative alternatives mooted have been .... On her forehead; on her cheek; on her lips. This list is of course not comprehensive. Here are some alternative translations of the passage in question: (1.1) English Translation by Wesley W. Isenberg = And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. (1.2) English Translated by Anton Teplyy and Dr.Mikhail Nikolenko (2002) = The Lord loved her more than He loved all other disciples and often kissed her on her mouth. (1.3) English Translation and Notes by Paterson Brown = The [Lord loved] Mariam more than [all the (other)] Disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth].
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
The Book of Thomas the Contender	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Is this the lost Gospel of Matthhew?	1945	4th [NHC 02.7]	?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Gnostic: The title derives from the first line of text. "The secret words that the savior spoke to Judas Thomas which I, even I, Mathaias, wrote down, while I was walking, listening to them speak with one another." The colophon appended to the text gives the title The Contender writing to the Perfect. The scribe writing the text is named as Matthias, this work may actually be the lost Gospel of Matthias. The dialogue can also be read as an internal conversation between Jesus and his lower self, Judas Thomas, the twin (contender for supremacy of the soul). The New Testament's "doubting" Thomas and Judas "the betrayer" could also be symbolic and descriptive of this internal battle between the Christ Self and ego identity. The content of this work is quite hyperbolic and gnostic in style, in the sense of imparting a private, arcane knowledge related to good versus evil, and while it lacks references to the elaborate gnostic cosmology, its gnostic allusions to the pleroma and light versus fire clearly point to its origins.
The Gospel of Bartholomew	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	*"deliberately imitates the Lucan Acts"*	?	5th century	0400: Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Decretum Gelasianum	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Text not extant. We have, however, a writing attributed to Bartholomew which attained some popularity; the manuscripts do not call it a Gospel, but the Questions of Bartholomew. It contains ancient elements, and I think that MM. Wilmart and Tisserant have made out their claim that it at least represents the old Gospel. I therefore give a translation of it here. It exists in three languages, and not, apparently, in a very original form in any of them: Greek is the original language, of which we have two manuscripts, at Vienna and Jerusalem; Latin 1, consisting of two leaves of extracts, of the ninth century; Latin 2, complete: see below; Slavonic (i-iv. 15). The Greek text may be as old as the fifth century; the Latin 2 of the sixth or seventh.
The Gospel of Gamaliel	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Pilate weeps over the shroud	?	5th century	0324: Eusebius (Acts of Pilate)	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] SOURCE: Dr. A. Baumstark in the Revue Biblique (April, 1906, 253 sqq.), has given this name to a collection of Coptic fragments of a homogeneous character, which were supposed by another Coptic scholar, Reveillout, to form a portion of the "Gospel of the Twelve Apostles" (q.v. inf.). These fragments have been referred to a single Gospel also by Lacau, in "Fragments d'apocryphes coptes de la bibliothčque nationale" (Cairo, 1904). The narrative is in close dependence on St. John's Gospel. The author did not pose seriously as an evangelist, since he explicitly quotes from the fourth canonical Gospel. He places the relation in the mouth of Gamaliel of Acts, v, 34. Baumstark assigns it to the fifth century. The writer was evidently influenced by the "Acta Pilati".
The Gospel of Nicodemus	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Jesus heals by the god Asclepius! Pilate informs the Jews that Jesus healed the lame and the bent, the withered and the blind and the paralytic, the dumb and them that were possessed, by the power of the Graeco-Roman healing god, by Asclepius, whose most ancient and highly revered temples (and libraries) Constantine had just destroyed. The story is authored by two zombies who, while wandering around Jerusalem after the mass resurrection following Jesus's resurrection, are apprehended by the authorities, and are given pens and paper. The two resurrected scribes, known as Leucius & Karinus, independently record the Descent and Ascension, Jesus meets Adam. At the end, after finding that the accounts were word for word identical they provide a copy for Pilate, and a copy for the Jews, the two scribes disappear with a flash of light. Also see Who was Leucius Charinus ? and a summary of the Leucian Acts.	0324: Eusebius (Acts of Pilate)	1476 ?	0324: Eusebius (Acts of Pilate)	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Also known as "The Acts of Pilate": Epiphanius refers to an Acta Pilati (c. 376); Although Eusebius of Caesarea (writing c. 325), mentions an Acta Pilati referred to by Justin and Tertullian and other non-canonical Acts, all academics seem to think Eusebius shows no acquaintance with this work. "We are forced to admit that is of later origin, and scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the fourth century" (Catholic Encyclopedia). I disagree with the academics on this point, and have written a separate article on this entitled The Three "Acts of Pilate". (1) The very early christian "Acts of Pilate" are discussed, and the (2) early fourth century pagan "Acts of Pilate", known by Eusebius, is discussed with regard to a (3) late fourth century christian "Acts of Pilate" conjectured by the academics. I ask "Are the "Christian" Acts of Pilate in fact "Pagan"?, and that the heretical "Pagan" "Acts of Pilate", described by Eusebius, is the text before us. The extant Greek texts show evidence of later editing, since the prologue states: "I Ananias (Aeneas Copt., Emaus Lat.), the Protector, of praetorian rank ..... translated them [memorials] into Greek [from Hebrew] in the year 425 CE. It is quite notable that the date inserted via later editing is exactly one century after the Council of Nicaea. Eusebius: "Having forged, to be sure, Memoirs of Pilate and Our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy against Christ, with the approval of their chief they sent them round to every part of his dominions, with edicts that they should be exhibited openly for everyone to see in every place, both town and country, and that the primary teachers should give them to the children, instead of lessons, for study and committal to memory." (H. E. 9.5.1)
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Very late: records birth of Mary and Jesus	?	7th	0400: Jerome	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] aka The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior. The narrative is prefaced by a series of letters between the early Church father Jerome and the Bishops Comatius and Heliodorus. In these letters the Bishops request that Jerome translate a "Hebrew volume, written by the hand of the most blessed Evangelist Matthew," concerning the birth of the virgin mother and the infancy of Jesus. Though the work is attributed to St. Jerome, it is unlikely that St. Jerome actually wrote or translated it: "no one who is acquainted with the style of Jerome's letters will think this one authentic." [3] "Jerome" complied and translated the work, taking care to "render it word for word, exactly as it is in the Hebrew, since it is asserted that it was composed by the holy Evangelist Matthew, and written at the head of his Gospel," though he expressed doubt as to their authenticity.
The Gospel of the Egyptians (Gnostic)	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Sethian	1945	4th NHC [NHC 03.2]	?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Gnostic - Sethian: (See also NHC 4.2) aka "The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit" Commences: "The holy book of the Egyptians about the great invisible Spirit, the Father whose name cannot be uttered..." The main contents concern the Sethian Gnostic understanding of how the earth came into being, how Seth, in the Gnostic interpretation, is incarnated as Jesus in order to release people's souls from the evil prison that is creation. It also contains a hymn, parts of which are unusual in being apparently meaningless sequences of vowels (thought to be a representation of early Christian glossolalia), although the vowels of the final paragraph (u aei eis aei ei o ei ei os ei) can be partitioned to read (in Greek) who exists as Son for ever and ever. You are what you are, you are who you are.
The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Very late: records birth of Mary - a recast of Pseudo-Matthew?	?	9th	?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The "Gospel of the Nativity of Mary" is a recast of the Pseudo-Matthew, but reaches only to the birth of Jesus. It is extant in a Latin MS. of the tenth century.
The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Fragments only - also known as "The Gospel of Gamiliel"	?	? Coptic	0324: Origen, and later Ambrose, Jerome, Philip of Side	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The majority of critics today are inclined to identify it with the Gospel of the Ebionites, of which fragments quoted by Epiphanius survive. This Gospel is of the synoptic type and was probably written in the 1st half of the 2nd century in the region east of Jordan. This name is given to to a collection of Coptic fragments of a homogeneous character, which were supposed by Coptic scholar, Reveillout, to form a portion of the "Gospel of the Twelve Apostles" (q.v. inf.). These fragments have been referred to a single Gospel also by Lacau, in "Fragments d'apocryphes coptes de la bibliothčque nationale" (Cairo, 1904). The narrative is in close dependence on St. John's Gospel. The author did not pose seriously as an evangelist, since he explicitly quotes from the fourth canonical Gospel. He places the relation in the mouth of Gamaliel of Acts, v, 34. Baumstark assigns it to the fifth century. The writer was evidently influenced by the "Acta Pilati".
An Arabic Infancy Gospel	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Very late: draws from Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew; mentioned in the Qur'an	?	6th century	?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The text was originally written in Syriac, possibly during the fifth-sixth century[1], but later became translated into an Arabic text, which has since been lost. Its earliest known mention was by Isho'dad of Merv, a ninth-century Syrian church father, in his biblical commentary concerning the Gospel of Matthew. The narrative of the Arabic Infancy Gospel, particularly the second part concerning the miracles in Egypt, can also be found in the Qur'an.
Toledot Yeshu "Life of Jesus"	Mediaeval Forgery?	4th or 11th?	325-336 CE	4th century or later?The Toledot refers to Christian festivals and observances that only originated after the 4th century.	9th	11th century?	9th century	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Sefer Toledot Yeshu (or Toledoth Jeschu, The Book of the History of Jesus, or Generations of Jesus, or Life of Jesus) is a medieval “anti-gospel” or parody of the Christian gospel. It exists in a number of different versions, none of which are considered either canonical or normative within rabbinic literature, but which appear to have been widely circulated in Europe and the Middle East in the medieval period (though some scholars disagree with this claim). The stories claim that Jesus was an illegitimate child, and that he practiced magic and heresy, seduced women, and died a shameful death.
Gospel of Barnabas	Mediaeval Forgery?	5th or 15th?	325-336 CE	Very late?A "Gospel according to Barnabas" is mentioned in two early Christian lists of apocryphal works: the Latin Decretum Gelasianum[2] (6th century), as well as a 7th-century Greek List of the Sixty Books.	6th	18th century?	6th?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The present text advertises Muhammad. It also describes that Judas was crucified instead of Jesus. In this sense, it presents a docetic Jesus, who was not physically present. Extract: ‘Judas came near to the people with whom Jesus was; and when he heard the noise, he entered into the house where the disciples slept. And God, seeing the fear and danger of his servant, ordered Gabriel and Michael and Rafael and Azrael to carry him out of the world. And they came in all haste, and bare him out of the window which looks towards the south. And they placed him in the third heaven, where he will remain, blessing God, in the company of angels, till near the end of the world.’ (chapter 216) ‘And Judas the traitor entered before the rest into the place from which Jesus had just been taken up. And the disciples were sleeping. And the wonderful God acted wonderfully, changing Judas into the same figure and speech with Jesus. We, believing that it was he, said to him, “Master, whom seekest thou?” And he said to them, smiling, “Ye have forgotten yourselves, since ye do not know Judas Iscariot.” At this time the soldiery entered; and seeing Judas so like in every respect to Jesus, laid hands upon him….’(Chapter 217) ‘...They carried him to Mount Calvary, where they executed criminals, and crucified him, stripping him naked for the greater ignominy. Then he did nothing but cry out: “O my God, why hast thou forsaken me that I should die unjustly, when the real malefactor hath escaped? (chapter 219)
Secret Gospel of Mark	Modern Forgery?	4th or 20th?	?	Very late?.	1958	1958 (photos)	1958	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] The Secret Gospel of Mark is a non-canonical Christian gospel that is the subject of the Mar Saba letter, a previously unknown letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria that Morton Smith claimed to have found in Mar Saba monastery in 1958. The gospel is known exclusively from this letter, which contains two passages said to be quotations from it. The letter describes Secret Mark as an expanded version of the canonical Gospel of Mark with some episodes elucidated, written for an initiated elite. Smith claimed to have discovered the Mar Saba letter transcribed into the endpapers of a 17th-century printed edition of the works of Ignatius of Antioch. The finding caused a sensation, but was soon met with accusations of forgery. The situation was complicated when the original manuscript was transferred to another monastery and access was restricted (at this time, the manuscript is believed to be lost). Further research relied upon photographs and copies, including those made by Smith himself. Scholars have expressed a variety of opinions regarding the authenticity of the letter and the gospel described therein. Contraversial opinion abound. Did Morton Smith Forge "Secret Mark? - a Handwriting Expert Weighs In.
The Gospel of Jesus' wife	4th Century papyrus	2nd	325-336 CE	4th centurypapyrus fragment with writing in Egyptian Coptic that includes the words, "Jesus said to them, 'my wife...'". The text on the fragment is alleged to be a fourth-century translation of what is said to be "a gospel probably written in Greek in the second half of the second century."	2012	4th century	21st century	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] "the fragment has eight incomplete lines of writing on one side and is badly damaged on the other side, with only three faded words and a few letters of ink that are visible, even with the use of infrared photography and computer-aided enhancement."[9] King and Luijendijk believe the text was written by Egyptian Christians before 400 CE; it is in the language used by those people at that time. They consider that the papyrus fragment comes from a codex, rather than a scroll, as text appears on both sides
