the gnostic gospels

anybody who can, please direct me to some good information about the gnostic bible (gospels of nicodemus, mary, etc). i want not only to read the books but to read a dissection of them. i feel fairly confident that someone here has some good sources towards which to direct me.

I just googled and got plenty of good references.
...both pro and con.

So...how's everybody doing?

SensualMelody said:

Try Elaine Pagels' book, The Gnostic Gospels.

It is relatively short survey.

Very briefly, when a person mentions “Gnostic gospels,” they’re usually referring to a wider body of noncanonized literature – Jewish, Christian, Gnostic and pagan – written (arguably) alongside congregationally sanctioned scriptures. These writings might actually be said to fall into five categories:

1. Jewish Pseudepigrapha (roughly 200 B.C to 200 A.D.) – Loosely Greek for “false writing,” so-called because of contested authorship claims. These are often either corroborative or alternate accounts of temple-era Jewish history, philosophical/spiritual exegeses of the Tanakh (the Hebrew term for the “Old Testament”) or apocalypses (prophecies). The Dead Sea Scrolls and various intertestamental literature might be included in this category.
2. Deuterocanonical books (roughly the same time period) – These are Jewish writings that, though they weren’t included in the Tanakh, were considered inspired by the Roman Catholic Church and actually were canonized, although at a significantly later date than the 66 books we now see in the Protestant Bible. When the canon was first published in a single volume in 1611 – the King James bible -- these books were included, but often set apart, because the Anglican Church, while they accepted them as canon, did not accept them as Scripture. These books offer historic, doctrinal, legal and prophetic accounts alongside their Tanakh counterparts as well as extensions of Esther and Daniel. Most of the stuff in these books is without controversy (although there are a couple sticking points to modern mainline Christians, like hints at purgatory in 2 Maccabees), but because only second-generation Greek or third-generation Latin transcriptions of these originally Hebrew writings exist, their authority is questionable. Inclusion of these books varied among the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox congregations, and Protestant bibles generally omit them altogether.
3. Christian Apocrypha (roughly 50 A.D. to 400 A.D.) – These include texts written either anonymously or supposedly by biblical luminaries (Paul, James, Thomas, etc.). Generally, these take on a more historical (as opposed to spiritual or doctrinal) bent, corroborating or offering additional missing detail to the chronology of Jesus and the apostles’ lives. Among these, you’ll find some interesting “outtakes” from Jesus’ biography (such as supposed accounts of his missing childhood… or even the birth of his mother, Mary), but these don’t generally contradict canonized Christian scriptures in matters of central doctrines, like the virgin birth, miracles or Jesus’ divinity.
4. Gnostic scriptures (50 A.D. to ??) -- Written by any number of sects that competed to take up Jesus’ mantle, these are the writings of authors, who identified as no-less “Christian” than those of canonized books, but whose