Gnostic Acts .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles	No Early witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	Gnostic - (Asclepian?): Are there 11, 12 or 13 apostles? The text discloses that eleven apostles PROSTRATED themselves (twice) on the ground in front of Lithargoel, in the oriental fashion of worship, made popular in Constantine's era. If Lithargoel is taken to be Jesus (an indentification made by every single academic commentator (I think erroneously)) then Jesus cites the Bagavad Gita, in making reference to the "City of Nine Gates". Also if Jesus carries a codex in his hand, that is similar to (not the same) as the codex carried by Peter, what in fact is the codex that Jesus carries? See also an Analysis of TAOPATTA	1945	4th [NHC 06.1]	Unknown	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] \| [TAOPATTA] The text contains two parts, an initial allegory, and a subsequent gnostic exposition of its meaning. The allegory describes the tale, similar to the Parable of the Pearl in the Gospel of Matthew, of a pearl man Lithargoel who is selling a pearl at a great price. Lithargoel is shunned by the rich but the poor attend him in droves, and learn that the pearl is kept at the home city of the merchant, "Nine Gates", rather than being carried on him. As such those who desire it must trek the arduous journey to Nine Gates..... The embodied (Soul) who has controlled his nature having renounced all actions by the mind dwells at ease in the City of Nine Gates, neither working nor causing work to be done. --- Bhagvad Gita 5:13 ..... The name Lithargoel, which the text translates as being "lightweight, glistening stone", suggest that Lithargoel himself is the "pearl". See also an Analysis of TAOPATTA
The Acts of Paul	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [160]	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus employs Aesops Fables: Paul baptises a talking lion in the wilderness. When thrown to the lions at the conclusion Paul is saved from death by the christian lion in the arena. (One good turn deserves another!) Also known as "The Acts of Paul and Thecla", it is often coupled with the Third Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, regarded as authentically Pauline by the Syrian and Armenian churches. It provides a description of Paul ..."A man small in size, with a bald head and crooked legs; in good health; with eyebrows that met and a rather prominent nose; full of grace, for sometimes he looked like a man and sometimes he looked like an angel. "	?	4th	0324: Tertullian, De baptismo 17.5 (Eusebius lists it as "spurious")	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] \| Classed as Spurious: An original Pauline Acts document is thought to have existed. The newly-discovered document contains material hitherto unknown as well as the above-noted sections, long extant. It begins with a pretended flight of St. Paul from Antioch of Pisidia, and ends with his martyrdom at Rome. The narrative rests on data in the canonical books of the New Testament, but it abounds in marvels and personages unhinted at there, and it disfigures traits of some of those actually mentioned in the Sacred Writings. The Acts of Paul, therefore, adds nothing trustworthy to our knowledge of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Fortunately the above-cited passage of Tertullian (De Baptismo, xvii) informs us of its authorship and aim.
The Acts of Peter	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus writes that "Peter resurrects smoked fish". Peter resurrects smoked fish, and makes dogs talk; wins miracle contest with Simon Magus and after healing the multitudes, fails to heal his own daughter because it expedient not to do so.	?	4th (Coptic gnostic)	0400: LC?	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] \| resurrecting smoked fish, and making dogs talk; There exist a Greek and a Latin Martyrdom of Peter, the latter attributed to Pope Linus, which from patristic citations are recognized as the conclusion of an ancient Greek narrative entitled "Acts, or Circuits of St. Peter". Another manuscript, bearing the name "Actus Petri cum Simone", contains a superior translation with several passages from the original narrative preceding the Martyrdom. The work betrays certain tokens of Gnosticism, although it has been purged of its grossest features by a Catholic reviser. It describes the triumph of St. Peter over Simon Magus at Rome, and the Apostle's subsequent crucifixion. These Acts as we have them are of high antiquity, though it is impossible to always discern whether patristic writers are quoting from them or an earlier tradition. Some suspect the ROman poet Commodian (c. 250) employed the Acts of Peter. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Vercelli manuscript. The concluding chapters are preserved separately as the Martyrdom of Peter in three Greek manuscripts and in Coptic (fragmentary), Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian, and Slavonic versions. It is mainly notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, and as the first record of the tradition that St. Peter was crucified head-down. Consensus among academics points to it being based on the Acts of John, and traditionally both works were said to be written by Leucius Charinus, whom Epiphanius identifies as the companion of John. In the text Peter performs miracles such as resurrecting smoked fish, and making dogs talk. The text condemns Simon Magus, a figure associated with gnosticism, who appears to have concerned the writer of the text greatly. Some versions give accounts of stories on the theme of a woman/women who prefer paralysis to sex, sometimes, including in a version from the Berlin Codex, the woman is the daughter of Peter.
The Acts of Andrew and John	Eusebius is witness	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus "a forger and heretic"; to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious - "the heretics put this forward under the name of the apostles; To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of ecclesiastical writers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious.		4th century - Manichaean Psalter?	0324: Eusebius "heretical"	No Text? \| [Wiki] \| [Google] \| Classed as Heretical: Eusebius; Ecclesiastical History 3.25.1-7: Now all these would be among the disputed books; but nevertheless we have felt compelled to make this catalogue of them, distinguishing between those writings which, according to the tradition of the Church, are true and genuine and recognized, from the others which differ from them in that they are not canonical, but disputed, yet nevertheless are known to most churchmen. [And this we have done] in order that we might be able to know both these same writings and also those which the heretics put forward under the name of the apostles; including, for instance, such books as the Gospels of Peter, of Thomas, of Matthias, or even of some others besides these, and the Acts of Andrew and John and the other apostles. To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of ecclesiastical writers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious.
The Acts of Andrew and Matthew	Eusebius is witness	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus: "Captain Jesus drives a Water Taxi to the Land of the Cannibals!" - the apostles Cast lots for world dominion (just like the Roman soldiers in the story of the crucifixion). Jesus drives a water taxi to the "Land of the Cannibals" in order to rescue the apostle Matthew, despite the fact that many are being eaten daily. Matthew closes his eyes to everything going on around him.	1898 - edited by Max Bonnet	4th century - Manichaean Psalter	0324: Eusebius "heretical"; LC	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| ONSITE \| Classed as Heretical: Travel to the land of the canibals - Jesus is the captain. See also Nestorius on 'canabalism' as a heresy Eusebius; Ecclesiastical History 3.25.1-7:"the heretics put this forward under the name of the apostles; To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of ecclesiastical writers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the character of the style also is far removed from apostolic usage, and the thought and purport of their contents are completely out of harmony with true orthodoxy and clearly show themselves that they are the forgeries of heretics. For this reason they ought not to be reckoned among the spurious books, but are to be cast aside as altogether absurd and impious.
The Acts of Andrew	Eusebius is witness	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus: Andrew prays and there was an earthquake; Andrew banishes the demons from Nicaea:	1910?	4th century - Manichaean Psalter	0324: Eusebius "heretical"; LC	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Classed as Heretical:The surviving version is alluded to in a third century work, the Coptic Manichaean Psalter, providing a terminus ante quem, according to its editors, M.R. James (1924)[1] and Jean-Marc Prieur in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (vol. 1, p. 246), but it shows several signs of a mid-second century origin. Prieur stated that "The distinctive christology of the text", its silence concerning Jesus as a genuinely historical figure, and its lack of mention of church organisation, liturgy, and ecclesiastical rites, lead one to "militate for an early dating". Andrew banishes the demons from Nicaea: "At the gate of Nicomedia he met a dead man borne on a bier, and his old father supported by slaves, hardly able to walk, and his old mother with hair torn, bewailing. 'How has it happened ?' he asked. 'He was alone in his chamber and seven dogs rushed on him and killed him.' Andrew sighed and said: 'This is an ambush of the demons I banished from Nicaea. What will you do, father, if I restore your son ?' 'I have nothing more precious than him, I will give him.' He prayed: 'Let the spirit of this lad return.' The faithful responded, 'Amen'. Andrew bade the lad rise, and he rose, and all cried: 'Great is the God of Andrew.' The parents offered great gifts which he refused, but took the lad to Macedonia, instructing him."
The Acts of John	Eusebius is witness	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus: DOCETIC - "Jesus did not make any footprints"; Jesus was insubstantial; John commands a legion of bedbugs: Jesus was constantly changing shape, appearing sometimes as a small boy, sometimes as a beautiful man; sometimes bald-headed with a long beard, sometimes as a youth with a pubescent beard (§ 87-89). Extract: ".... Sometimes when I meant to touch him [Jesus], I met with a material and solid body; but at other times when I felt him, his substance was immaterial and incorporeal, as if it did not exist at all ... And I often wished, as I walked with him, to see his footprint, whether it appeared on the ground (for I saw him as it were raised up from the earth), and I never saw it. (§ 93)	1898 - edited by Max Bonnet	?	0324: Eusebius "heretical"; LC	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Classed as Heretical: The heretical character imputed to these by certain Fathers is fully confirmed by extant fragments, which show a gross Docetism, and an unbridled phantasy. Doubtless the author intermingled valuable Ephesian traditions with his fables. There are reasons of weight to regard the work as having been composed, together with the Acts of St. Peter, and probably those of St. Andrew, by a single person, in the latter half of the second century, under the name of a disciple of St. John, called Leucius. Clement of Alexandria was acquainted with the pseudograph. The Johannine Acts of the Pseudo-Prochorus (compare the canonical Acts 6:5) are a Catholic working-over of Gnostic material
The Acts of Peter and Andrew	Eusebius is witness	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus: Peter passes a camel through the eye of a needle. Andrew travels by a "bright cloud" from the city of the man-eaters; the apostles call on a Christian ArchAngel to suspend a woman by her hair at the city gates while they pass out of town; Peter successfully passes a camel through the eye of a needle, twice.	?	3rd Greek (p.Hamburg), 4thCoptic (Heidelberg)	0324: Eusebius "heretical"; LC	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Onsite \| Classed as Heretical: A continuation of the Acts of Andrew and Matthias; The text consists of a series of extremely short tales of miracles, such as Andrew riding a cloud to where Peter is, and Peter literally putting a camel through the eye of a needle, turning the traditional metaphor (it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven) on its head. The text appears to have been aimed to be a continuation of the Acts of Andrew and Matthias .
The Acts of Thomas	No Early witnesses	3rd [220]	325-336 CE	Leucius Charinus: Thomas refuses Jesus direct command to go to India. Jesus sells him as a slave.: As usual, the apostles are dividing the kingdoms like the soldiers the clothes at the crucifixion. Thomas draws the lot of India, but refuses to go. The Indians already know the truth. Jesus appears in a dream and commands Thomas to travel to India. Thomas refuses. Jesus appears the next morning and sells Thomas as a slave to an Indian merchant, receiving a bill of sale for the transaction. In India, Thomas presents himself to the Indian King as a master builder. The Indian king gives Thomas a great deal of money to build a new palace. Thomas gives the money to the poor. Eventually, when the Indian King realises that Thomas is not a master builder, "he rubbed his face with his hands, and shook his head for a long space.	?	5th: palimpset (Sinai 30)	0380: LC - Epiphanius	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Onsite \| No Apostolic apocryphon has reached us in a completeness equal to that of the Thomas Acts. They are found in Greek, Syriac, and Ethiopic recensions. Their Gnostic traits pierce through the Catholic re-touching; in fact, the contents show a conscious purpose to exalt the dualistic doctrine of abstention from conjugal intercourse. Scholars are much inclined to attribute the original to a Syrian origin and an author who was an adherent of Bardesanes. The signs point strongly to the third century as the era. The translation of the remains of St. Thomas to Edessa in 232 may have furnished the inspiration for the composition. The Acts relate the prodigies performed by the Apostle in India, and end with his martyrdom there. They are interspersed with some remarkable hymns; some of real literary beauty but with strong Gnostic colouring. The author has embeded in "The Acts of Thomas", a highly regarded text, known as The Hymn of the Pearl. Many regard this text as Parthian (i.e. Persian prior to 224 CE, see Ardashir), while others suspect it might even be related to the Persian sage Mani. In any event, historical preservation of the text is often seen as related to schools of yoga. Here is an explication of the text as An ascetic allegory. Finally, perhaps another related "Pearl Story" is identifiable in TAOPATTA (The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, at Nag Hammadi NHC 6.1).
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
The Act of Peter	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Peter heals the multitude, but it is not expedient to heal his own daughter	1896	5th-century (Berolinensis Gnosticus 8502)	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Onsite \| This is preserved separately in an early papyrus manuscript (fourth-fifth century) now at Berlin; the other contents of it are Gnostic writings which have not yet been published. I follow C. Schmidt's rendering of it. It has a title at the end: The Act of Peter
The Acts of John the Theologian	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Complaints against the Eusebian "New and strange nation": The Jews write a book to the Emperor Domitian, comlaining about a "New and strange nation". This term is a recognised Eusebian trope. The author of this text wrote after Eusebius had coined the phrase. As a result, Domitian flies into a rage an persecutes the "New and Strange Nation of Christians".	?	?	0400: No commentary reviewed	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Extract: And when Vespasian was dead, his son Domitian, having got possession of the kingdom. along with his other wrongful acts, set himself also to make a persecution against the righteous men. For, having learned that the city was filled with Jews, remembering the orders given by his father about them, he purposed casting them all out of the city of the Romans. And some of the Jews took courage, and gave Domitian a book, in which was written as follows:-- O Domitian, Caesar and king of all the world, as many of us as are Jews entreat thee, as suppliants we beseech of thy power not to banish us from thy divine and benignant countenance; for we are obedient to thee, and the customs, and laws, and practices, and policy, doing wrong in nothing, but being of the same mind with the Romans. But there is a new and strange nation, neither agreeing with other nations nor consenting to the religious observances of the Jews, uncircumcised, inhuman, lawless, subverting whole houses, proclaiming a man as God, all assembling together (1) under a strange name, that of Christian. These men reject God, paying no heed to the law given by Him, and proclaim to be the Son of God a man born of ourselves, Jesus by name, whose parents and brothers and all his family have been connected with the Hebrews; whom on account of his great blasphemy and his wicked fooleries we gave up to the cross. And they add another blasphemous lie to their first one: him that was nailed up and buried, they glorify as having risen from the dead; and, more than this, they falsely assert that he has been taken up by (2) clouds into the heavens. At all this the king, being affected with rage. ordered the senate to publish a decree that they should put to death all who confessed themselves to be Christians. Those, then, who were found in the time of his rage, and who reaped the fruit of patience, and were crowned in the triumphant contest against the works of the devil, received the repose of incorruption.
The Acts of Mark	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	No Text? \| Wiki \| Google \| Text not yet located. Suspected to be of Alexandrian origin, and written in the fourth or fifth century.
The Acts of Peter and Paul	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Late: The Jews hear that Paul plans to come to Rome and petition Nero to prevent this. Another version of Peter vs Simon Magus miracle contest, this time with Paul present, and enacted in front of the Roman Emperor Nero. Paul is presented as "bald", and attracts his bald shipmaster, Dioscorus, as a follower after delivering his son from death. Nero kills the bald Dioscorus instead of Paul. The Jews rejoice.	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The text is framed as the tale of Paul's journey from the island of Guadomelete to Rome, assigning Peter as Paul's brother. It also describes the death of Paul by beheading, an early church tradition. The text also contains a letter purporting to be from Pilate. The work appears to have been based on the Acts of Peter, with the addition of Paul's presence where before it was only Peter's. Extract of opening paragraph: "It came to pass, after Paul went out of the island Gaudomeleta, that he came to Italy; and it was heard of by the Jews who were in Rome, the elder of the cities, that Paul demanded to come to Cćsar. Having fallen, therefore, into great grief and much despondency, they said among themselves: It does not please him that he alone has afflicted all our brethren and parents in Judća and Samaria, and in all Palestine; and he has not been pleased with these, but, behold, he comes here also, having through imposition asked Cćsar to destroy us."
The Acts of Philip	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Late Syriac Satire?: Is Philip literate, not knowing either Greek or Aramaic? How does Jesus communicate with Philip? Does Philip annoy the captain and the passengers? Does Philip face towards or away from the rising storm? Does the wind arise because of Philips prayer, or the blashemy of the Jew Ananias? Why does Philip command a Christian angel to bind Ananias to the top of the mast by his big toes in the storm? "And the 495 men on the ship feared. Philip is a man of power and action, who battles armies with the cross: "When Philip crossed himself the ruler fell backward and all his troops." Ananias sets out presumeably to convert the Jews, as coerced by Philip. Impatient at his angelic qualities, the Jews kick Ananias to death and bury him in their synogogue. Philip resurrects Ananias, and commandeers a sick ox to assist retrieving the dead Jew from the synogogue. The commandeered sick ox runs on his mission, dragging his owner through the streets of Carthage. The ox and Ananias prostrate themselves before Philip. The city worshipped Philip. "Three thousand Gentiles and fifteen hundred Jews believed; the unbelievers left the city, and before sunset an angel slew forty of the Jewish priests for shedding innocent blood: and all who saw it confessed and worshipped. " People were impressed with the aggressive Christian angel slaying of forty priests. On the basis of this aggressive blood-thirsty revenge killings by the christian angel, people were converted to christianity.	1974 by François Bovon and Bertrand Bouvier	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Onsite (Syriac) \| The extant Greek fragments supply us with all but five (10-14) of the fifteen Acts composing the work. Of these 1-7 are a farrago of various legends, each, it would seem, with an independent history; 8-14 is a unit, which forms a parasitic growth on the ancient but somewhat confused traditions of the missionary activity of an Apostle Philip in Hierapolis of Phrygia. Zahn's view, that this document is the work of an ill-informed Catholic monk of the fourth century, is a satisfactory hypothesis. The largest fragment was first published by Batiffol in "Analecta Bollandiana", IX (Paris, 1890). A Coptic "Acts of Philip" and a Syriac "Acts of Phillip" is also to be noted
The Acts of Pilate	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Jesus heals by the god Asclepius! Pilate informs the Jews that Jesus healed the lame and the bent, the withered and the blind and the paralytic, the dumb and them that were possessed, by the power of the Graeco-Roman healing god, by Asclepius, whose most ancient and highly revered temples (and libraries) Constantine had just destroyed. The story is authored by two zombies who, while wandering around Jerusalem after the mass resurrection following Jesus's resurrection, are apprehended by the authorities, and are given pens and paper. The two resurrected scribes, known as Leucius & Karinus, independently record the Descent and Ascension, Jesus meets Adam. At the end, after finding that the accounts were word for word identical they provide a copy for Pilate, and a copy for the Jews, the two scribes disappear with a flash of light. Also see Who was Leucius Charinus ? and a summary of the Leucian Acts.	0324: Eusebius (Acts of Pilate)	1476 ?	0324: Eusebius (Acts of Pilate)	Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] Also known as "The Gospel of Nicodemus": Epiphanius refers to an Acta Pilati (c. 376); Although Eusebius of Caesarea (writing c. 325), mentions an Acta Pilati referred to by Justin and Tertullian and other non-canonical Acts, all academics seem to think Eusebius shows no acquaintance with this work. "We are forced to admit that is of later origin, and scholars agree in assigning it to the middle of the fourth century" (Catholic Encyclopedia). I disagree with the academics on this point, and have written a separate article on this entitled The Three "Acts of Pilate". (1) The very early christian "Acts of Pilate" are discussed, and the (2) early fourth century pagan "Acts of Pilate", known by Eusebius, is discussed with regard to a (3) late fourth century christian "Acts of Pilate" conjectured by the academics. I ask "Are the "Christian" Acts of Pilate in fact "Pagan"?, and that the heretical "Pagan" "Acts of Pilate", described by Eusebius, is the text before us. The extant Greek texts show evidence of later editing, since the prologue states: "I Ananias (Aeneas Copt., Emaus Lat.), the Protector, of praetorian rank ..... translated them [memorials] into Greek [from Hebrew] in the year 425 CE. It is quite notable that the date inserted via later editing is exactly one century after the Council of Nicaea. Eusebius: "Having forged, to be sure, Memoirs of Pilate and Our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy against Christ, with the approval of their chief they sent them round to every part of his dominions, with edicts that they should be exhibited openly for everyone to see in every place, both town and country, and that the primary teachers should give them to the children, instead of lessons, for study and committal to memory." (H. E. 9.5.1)
The Acts of Polyeuctes	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	No Text \| [Wiki] \| [Google] In the reign of Deceius we meet with a reference to the AP in the Acts of Polyeuctes, which, though only embedded in a homily of about AD 363 - Studies in Biblical and Patristic Criticism By E. L. Hicks, W. M. Ramsay, Sanday, F. C. Conybeare (p.67) THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL: A COMPARATIVE. STUDY IN GNOSTICISM by JA MacCulloch - 1912: " .... in the Acts of Polyeuctes (4th cent.) it is said that he trampled on the serpent's head, smote it, and ascended upwards by the mysterious and ineffable ..."
The Acts of Simon and Jude	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	A Latin Passio, which Lipsius attributes to the fourth or fifth century, narrates the miracles, conversions, and martyrdoms of these Apostles. It is found in the Abdias collection. The scene is Persia and Babylonia. It has been recognized that the historical setting of these Acts agrees remarkably with what is known of the conditions in the Parthian empire in the first century after Christ.
The Acts of Thaddaeus	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Late - Inspired by Eusebius's "discoveries" of the King Agbar / Jesus Letter interchange.	?	First published 1876	?	Text \| [Google] Also known as "The Teaching of Addai" - Critics accept the period between 399-430
The Death of Pilate	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	">Text \| [Google] The Mors Pilati ("Death of Pilate") legend is a Latin tradition, thus treating Pilate as a monster, not a saint; it is attached usually to the more sympathetic Gospel of Nicodemus of Greek origin - thus associated with "The Acts of Pilate"
The History of John	Accepted 4th Century	4th-5th	325-336 CE	Late: the author names himself "Eusebius of Cćsarea"	1871: Syriac published W.Wright	4th - Syriac original	?	Text \| Wiki \| [Google] Introduction states .... "The history of John, the son of Zebedee, who lay upon the breast of our Lord Jesus at the supper, and said, "Lord, who betrayeth Thee?" This history was composed by Eusebius of Cćsarea concerning S. John, who found it in a Greek book, and it was translated into Syriac, when he had learned concerning his way of life and his birth and his dwelling in the city of Ephesus, after the ascension of our Lord to Heaven".
The History of Joseph the Carpenter	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| [Google] Originally in Coptic, probably composed in the fourth century
The Acts and Martyrdom of Andrew	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late	1910?	4th century - Manichaean Psalter	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google "The Martyrdom of the Apostle Andrew" has come down in both Greek and Latin recensions. The Latin text is the original one, and cannot be earlier than the fifth century. It purports to be a relation of the heroic death of St. Andrew by eyewitnesses who are "presbyters and deacons of the Church of Achaia". It has enjoyed credit among historians in the past, but no reliance can be placed on its data.
The Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| [Google] The Acts and Martyrdom of St. Matthew are in literary dependence on the Acts of St. Andrew (q.v., supra), and hence the reading "Matthew" may be an error for "Matthias", since evidently the companion of Peter and Andrew is intended. The work exists in Greek and a later Latin. There is also a Coptic-Ethiopic martyrdom legend of St. Matthew
The Acts of Barnabas	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google The Acts of St. Barnabas appear to have been composed toward the end of the fifth century by a Cypriot. They are ascribed to St. Mark the Evangelist, and are historically worthless. They are extant in the original Greek and in a Latin version. The narrative is based upon the mutual relations and activities of Barnabas, Mark, and Paul, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.The Acts of St. Barnabas appear to have been composed toward the end of the fifth century by a Cypriot. They are ascribed to St. Mark the Evangelist, and are historically worthless. They are extant in the original Greek and in a Latin version. The narrative is based upon the mutual relations and activities of Barnabas, Mark, and Paul, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Acts of Bartholomew	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google We possess a Greek Martrydom, dating in its present form from the fifth or sixth century; also a Latin "Passio Bartholomći". Both are tainted with Nestorianism, and seem to have come from a single Bartholomew legend. The Greek text recounts the marvels by which the Apostle overthrew idolatry and converted a king and his subjects in "India". The whole is a legendary tissue.
The Acts of Timothy	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google Composed by an Ephesian after 425.?
The Acts of Titus	Accepted 4th Century	5th	325-336 CE	Late - after a fast of seven days the Temple of Apollo was overthrown	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google Cretan origin, between 400-700. Barnabas raised Paul from the dead.
The Acts of Matthew	Accepted 4th Century	6th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google The Apostolic Acts of the Pseudo-Abdias contain a Latin "Passio Sancti Matthći", which preserves an Abyssinian legend of St. Matthew, later than the Coptic Martyrdom noticed in connection with the Gnostic Acts of that saint. The correct historical setting indicates that the recension was the work of an Abyssinian of the sixth century, who wished to date the establishment of the Abyssinian Church (fourth century) back to the Apostolic times. However, the kernel of the narrative is drawn from older sources. The Abdias Passio places St. Matthew's martyrdom in Abyssinia.
Other texts	Accepted 4th Century	4th or 5th	325-336 CE	Late	?	?	?	Other texts - Christian Classics Etherial Library. ANF08. The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First
Gnostic Wisdom Sayings .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
The Didache [Teaching/Doctrine of the Apostles]	Eusebius is witness	1st?	325-336 CE	Is this an orthodox 4th century Executive Overview? - Athanasius describes it as 'appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who newly join us, and who wish for instruction in the word of goodness' [Festal Letter 39:7]. It is also known as "The Teaching of the Apostles". It should be noted that the Codex Hierosolymitanus contains the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the two epistles 1 Clement and 2 Clement, the long version of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, and a list of books of the Bible following the order of John Chrysostom (late 4th century),	1873: Codex Hierosolymitanus	4th/5th (greek, coptic)	0324: Eusebius	Text \| Wiki \| Google Classed as REJECTED by Eusebius .... 4th Century manuscripts: Two Greek fragments, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1782, dated to the "late fourth century" and published by Greenfell and Hunt in 1922 (12-15). These tiny scraps, about two inches by two inches apiece, contain verses 1:3c-4a and 2:7-3:2. Despite small differences, the wording on those scraps is very close to Byrrenios's text. A Coptic papyrus containing Didache 10:3b-12:2a, dated to the end of the fourth or start of the fifth century, was bought in 1923 for what was then the British Museum and catalogued as British Library Oriental Manuscript 9271. Eusebius (Church History III.25.4): "Let there be placed among the spuria the writing of the Acts of Paul, the so-called Shepherd and the Apocalypse of Peter, and besides these the Epistle known as that of Barnabas, and what are called the Teachings of the Apostles, and also . . . the Apocalypse of John, if this be thought fit . . ." St. Athanasius and Rufinus add the "Teaching" to the sapiential and other deutero-canonical books.
A Portion of the Books of the Saviour aka "Pistis Sophia"	No Early witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	Eleven Years of Gnostic Wisdom - The title Pistis Sophia is obscure, and is sometimes translated Faith wisdom or Wisdom in faith or Faith in wisdom. G. R. S. Mead referred to this text as "Extracts from The Books of the Savior." The text proclaims that Jesus remained on earth after the resurrection for 11 years, and was able in this time to teach his disciples up to the first (i.e. beginner) level of the mystery.	1772 Codex Askew (Coptic)	5th/6th (Coptic)	Unknown	Text \| Wiki \| Google Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples (including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha), when the risen Christ had accomplished eleven years speaking with his disciples. In it the complex structures and hierarchies of heaven familiar in Gnostic teachings are revealed. The female divinity of gnosticism is Sophia, a being with many aspects and names. She is sometimes identified with the Holy Spirit itself but, according to her various capacities, is also the Universal Mother, the Mother of the Living or Resplendent Mother, the Power on High, She-of-the-left-hand (as opposed to Christ, understood as her husband and he of the Right Hand), as the Luxurious One, the Womb, the Virgin, the Wife of the Male, the Revealer of Perfect Mysteries, the Holy Dove of the Spirit, the Heavenly Mother, the Wandering One, or Elena (that is, Selene, the Moon). She was envisaged as the Psyche of the world and the female aspect of Logos.
Muratorian fragment	No Early witnesses	2nd [170]	325-336 CE	4th Century Canon List: See Canon Muratori: A Fourth-Century List Albert C. Sundberg, Jr. The Harvard Theological Review Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 1-41	1740 Ambrosian Library	7th	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google The Muratorian fragment is a 7th-century Latin manuscript bound in an eighth or 7th century codex that came from the library of Columban's monastery at Bobbio; it contains internal cues which suggest that it is a translation from a Greek original written about 170 or as late as the 4th century. The poor Latin and the state that the original manuscript was in have made it difficult to translate. The fragment, of which the beginning is missing and which ends abruptly, is the remaining section of a list of all the works that were accepted as canonical by the churches known to its anonymous original compiler. It was discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan by Father Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750), and published in 1740
The Teachings of Silvanus	No Early witnesses	2nd [150]	325-336 CE	"Christ incomprehensible to his hypostasis":	1945	4th [NHC 07.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google Christian Teachings ?: Post Nicaean hypostasis? Text at 99.13 states "Christ has a single hypostasis" (hidden spiritual reality) and 102.3, which states "Christ is incomprehensible with respect to his hypostasis. The word hypostasis was later adopted as part of the doctrine of the Trinity of Nicaene Christianity. It is not seem a Gnostic text, but has some anti-gnostic warnings, along with orthodox Christian teachings in including verses 110,14-19:[1] "Know who Christ is, and acquire him as a friend, for this is the friend who is faithful. He is God and teacher. This one, being God became man for your sake."
The Sophia of Jesus Christ	No Early witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Fabrication: The Sophia of Jesus Christ is found within the Nag Hammadi Codices at NHC 3.4. But also see NHC 5.1 and 3.3. Robin Lane-Fox summarises this as: "A pagan letter of "Eugnostos the Blessed" (NHC 3.3) was then given a christian preface and a conclusion (NHC 5.1) and represented in another copy (NHC 3.4) as the "wisdom" which Jesus revealed to his Apostles after his death.. See also the comments of Arnaldo Momigliano on the "Christianization of literature".	1945	4th [NHC 03.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| From WIKI: The Sophia of Jesus Christ is one of many Gnostic tractates from the Nag Hammadi codices, discovered in Egypt in 1945. The title is somewhat coded,[citation needed] since although Sophia is Greek for wisdom, in a gnostic context, Sophia is the syzygy of Christ.[citation needed] The Coptic manuscript itself has been dated to the 4th century, however, it is complemented by a few fragments in Greek dating from the 3rd century, implying an earlier date. The text has strong similarities to the Epistle of Eugnostos, which is also found in the Nag Hammadi codices, but with a Christian framing added, and expanding it somewhat. The debate about dating is critical, since some argue that it reflects the "true, recorded, sayings" of Jesus, which is possible if they were to be dated as far back as the 1st century. Others argue that they are, in fact, considerably later, and constitute an unreliable secondary source (at best post facto hearsay). Most scholars argue that the text is of Gnostic origin, based on the similarities between the mystical teachings found in the text itself and standard Gnostic themes. Highly mystical, the content of this text concerns creation of gods, angels, and the universe with an emphasis on infinite and metaphysical truth. The perfect saviour hath said: "Come (you) from things unseen unto the end of those that are seen, and the very emanation of Thought shall reveal unto you how faith in they which are unseen was found in them which are seen, they that belong to the Unbegotten Father. Whomsoever hath ears to hear, let him hear!" The text is composed of 13 questions from the disciples, followed by brief discourses by Jesus in response. The first question concerns the vanity and futility of searching for God. The second concerns how to find truth, but only explaining what it is not. The third concerns how truth was revealed to the gnostics at the beginning of time. The fourth concerns how one must awake to see the truth. The fifth concerns how things began. The sixth concerns how mankind came to gnosis. The seventh concerns the position of Jesus in all this. The eighth concerns the identity of Jesus. The ninth concerns how the spirit connects to the material. The tenth concerns the number of spirits. The eleventh concerns the immortal. The twelfth concerns those who are not material. The final question concerns where mankind came from and what purpose it should have.
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
The Teachings of Addeus the Apostle	No Early witnesses	4th	325-336 CE	Late "legend": It appears after the appearance of the mention of the letter exchange between King Agbar of Edessa and Jesus, as reported by Eusebius, who had "suddenly found the letter of Jesus!" in the (imperial?) archives, hastily rendering a translation from the Syriac to the Greek forhis 4th century academic peers.	?	?	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| See also Thaddeus of Edessa, Syriac Addai (sometimes Latinized as Addeus),
The Exegesis on the Soul	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic Quotes from Homer - Gnostic - Female: "Wise men of old gave the soul a feminine name. Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb. As long as she was alone with the father, she was virgin and in form androgynous."	1945	4th [NHC 02.6]		Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The following from WIKI: According to Irenaeus, this teaching was a foundational pillar of the doctrine of Simon Magus, which Simon viewed as so important that he actually married a prostitute and elevated her in society in order to demonstrate the point. Hence, it is possible that the text was written by the Simonian school of Gnostics. The text quotes copiously from the Old Testament prophets, from the New Testament gospels, and from the epistles of Paul. Curiously, the text also quotes from Homer's Oddysey. These quotes indicate that the author viewed Greek legend and mythology as a type of scripture, just as the author also viewed large portions of the Old and New Testaments as scripture.
The Interpretation of Knowledge	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	"Our generation is fleeing since it does not yet even believe that the Christ is alive" "He died - not his own death" "He was nailed so that they might keep him in the Church."	1945	4th [NHC 11.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic Flee before the Onrush of "Christians": The text commences ... (13 lines missing) ... "they came to believe by means of signs and wonders and fabrications. The likeness that came to be through them followed him, but through reproaches and humiliations before they received the apprehension of a vision they fled without having heard that the Christ had been crucified." - This section seems to indicte that people fled before the onrush of the Christian message. Reproach and humiliation preceeded the message, and therefore the generation of the author fled the revolution. The text continues .... But our generation is fleeing since it does not yet even believe that the Christ is alive" It would appear that some doubted whether the Christ ever lived at all in an historical sense, especially considering the author has just admitted most people of the generation fled in advance of hearing about the Christ having been crucified. Extreme Docetism Further, the text continues .... And he was crucified and he died - not his own death, for he did not at all deserve to die because of the church of mortals. And he was nailed so that they might keep him in the Church."
The Testimony of Truth	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	The story of the Garden of Eden from viewpoint of the serpent: It appears that the snake's advice was for garden variety of people who may have been contemplating a conversion to the "Christian principalities and authorities".of that generation's epoch. The snake may well be related to Panhellenic Asclepius, over whom the 4th century Christian revolution had been particularly unkind..... "The foolish, thinking in their heart that if they confess "We are Christians," in word only but not with power, while giving themselves over to a human death, not knowing where they are going or who Christ is, thinking that they will live while they are really in error, hasten toward the principalities and the authorities.". John turns back the River Jordon!	1945	4th [NHC 09.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic: The text tells the story of the Garden of Eden from the viewpoint of the serpent. Here the serpent, long known to appear in Gnostic literature as the principle of divine wisdom, convinces Adam and Eve to partake of knowledge while "the Lord" threatens them with death, trying jealously to prevent them from attaining knowledge, and expelling them from Paradise when they achieve it. The text is different from many other Christian texts in that it doesn't portray martyrdom as something to be glorified: "The foolish, thinking in their heart that if they confess "We are Christians," in word only but not with power, while giving themselves over to a human death, not knowing where they are going or who Christ is, thinking that they will live while they are really in error, hasten toward the principalities and the authorities.". The text introduces a novel tradition to the baptism of Jesus by John: "But the Son of Man came forth from Imperishability, being alien to defilement. He came to the world by the Jordan river, and immediately the Jordan turned back. And John bore witness to the descent of Jesus. For it is he who saw the power which came down upon the Jordan river; for he knew that the dominion of carnal procreation had come to an end. The Jordan river is the power of the body, that is, the senses of pleasures. The water of the Jordan is the desire for sexual intercourse. John is the archon of the womb.
Letters and Correspondence .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
The Epistle of the Apostles (Epistula Apostolorum)	No Early witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	Sixty Q&A's Apostles check Jesus side for the spear wound, his hands for nail wounds and his tracks for footprints. - See the Acts of John, where Jesus does not leave any footprints. Predicts the Coming of Paul: but otherwise fails to mention Paul. Predicts the Second Coming of Jesus to be 150 years after the time of the vision to the apostles, perhaps in the rule of Marcus Aurelius, which apparently failed to eventuate.	?	4th	0280: Commodian (poet)?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Although the text is framed as a letter, and the first 20% (10 chapters) begins in this manner, describing the nativity, resurrection, and miracles of Jesus, this framing is only done extremely superficially. In fact, the remainder of the text recounts a vision and dialogue between Jesus and the apostles, consisting of about sixty questions, and 41 short chapters. The text is by far the largest epistle in either the New Testament or Apocrypha. The whole text seems to have been intended as a refutation of the teachings of Cerinthus, although "Simon" (probably Simon Magus) is also mentioned. The text itself appears to be based on both the New Testament, in particular the Gospel of John, as well as the Apocalypse of Peter, Epistle of Barnabas, and Shepherd of Hermas, all of which were considered inspired by various groups or individuals during periods of the early church. Jesus Q&A: The content heavily criticises Gnosticism, although it does so not so much as a polemic against it, as an attempt to shore up the faith of non-Gnostics against conversion to Gnosticism. Montague Rhode James (The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1924), pp. 485-503) writes:. The authorities for the text are: (a) a Coptic MS. of the fourth or fifth century at Cairo, mutilated; (b) a complete version in Ethiopic; (c) a leaf of a fifth-century MS. in Latin, palimpsest, at Vienna. No ancient writer mentions it, and very few traces of its use can be found. Other polemical features include emphasising the physical nature of the resurrection, to counter docetism, by having the apostles place their fingers in the print of the nails, in the spear wound in his side, and checking for footprints (like similar imagery in the Gospel of John, having the appearance of design to specifically counter docetism rather than to reflect history). Since the text concerns the apostles during the period immediately around Jesus' resurrection, it necessarily excludes Paul of Tarsus. However, given the importance of Paul and his writings to the mainstream church, the author of the text chose to put in a prediction of Paul's future coming. Also, the description of the healing of Paul's blindness in Acts by Ananias is changed to healing by the hands of one of the apostles, so that Paul is thus subordinate to them. It also quotes an ancient prophecy about a new Jerusalem arising from Syria and the old Jerusalem being captured and destroyed (as happened in 70). This latter prophecy is likely to have been invented, as it is unknown in any previous texts. One of the reasons that the text was ultimately declared heretical is its claim that the Second Coming shall be 150 years after the time of the vision to the apostles, which obviously failed to occur.
The Letter of Peter to Philip	No Early witnesses	2nd [190]	325-336 CE	Gnostic Sermon on the Mount of Olives: The apostles treck to the summit of the Mount of Olives, and persistently petition for the appearance of Jesus. "Then a great light appeared so that the mountains shone from the sight of him who had appeared. And a voice called out to them saying, "Listen to my words that I may speak to you. "Why are you asking me?"	1958: Codex Tchacos	4th	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic: The Apostles have more questions. After melodrama and pyrotechnics, Jesus asks the apostles gathered on the Mount of Olives .... *"Why are you asking me?"* Therefollows a narrative and gnostic discourse. Another copy of the letter has more recently been found in the Codex Tchacos.
Eugnostos the Blessed	Accepted 4th Century	3rd?	325-336 CE	Blueprint text used in the fabrication of the "Sophia of Jesus:	1945	4th [NHC 03.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Letter: See also NHC 5.1 and 3.4. This is the primary gnostic version. It reads ... "The first aeon, then, is that of Immortal Man. The second aeon is that of Son of Man, who is called 'First Begetter'. *Then, in Codex 5.1, "who is called 'Savior'"* is added.** The material is then represented in NHC 3.4 (below) as the "Sophia of Jesus Christ". Robin Lane-Fox summarises this as: "A pagan letter of "Eugnostos the Blessed" (NHC 3.3) was then given a christian preface and a conclusion (NHC 5.1) and represented in another copy (NHC 3.4) as the "wisdom" which Jesus revealed to his Apostles after his death.. See also the comments of Arnaldo Momigliano on the "Christianization of literature".
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
The Epistle to the Laodiceans	No Early witnesses	4th	325-336 CE	Common forgery: generally considered a transparent attempt to supply this supposed lost sacred document.	"early"	5th	0380: Jerome	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| By the 4th century Jerome reports that 'some read the Epistle to the Laodiceans, but it is rejected by everyone' (De viris ill. 5). Of all the spurious pieces produced in the early Church, this is one of the most feeble. It is mystifying how it could have commanded so much respect in the Western Church for period of 1000 years. Comprising only 20 verses, the epistle is a pedestrian patchwork of phrases and sentences plagiarized from the genuine Pauline Epistles, particularly Philippians. After the author has expressed his joy at the faith and virtue of the Laodiceans, he warns them against heretics, and exhorts them to remain faithful to Christian doctrines and the Christian pattern of life. The epistle purports to have been written from prison.
The Correspondence of Jesus and Agbar	Eusebius is witness	4th	325-336 CE	Common forgery: generally considered a transparent attempt (by Eusebius: Historia Ecclesiastica, I, xiii) to supply this supposed lost sacred document.	Discovered by Eusebius	?	0324: Eusebius	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Another Eusebian forgery of the fourth century.: The text of the letter varies. The less available variant, transcribed from the Doctrina Addaei, and printed in the Catholic Encyclopedia 1908, is: AGBAR TO JESUS, COME IN JESUS, OVER: "Abgar Ouchama to Jesus, the Good Physician Who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting: "I have heard of Thee, and of Thy healing; that Thou dost not use medicines or roots, but by Thy word openest (the eyes) of the blind, makest the lame to walk, cleansest the lepers, makest the deaf to hear; how by Thy word (also) Thou healest (sick) spirits and those who are tormented with lunatic demons, and how, again, Thou raisest the dead to life. And, learning the wonders that Thou doest, it was borne in upon me that (of two things, one): either Thou hast come down from heaven, or else Thou art the Son of God, who bringest all these things to pass. Wherefore I write to Thee, and pray that thou wilt come to me, who adore Thee, and heal all the ill that I suffer, according to the faith I have in Thee. I also learn that the Jews murmur against Thee, and persecute Thee, that they seek to crucify Thee, and to destroy Thee. I possess but one small city, but it is beautiful, and large enough for us two to live in peace.". The Doctrina then continues, with a letter from Jesus: JESUS TO AGBAR, COME IN AGBAR, OVER: When Jesus had received the letter, in the house of the high priest of the Jews, He said to Hannan†, the secretary, "Go thou, and say to thy master, who hath sent thee to Me: 'Happy art thou who hast believed in Me, not having seen Me, for it is written of Me that those who shall see Me shall not believe in Me, and that those who shall not see Me shall believe in Me. As to that which thou hast written, that I should come to thee, (behold) all that for which I was sent here below is finished, and I ascend again to My Father who sent Me, and when I shall have ascended to Him I will send thee one of My disciples, who shall heal all thy sufferings, and shall give (thee) health again, and shall convert all who are with thee unto life eternal. And thy city shall be blessed forever, and the enemy shall never overcome it.'" According to Eusebius, Jesus himself wrote the letter; nothing is mentioned of his having dictated it to Hannan.
The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca	Eusebius is witness	4th	325-336 CE	Common forgery: generally considered a transparent attempt (by Eusebius ?) to supply "historical authenticity". " Hail, my dearest Paul ... so great a man, so beloved in all ways ... You are the summit and topmost peak of all people ... The Augustus was moved by your views* ..."*	Discovered by Eusebius ?	9th?	0324	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The Correspondence of Paul and Seneca existed in the fourth century, for Jerome mentions it, says it was 'read by many', and is led by it to insert Seneca in his catalogue of Christian authors; Augustine also, quoting the genuine Seneca, says, 'of whom some letters to the apostle Paul are current read'. The Pseudo-Linus inserts a paragraph in his Passion of Paul telling how Seneca frequently conversed and corresponded with Paul, admired him much, and read some of his writings to Nero. Manuscripts as old as the ninth century exist, and of the twelfth--fifteenth centuries there are many. Extracts: " Hail, my dearest Paul ... so great a man, so beloved in all ways ... You are the summit and topmost peak of all people ... We were much refreshed by the reading of ... the many letters which you have addressed to some city or capital of a province .. which inculcate the moral life with admirable precepts... Such is the greatness of them ... such nobility, that I think whole ages of men could hardly suffice for the instilling and perfecting of them ... For it is the holy spirit which is in you and high above you which expresses these exalted and adorable thoughts. The Augustus was moved by your views ... he could wonder that a man not regularly educated could think thus. I replied that the gods often speak by the mouths of the simple ... Be but intimately associated with me and my name ... I am glad as to be counted a second self of yours ... For the rank that is mine, I would it were yours, and yours I would were mine. Farewell, dearest Paul."
Gnostic Apocalypses/Revelations .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
The Revelation of Moses (The Life of Adam and Eve)	No Early witnesses	1st	325-336 CE	The Life of Adam and Eve: (Sethian?) - Provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection.	?	5th	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The Life of Adam and Eve, also known, in its Greek version, as the Apocalypse of Moses. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story. Satan explains that he rebelled when God commanded him to bow down to Adam. After Adam dies, he and all his descendants are promised a resurrection. The ancient versions of the Life of Adam and Eve are: the Greek Apocalypse of Moses, the Latin Life of Adam and Eve, the Slavonic Life of Adam and Eve, the Armenian Penitence of Adam, the Georgian Book of Adam,[1] and one or two fragmentary Coptic versions. These texts are usually named as Primary Adam Literature to distinguish them from subsequent related texts, such as the Cave of Treasures that includes what appears to be extracts. They differ greatly in length and wording, but for the most part are derived from a single source that has not survived,[2]:251 and contain (except for some obvious insertions) no undeniably Christian teaching.
The Vision of Isaiah	Eusebius has witnesses	1st	325-336 CE	Star Gate Jesus A journey "there and back" through the seven heavens: The birth of Jesus is described as being preceded by Jesus's descent through each of the seven heavens, in the disguise of an angel appropriate to each heaven.	15th? (Ethiopic)	4th (fragments)	0324: Origen, Tertullian, Justin Martyr	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The text exists as a whole in three Ethiopic manuscripts of around the 15th-18th centuries, but fragments have also survived in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. All three component texts appear to have been in Greek. E. Norelli suggests that the whole text, even if written in different times, is the expression of a docetic Christian prophetic group related with the group attacked by Ignatius of Antioch in his letters to the Smyrnaeans and to the Trallians. Elements of the Ascension of Isaiah are paralleled in other writings. The method of Isaiah's death (sawn in half by Manasseh) is agreed upon by both the Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud, and is probably alluded to by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (11:37). The demon Beliar appears in quite a number of apocryphal works, including the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Enoch, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Sibylline Books. Finally, Isaiah's journey through the Seven Heavens parallels that of Enoch's in the Second Book of Enoch. The text exists as a whole in three Ethiopic manuscripts of around the 15th-18th centuries, but fragments have also survived in Greek, Coptic, Latin, and Old Slavonic. All three component texts appear to have been in Greek
The Apocalypse of James (First)	No Early witnesses	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	Jesus dispenses Gnostic Passwords to James How to ascend to the seventy-second heaven - a late instruction course on the appropriate passwords for the maximum ascension after crucifixion.	1945	4th [NHC 05.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Valentinian : Also called "the Revelation of Jacob". Another copy has more recently been found in the Codex Tchacos. The form of the text is primarily that of a Revelation Dialogue/Discourse between James the Just (the brother of Jesus - according to the text, James is not a biological brother but a spiritual brother)[4] and Jesus, with a rather fragmentary account of the martyrdom of James(?) appended to the bottom of the manuscript, connected to the remainder by an oblique reference to crucifixion. The first portion of the text describes James' understandable concern about being crucified, whereas the latter portion describes secret passwords given to James so that he can ascend to the highest heaven (out of seventy-two) after dying, without being blocked by evil powers of the demiurge.
The Apocalypse of James (Second)	No Early witnesses	2nd [130]	325-336 CE	Jesus dispenses a kiss to James - Disclaimers are provided, but James dies a gruesome death.	1945	4th [NHC 05.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic : The text features a kiss between James and Jesus, on the lips, in a similar manner to the way in which Jesus is said to have kissed Mary Magdalene in other gnostic texts (which lent credence to the idea that early tradition considered Mary to be the Beloved Disciple). "And Jesus kissed my mouth. He took hold of me saying, 'My beloved! Behold, I shall reveal to you those things that the heavens nor the angels have known. Behold, I shall reveal to you everything, my beloved. Behold, I shall reveal to you what is hidden. But now, stretch out your hand. Now, take hold of me' However, the text also describes how such a kiss was a metaphor for the passing of gnosis, explaining the references to it elsewhere, making it clear that this isn't the homosexual relationship it appears to be. The text ends with the rather gruesome death of James by stoning, possibly reflecting an early oral tradition of what became of James: they decided to throw him down from the height, and they cast him down....they seized him and struck him as they dragged him on the ground. They stretched him out and placed a stone on his abdomen. They all placed their feet on him, saying, 'You have erred!' Again they raised him up, since he was alive, and made him dig a hole. They made him stand in it. After having covered him up to his abdomen, they stoned him.
The Apocalypse of Peter (Gnostic)	No Early witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Docetic: "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me.". *"The Bishops are dry canals"*	1945	4th [NHC 07.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Docetic: Not to be confused with the Apocalypse of Peter. The text takes gnostic interpretations of the crucifixion to the extreme, picturing Jesus as laughing and warning against people who cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking they shall become pure. According to this text: "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me.". It warns against the Bishops ..... "And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishop and also deacons, as if they have received their authority from God. They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders. Those people are dry canals."
The Apocryphon of James	No Early witnesses	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	Peter and James miss their chance to go to heaven - More questions from the apostles and answered from the resurrected Jesus. Jesus invites Peter and James into the Kingdom of Heaven with him, but they are distracted by the other apostles' questions and miss their chance.	1945	4th [NHC 01.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Valentinian: It describes the secret teachings of Jesus to Peter and James, given after the Resurrection but before the Ascension. A major theme is that one must accept suffering as inevitable. CONTENT: The text is framed as an epistle (i.e. a letter) from James to someone else whose name is obscured by the damage to the text. The author describes Jesus expanding on various sayings and answering questions 550 days after the Resurrection, but before the Ascension. Both James and Peter are given secret instruction, but at the end only James appears to understand what has happened. (As with the Gospel of John 1-20 and the Gospel of Mary, in this book Peter has implicitly failed the Christian movement). Jesus gives teachings in unusual and seemingly contradictory phrases, and also offers brief parables. He invites Peter and James into the Kingdom of Heaven with him, but they are distracted by the other apostles' questions and miss their chance. Afterwards, James is described as sending out the 12 apostles, indicating (as in other apocryphal documents) that James initially succeeded Jesus as the leader of the movement.
The Revelation of the Magi	No Early witnesses	2nd-3rd	325-336 CE	The Magi, originally Sethians, get converted to Christianity - An entertaining story of the Magi, their history, their role in attending the birth of the Jesus Star, and their ultimate conversion to Christianity in a far-off land by Thomas Judas (of great fame in his "Acts of Thomas" where he converts the Indians from Hinduism and Buddhism). Why the Magi were required to be converted from their tradition to Christianity is rhetorical	1559: Vatican (Index Librorum Prohibitorum)	8th - Syriac	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The basic narrative occurs in the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, John Chrysostom (Hom. Matt. 6.2). The following is from this source: Now, a first-ever English translation and detailed analysis of a little-known eighth-century manuscript of a story probably written in the second or third century uncovers a far more substantial version of the wise men story. Brent Landau, a professor of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma and an expert in ancient biblical languages, found references to a text about the wise men in writings from the Middle Ages and learned that a collector in the 18th century had discovered in a Turkish monastery a manuscript called "the Revelation of the Magi" with a narrative about the wise men. He gave it to the Vatican Library, where the document, written on vellum, a type of parchment made of animal skin, remains archived away in virtual obscurity. As part of his doctoral dissertation at Harvard Divinity School, Landau spent seven years translating and analyzing the text, written in Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic used by early Christians throughout the Middle East and Asia — and which he happened to be studying. He worked from both a 1927 published text in Syriac and the original document at the Vatican. Landau's book, Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem describes the Magi as an ancient mystical sect descended from Seth, the pious and virtuous third son of Adam and Eve. From Seth they inherited a prophecy of "a star of indescribable brightness" someday appearing and "heralding the birth of God in human form." This same star had initially hovered over the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.
The Apocalypse of Peter - and fragments	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd	325-336 CE	No text, fragments and quotes only The resurrected Jesus offers a vision first of heaven, and then of hell. It is granted to Peter, in the form of a "nekyia" - a "rite by which ghosts were called up and questioned about the future,"	1886	8th	0324: Clement (Eclogues 41,48,49):	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Classed as REJECTED by Eusebius - to be or not to be confused with the Gnostic "Apocalypse of Peter" at Nag Hammadi. This text has Hellenistic overtones. The Apocalypse of Peter is framed as a discourse of the Risen Christ to his faithful, offering a vision first of heaven, and then of hell, granted to Peter, the favourite figure of the emerging mainstream Church (as opposed to James the Just, favourite of the Jewish Christians) in the form of a nekyia - a "rite by which ghosts were called up and questioned about the future," (i.e., necromancy). It goes into elaborate detail about the punishment in hell for each type of crime, later to be depicted by Hieronymus Bosch, and the pleasures given in heaven for each virtue. Manuscripts: The text is extant in two incomplete versions of a lost Greek original, one Koine Greek, and an Ethiopic version, which diverge considerably. The Greek manuscript was unknown at first hand until it was discovered during excavations directed by Sylvain Grébaut during the 1886-87 season in a desert necropolis at Akhmim in Upper Egypt. The fragment consisted of parchment leaves of the Greek version that had been carefully deposited in the grave of a Christian monk of the 8th or 9th century. The manuscript is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The Ethiopic version was discovered in 1910. There are more than 100 manuscripts of an Arabic Christian work entitled the Ru'ya Butrus, which is Arabic for the 'Vision' or 'Apocalypse' of Peter
The Apocryphon of John	Eusebius has witnesses	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	Sethian Gnostic revelation delivered by the resurrected Christ to John	1945	4th [NHC 03.1]	0324: Irenaeus	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Sethian Gnostic (Non identical duplicates NHC 3.1 and NHC 4.1) Also known as "The Secret Book of John" and "The Secret Revelation of John" each depending upon how the word "Apocryphon" is translated. It describes Jesus Christ appearing and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to the apostle John. The author describes this having occurred after Jesus "has gone back to the place from which he came". The two surviving Coptic manuscripts of the shorter version of The Apocryphon of John -- found in the Berlin Codex and Nag Hammadi Library Codex III -- are very similar, but they are not identical. "By meditating intensely on God, Barbelo brought forth a divine spark. God was so please with the new light, the first son, that he annointed him with his kindness (chrestos)" - The Gnostic Library of Chenoboskion, Victor Roland Gold, p.83
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
The Apocalypse of Adam	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Sethian: It has no necessary references to Christianity "the revelations which Adam made known to Seth, his son" --- "generation without a king" proclaims the truth	1945	4th [NHC 05.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: It has no necessary references to Christianity "the revelations which Adam made known to Seth, his son" Adam in his 700th year tells Seth how he learned a word of knowledge of the eternal God from Eve and that he and Eve were indeed more powerful than their supposed creator. But that knowledge was lost in the fall when the subcreator - the demiurge - separated Adam and Eve. Adam relates how three mysterious strangers brought about Seth's begetting and so a preservation of this knowledge. Adam then prophecies at length attempts of the subcreator god to destroy mankind, including the prophecy of the great Deluge and of attempted destruction by fire but an Illuminator will come in the end. When the Illuminator comes, thirteen kingdoms proclaim thirteen different standard but conflicting birth legends about the Illuminator, but only the "generation without a king" proclaims the truth.
The Apocalypse of Paul - and fragments	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Paul/Mary persuades God to give everyone in Hell a day off every Sunday - "a forged book full of unspeakable matter in the name of Paul" - Epiphanius	?	?	0370: Epiphanius; Augustine	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| From "The Apocryphal New Testament" M.R. James-Translation and Notes Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924 ..... Epiphanius tells us that the Caianites or Cainites had forged a book full of unspeakable matter in the name of Paul, which was also used by those who are called Gnostics, which they call the Anabaticon of Paul, Basing it on the words of the apostle -that he was taken up into the third heaven. This has left no trace (Heresy, 38. 2). St. Augustine laughs at the folly of some who had forged an Apocalypse of Paul, full of fables, and pretending to contain the unutterable things which the apostle had heard. This is, I doubt not, our book. (Aug. on John, Tract 98.) Sozomen, in his Ecclesiastical History (vii. 19), says: "The book now circulated as the Apocalypse of Paul the apostle, which none of the ancients ever saw, is commended by most monks; but some contend that this book was found in the reign we write of (of Theodosius). For they say that by a Divine manifestation there was found underground at Tarsus of Cilicia, in Paul's house a marble chest, and that in it was this book. However, when I inquired about this, a Cilician, a priest of the church of Tarsus, told me it was a lie. He was a man whose grey hairs showed him to be of considerable age and he said that no such thing had happened in their city, and that he wondered whether the tale (or, the book) had not been made up by heretics. Sozomen's story is that which appears in our book; and we need not doubt that this Apocalypse made its appearance in the last years of the fourth century. It is condemned in the Gelasian Decree, and is mentioned with disapproval by various late church writers. There is an Ethiopic version of the Apocalypse which features the Virgin Mary in the place of Paul the Apostle, as the receiver of the vision, known as the Apocalypse of the Virgin. The text is not to be confused with the gnostic Apocalypse of Paul, which is unlikely to be related. The text appears to be an elaborate expansion and rearrangement of the Apocalypse of Peter, and is essentially a description of a vision of Heaven, and then of Hell – although it also contains a prologue describing all creation appealing to God against the sin of man, which is not present in Peter's Apocalypse. At the end of the text, Paul/Mary manages to persuade God to give everyone in Hell a day off every Sunday. The text extends Peter's Apocalypse by framing the reasons for the visits to heaven and hell as the witnessing of the death and judgement of one wicked man, and one who is righteous.
The Apocalypse of Paul (Coptic/Gnostic)	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Why is this text not identified with the one above?	1945	4th [NHC 05.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: The Gnostic text describes the ascent of Paul through various stages of Heaven, with Yaltabaoth (described as an old man on a throne) attempting to prevent further ascent. A soul that fails to have the knowledge (gnosis) required to defeat Yaltabaoth here, is sent back, in the vision, to be reincarnated.
Gnostic Treatises .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]
Title of Text	Attestation Status	Mainstream Chronology	Alternative Chronology	Editorial Comments & Notations	Discovered	Earliest Manuscript	Earliest Mention	Notes
A Valentinian Exposition	No Early witnesses	2nd [160]	325-336 CE	Jesus revealed, contrived and created "a creature" - ""Indeed Jesus and Sophia revealed the creature. ..... Jesus contrived a creature of this sort .... Moreover, this Jesus created the creature, and he worked from the passions surrounding the seeds."	1945	4th [NHC 11.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Valentinian:The author begins by promising to reveal "my mystery", and follows the account with baptismal and eucharistic prayers and benedictions: "[...] enter [...] the abundance [...] those who [...] I will speak my mystery to those who are mine and to those who will be mine. Moreover it is these who have known him who is, the Father, that is, the Root of the All, the Ineffable One who dwells in the Monad. He dwells alone in silence, and silence is tranquility since, after all, he was a Monad and no one was before him. " Jesus is introduced in conjunction with Sophia:"Indeed Jesus and Sophia revealed the creature. Since, after all, the seeds of Sophia are incomplete and formless, Jesus contrived a creature of this sort and made it of the seeds while Sophia worked with him. For since they are seeds and without form, he descended and brought forth that pleroma of aeons which are in that place, since even the uncreated ones of those Aeons are of the pattern of the Pleroma and the uncontainable Father. The Uncreated One brought forth the pattern of the uncreated, for it is from the uncreated that the Father brings forth into form. But the creature is a shadow of pre-existing things. Moreover, this Jesus created the creature, and he worked from the passions surrounding the seeds."
The Thunder, Perfect Mind	No Early witnesses	2nd/3rd	325-336 CE	Gnostic, Panhellenic; non christian: "I, I am godless, and I am the one whose God is great."	1945	4th [NHC 06.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Nonchristian : "I, I am godless, and I am the one whose God is great."The Thunder - Perfect Intellect, takes the form of an extended, riddling monologue, in which an immanent saviour speaks a series of paradoxical statements concerning the divine feminine nature. These paradoxical utterances echo Greek identity riddles, a common poetic form in the Mediterranean
The Treatise on the Resurrection	No Early witnesses	2nd [180]	325-336 CE	Treatise on the Platonic metaphysical concept of "The All" and "The Good" - Was survival after death philosophical demonstrable (as Socrates had argued in the Phaedo)? "Nothing, then, redeems us from this world. But the All* which we are, we are saved. We have received salvation from end to end.* Buddhist and/or Platonic Metaphysics? The question has got to be asked, what's the difference? "Those who are living shall die. How do they live in an illusion? The rich have become poor, and the kings have been overthrown. Everything is prone to change. The world is an illusion!	1945	4th [NHC 01.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Malcom L. Peel writes (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 52): "The importance of this short, eight-page, didactic letter lies in its witness to a distinctively unorthodox interpretation of Christian teaching about survival after death. Was such survival philosophical demonstrable (as Socrates had argued in the Phaedo)? What form might it take? (Immortality of the soul? Resurrection of the body? Reincarnation?) Extract: "Nothing, then, redeems us from this world. But the All which we are, we are saved. We have received salvation from end to end. Let us think in this way! Let us comprehend in this way!" ............... "Those who are living shall die. How do they live in an illusion? The rich have become poor, and the kings have been overthrown. Everything is prone to change. The world is an illusion! - lest, indeed, I rail at things to excess" ........ These are the symbols and the images of the resurrection. He it is who makes the good. Also see The "Epistle to Rheginus": Valentinianism in the Fourth Century by M. J. Edwards
The Hypostasis of the Archons (The Reality of the Rulers)	No Early witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	"The Reality of the Rulers" is that ... "Their chief is blind" The Gnostic author puts these words on the pen of "Paul" ..... "Their chief is blind; because of his power and his ignorance and his arrogance he said, with his power, "It is I who am God; there is none apart from me." When he said this, he sinned against the entirety." Was the "Ruler" Pontifex Maximus Constantine?	1945	4th [NHC 02.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Nonchristian: Apart from the opening paragraph, the work contains no non-Gnostic Christian characteristics. The opening paragraph refers to Paul ... "On account of the reality of the authorities, (inspired) by the spirit of the father of truth, the great apostle - referring to the "authorities of the darkness" - told us that "our contest is not against flesh and blood; rather, the authorities of the universe and the spirits of wickedness." I have sent this (to you) because you inquire about the reality of the authorities. Their chief is blind; because of his power and his ignorance and his arrogance he said, with his power, "It is I who am God; there is none apart from me." When he said this, he sinned against the entirety."
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul	No Early witnesses	3rd[280]	325-336 CE	Consists of eleven sentences containing nineteen abrupt demands to a "psychic God" "O Lord wont you buy me a mercedes benz?"	1945	4th [NHC 01.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| This text is clearly pseudonymous and was not written by the historic Apostle Paul. It shows a distinctive Gnostic appeal unlike prayers in letters known to have come from Paul. Many scholars have dubbed it as a Valentinian work due to characteristic phrases such as the "psychic God" -- this would indicate that it was composed between 150 and 300 CE. Scholars have found parallels to many other works which may be partial sources, including Corpus Hermeticum, the Three Steles of Seth, the Gospel of Philip, and the authentic Pauline letters.
The Three Steles of Seth	No Early witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	Neoplatonic Sethian Gnostics: "The way of ascent is the way of descent." RELATED Ammianus Marcellinus on Egyptian Steles \| Nicagoras of Athens and the Lateran Obelisk	1945	4th [NHC 07.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Neoplatonic and Sethian: The text concerns a revelation to Dositheos about three steles (text written into specially created stones). Many scholars think they are designed as liturgy. The text is thought to be from the Sethian sect of Gnostics (the sect that viewed the biblical Seth as their hero, who was reincarnated as Jesus). Their other texts include the Apocalypse of Adam, Apocryphon of John, the Trimorphic Protennoia, and the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians. The text is thought to be a 3rd century development of the Sethian Gnostics, as they became more separated from Christianity, and closer to Platonism. Extract: "Know therefore, as those who live, that you have attained. And you taught yourselves the infinite things. Marvel at the truth which is within them, and (at) the revelation." "The way of ascent is the way of descent." "Thou art one. Thou art one, just as there is one (who) will say to thee: Thou art one, thou art a single living spirit. How shall we give thee a name? We do not have it, For thou art the existence of them all. Thou art the life of them all. Thou art the mind of them all. For thou art he in whom they all rejoice. "
The Tripartite Tractate	No Early witnesses	3rd/4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Valentinian (Revisionist) Platonic numbers analysis?	1945	4th [NHC 01.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Valentinian (Revisionist): It deals primarily with the relationship between the Aeons and the Son. It is divided into three parts, which deal with the determinism of the Father and the free-will of the hypostatized aeons, the creation of humanity, evil, and the fall of Anthropos, and the variety of theologies, the tripartition of humanity, the actions of the Saviour and ascent of the saved into Unity, respectively. The translation by Harold W. Attridge and Dieter Mueller provides the following sections: (Part I): 1. Introduction 2. The Father 3. The Son and the Church 4. Aeonic Emanations 5. Aeonic Life 6. The Imperfect Begetting by the Logos 7. The Conversion of the Logos 8. The Emanation of the Savior 9. The Pleroma of the Logos 10. The Organization (Part II) 11. The Creation of Material Humanity (Part III) 12. The Variety of Theologies 13. The Incarnate Savior and his Companions 14. The Tripartition of Mankind 15. The Process of Restoration 16. Redemption of the Calling
Zostrianos	No Early witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	Neoplatonic Sethian Gnostics ""The [Invisible] Spirit [is] a psychic and intellectual power, a knower and a fore-knower."	1945	4th [NHC 08.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: the text concerns a vision received by a man named Zostrianos and explains and enumerates, in great detail, the emanations that the Gnostics said are produced by God (the true, highest, god), in the Gnostic's esoteric cosmology. Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of monism, an idea from Platonism which is thought to have become part of Sethianism towards the end of the 3rd century. Extract: "The [Invisible] Spirit [is] a psychic and intellectual power, a knower and a fore-knower."
The Sentences of Sextus	Eusebius has witnesses	3rd	325-336 CE	Sextus appears to have been a Pythagorean	1945	4th [NHC 12.1]	0324: Origen	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Hellenistic Pythagorean: The work is similar to the sayings gospels Gospel of Phillip and Gospel of Thomas in that it is purely a collection of sayings, with no bridging framework. Unlike the Christian sayings gospels, the wisdom comes from a man named Sextus rather than Jesus. Sextus appears to have been a Pythagorean. Some of the 104 sentences are: The soul is illuminated by the recollection of deity Bear that which is necessary, as it is necessary Be not anxious to please the multitude Esteem nothing so precious, which a bad man may take from you Use lying like poison Nothing is so peculiar to wisdom, as truth Wish that you may be able to benefit your enemies A wise intellect is the mirror of God Cast away any part of the body that would cause you not to live abstinently. For it is better to live abstinently without this part than ruinously with it. (quoted by Origen, Contra Celsum, viii. 30; Commentary on Matthew, xv. 3)
Nicaean Boundary Events of 324/325 CE
Allogenes	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Sethian Gnostic	1945	4th [NHC 11.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| The text concerns revelations to Allogenes.[1] Allogenes proceeds to describe how he overcame fear and ignorance, and ascended to the esoteric realm of the God of the Gnostics. A small fragment also survives in the more recently discovered Codex Tchacos. Extract: "The Triple-Powered-One"... "When the completion of the one hundred years drew nigh, it brought me a blessedness of the eternal hope full of auspiciousness. I saw the good divine Autogenes; and the Savior, who is the youthful, perfect Triple-Male Child; and his goodness, the noetic perfect Protophanes-Harmedon; and the blessedness of the Kalyptos; and the primary origin of the blessedness, the Aeon of Barbelo, full of divinity; and the primary origin of the one without origin, the spiritual, invisible Triple-Powered One, the Universal One that is higher than perfect."
Asclepius 21-29	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	"who are these (daimons) ?"	1945	4th [NHC 06.8]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Hermetic/Asclepian: HERMES to Asclepius "Trismegistus, who are these (daimons)?" "Asclepius, they are the ones who are called 'stranglers', and those who roll souls down on the dirt, and those who scourge them, and those who cast into the water, and those who cast into the fire, and those who bring about the pains and calamities of men. Also see Therapeutae of Asclepius.
Authoritative Teaching	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Nonchristian: "This her true shepherd taught her in knowledge."	1945	4th [NHC 06.3]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \|
Hypsiphrone	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Sethian	1945	4th [NHC 11.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: Hypsiphrone meaning "woman of high mind", commences: "The book concerning the things that were seen by Hypsiphrone being revealed in the place of her virginity."
Marsanes	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Sethian	1945	4th [NHC 10.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: The text describes a very elaborate esoteric cosmogony of successive emanations from an original God, as revealed by Marsanes. Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of monism, an idea comparable to Heracleon's notion of universal perfection and permanence as expressed through the constancy of the total mass of things within it (that is, all matter in the universe may only change form, and may not be created or destroyed), and the later Stoic insistence of nothing existing beyond the material. An extract: "Control yourselves, receive the imperishable seed, bear fruit, and do not become attached to your possessions."
Melchizedek	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Melchizedek is Jesus Christ	1945	4th [NHC 09.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: Here it is proposed that Melchizedek is Jesus Christ[35]. Melchizedek, as Jesus Christ, lives, preaches, dies and is resurrected, in a gnostic perspective. The Coming of the Son of God Melchizedek speaks of his return to bring peace, supported by the gods, and he is a priest-king who dispenses justice.
On the Origin of the World	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic	1945	4th [NHC 02.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic: It rethinks the entire story of Genesis, and positions Yaldabaoth (the Demiurge) as the creator of the world, fulfilling the role of God in Genesis. Furthermore, the Serpent in the Garden of Eden is depicted as a hero sent by Sophia to guide mankind towards enlightenment. The one reference to Jesus is - "another being, called Jesus Christ, who resembles the savior above in the eighth heaven, and who sits at his right upon a revered throne" Duplicated at NHC 2.5 and 13.2
Plato, Republic 588A-589B	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Political Message: Plato's monsters are real and single and loose in the empire. See the article - Comparing Plato' Republic in the Nag Hammadi coptic to the Original Greek.	1945	4th [NHC 06.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Political Message: See the analysis results of Comparing Plato' Republic in the Nag Hammadi coptic to the Original Greek. The monsters of Plato's ancient fables "have now become natural creatures", and are loose in the Republic presented in the Nag Hammadi version. Once they existed as many fabulous monsters in tales, but now they have become a single monster. Yes, they were the subject of tales in Plato. But in the Coptic these monsters (now a single monster) lived in the empire, and it was commanded to work in the empire. Things were grim.
The Concept of Our Great Power	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Nonchristian	1945	4th [NHC 06.4]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Nonchristian: ""He who will know our great Power will become invisible, and fire will not be able to consume him. But it will purge and destroy all of your possessions. For everyone in whom my form will appear will be saved, from (the age of) seven days up to one hundred and twenty years. (Those) whom I constrained to gather all that is fallen - and the writings of our great Power, in order that he may inscribe your name in our great light - and their thoughts and their works may be ended, that they may be purged, and be scattered and be destroyed, and be gathered in the place which no one in it sees. But you will see me, and you will prepare your dwelling places in our great Power. Know how what has departed came to be, in order that you may know how to discern what lives to become: of what appearance that aeon is, or what kind it is, or how it will come to be. Why do you not ask what kind you will become, (or) rather how you came to be? "
The Dialogue of the Savior	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic: "The lamp of the body is the mind."	1945	4th [NHC 03.5]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic: "The lamp of the body is the mind." The text is somewhat peculiarly constructed, containing also a few large interruptions seemingly out of place within, and only superficially edited into, the dialogue. Starting with a series of questions ultimately concerning esoteric knowledge and its pursuit, the text abruptly turns to a description of the origin of the world, interrupted briefly by a return to dialogue. Having expounded the description of creation, it returns to the gnostic question and answer session about how to achieve salvation via gnosis, but is abruptly interrupted by a natural history list of the Four Elements, the powers of heaven and earth, and so forth. After the history list, there is an apocalyptic vision, in which Didymous Judas Thomas, Mary, and Matthew, are shown hell from the safety of the edge of the earth, and an angel announces that the material world was an unintended evil creation (see Yaltabaoth). Finally, the text returns to the question-based dialogue. The rather artificial manner in which other texts (the vision of hell, the natural history list, and the creation theory) appear to have been inserted into a question-based dialogue, and the abrupt change half way through from referring to Jesus as Lord to referring to him as Saviour, has led many to propose that it is based on four or five different original works. However, due to the damage that the text has suffered, study of it has so far proven too difficult to identify what these texts might be (although the dialog shares an affinity with the Gospel of Thomas). Although the text appears to be misogynist in its command to destroy the works of femaleness, it is generally considered that this was a reference to destroying sexuality and thus reproduction, thus suppressing carnal desire.
The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Platonic/Hermetic	1945	4th [NHC 06.6]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Platonic/Hermetic: HERMES - "I understand Mind, Hermes, who cannot be interpreted, because he keeps within himself. And I rejoice, my father, because I see you smiling. And the universe rejoices.". "Mind Matters Most".
The Paraphrase of Shem	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Nonchristian: paraphrase about the unbegotten Spirit."	1945	4th [NHC 07.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Nonchristian: Commences with ..."[The] paraphrase which was about the unbegotten Spirit." .
The Prayer of Thanksgiving	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Hermetic:	1945	4th [NHC 06.7]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Hermetic: Scribal Note: "I have copied this one discourse of his (Hermes). Indeed, very many have come to me. I have not copied them because I thought that they had come to you (pl.). Also, I hesitate to copy these for you because, perhaps they have (already) come to you, and the matter may burden you. Since the discourses of that one, which have come to me, are numerous ..."
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Docetic: Jesus who did not die on the cross, but laughs	1945	4th [NHC 07.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Docetic: It depicts a Jesus who did not die on the cross. "For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death...It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. I[t] was another upon Whom they placed the crown of thorns...And I was laughing at their ignorance." (Jesus as purported narrator). Elsewhere .... "we were hated and persecuted, not only by those who are ignorant, but also by those who think that they are advancing the name of Christ, since they were unknowingly empty, not knowing who they are, like dumb animals. They persecuted those who have been liberated by me, since they hate them..." .
The Thought of Norea	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Gnostic - Sethian (NeoPlatonic): "Father of All, Ennoia of the Light, dwelling in the heights above the (regions) below..."	1945	4th [NHC 09.2]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| Gnostic - Sethian: TEXT: "Father of All, Ennoia of the Light, dwelling in the heights above the (regions) below, Light dwelling in the heights, Voice of Truth, upright Nous, untouchable Logos, and ineffable Voice, incomprehensible Father! It is Norea who cries out to them. They heard, [and] they received her into her place forever. They gave it to her in the Father of Nous, Adamas, as well as the voice of the Holy Ones, in order that she might rest in the ineffable Epinoia, in order that [she] might inherit the first mind which [she] had received, and that [she] might rest in the divine Autogenes, and that she (too) might generate herself, just as she also has inherited the living Logos, and that she might be joined to all of the Imperishable Ones, and speak with the mind of the Father. And she began to speak with the words of Life, and [she] remained in the presence of the Exalted One, possessing that which she had received before the world came into being. She has the great mind of the Invisible One, and she gives glory to [her] Father, and she dwells within those who [are actively awake] within the Pleroma, and she beholds the Pleroma. There will be days when she will behold the Pleroma, and she will not be in deficiency, for she has the four holy helpers who intercede on her behalf with the Father of the All, Adamas. He it is who is within all of the Adams, possessing the thought of Norea, who speaks concerning the two names which create a single name."
Trimorphic Protennoia	Accepted 4th Century	4th	325-336 CE	Sethian Neoplatonic Gnostic	1945	4th [NHC 13.1]	?	Text \| Wiki \| Google \| "I am Protennoia, the Thought that dwells in the Light. I am the movement that dwells in the All, she in whom the All takes its stand, the first-born among those who came to be, she who exists before the All. She (Protennoia) is called by three names, although she dwells alone, since she is perfect. I am invisible within the Thought of the Invisible One. I am revealed in the immeasurable, ineffable (things). I am incomprehensible, dwelling in the incomprehensible. I move in every creature.

Editorial Comments (2011) - [Draft]

Reconstructing Gnostic History

The mainstream history of the Gnostics, the Greek authors of these texts (and others), is based upon a chronology of the original Greek authorship being distributed variously through first three centuries - the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th. Some conjecture 1st century dates for some of the Greek originals of the Coptic NHC, such as the "Gospel of Thomas".

The editor of this compilation however prefers a later chronology for the original Greek authorship, - namely, between the twelve years of 325 and 336 CE. The Gnostic books can be explained as literature representing a political and religious reaction against the introduction of the Orthodox Christian books by Constantine c.324/325 CE, authored by non christian acadedic Alexandrian Greeks who followed the "Logos" and the "god" of Plato. As for the names and identities of the proposed author(s) of the Gnostic material, Arius of Alexandria may have originally stood behind the name of "Leuciius Charinus".

Taking the words of Bart Ehrman at their face value:

"The victors in the struggles to establish Christian Orthodoxy not only won
their theological battles, they also rewrote the history of the conflict".

"damnatio memoriae"

Eusebius VC 65: How on the Discovery of Prohibited Books
among the Heretics, Many of them return to the Catholic Church.

THUS were the lurking-places of the heretics broken up by the emperor's command, and the savage beasts they harbored (I mean the chief authors of their impious doctrines) driven to flight. Of those whom they had deceived, some, intimidated by the emperor's threats, disguising their real sentiments, crept secretly into the Church. For since the law directed that search should be made for their books, those of them who practiced evil and forbidden arts were detected, and, these were ready to secure their own safety by dissimulation of every kind. (1) Others, however, there were, who voluntarily and with real sincerity embraced a better hope. Meantime the prelates of the several churches. continued to make strict inquiry, utterly rejecting those who attempted an entrance under the specious disguise of false pretenses, while those who came with sincerity of purpose were proved for a time, and after sufficient trial numbered with the congregation. Such was the treatment of those who stood charged with rank heresy: those, however, who maintained no impious doctrine, but had been separated from the one body through the influence of schismatic advisers, were received without difficulty or delay. Accordingly, numbers thus revisited, as it were, their own country after an absence in a foreign land, and acknowledged the Church as a mother from whom they had wandered long, and to whom they now returned with joy and gladness. Thus the members of the entire body became united, and compacted in one harmonious whole; and the one catholic Church, at unity with itself, shone with full luster, while no heretical or schismatic body anywhere continued to exist. (2) And the credit of having achieved this mighty work our Heaven-protected emperor alone, of all who had gone before him, was able to attribute to himself.

Editorial Summary: Constantine used legislation and the army to destroy the books of his opposition - the "Gnostic heretics". See also Constantine's Letters to (a) Everyone after Nicaea about burning the books of Porphyry and that Porphrian Arius, and to (b) Arius himself c.333 CE. Eusebius painsts a tranquil and harmonious victory in the realm of the war of the books. The Gnostics had to bury their books, and the Orthodox Christians got to rewrite a new history for their opponents, the gnostic heretics of 324/325 CE in the Eastern Empire when the Heaven-protected emperor alone turned up on their doorstep with a large barbarian driven army, and a few new and strange books..

DRAFT PRESENTATION

A further article entitled An Alternative Chronology for the authorship of the Gnostic Gospels will be available shortly.

Best wishes to the students of life,

PRF Brown
Editor
Southern Summer 2011

Related Articles:

Robert Lane Fox's summary of the Nag Hammadi codices
Arnaldo Momigliano on the "christianisation" of literature in the fourth century.
Radiocarbon Dating the Gnostic Gospels: The C14 results are available for two separate Gnostic Gospels: the Gospel of Thomas (NHC 2.2) and the Gospel of Judas.
Academic Commentary on the New Testament Apocrypha: Did the gnostics second-rate Jesus?.
The Apocrypha Masterlist:Listings of the entire New Testament Apocryphal literature by mainstream chronological estimates, and type (ie: Acts, Gospels, etc).
The Non Canonical "Leucian Acts": Analysis of a number of the standard translations of the non canonical "Acts of the Apostles" reveals a distinct signature of anti-christian polemic.
The Therapeutae of Asclepius - The evidence

The Gnostic Gospels and Acts
- a review of the New Testament Apocryphal texts

Gnostic Gospels .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Acts .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Wisdom Sayings .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Letters and Correspondence .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Apocalypses/Revelations .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Treatises .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Editorial Comments (2011) - [Draft]

Reconstructing Gnostic History

The Gnostic Gospels and Acts - a review of the New Testament Apocryphal texts

Gnostic Gospels .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Acts .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Wisdom Sayings .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Letters and Correspondence .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Apocalypses/Revelations .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Gnostic Treatises .............. Integral texts within the Gnostic series of stories called "The Circuits of the Apostles" - [index]

Editorial Comments (2011) - [Draft]

Reconstructing Gnostic History

The Gnostic Gospels and Acts
- a review of the New Testament Apocryphal texts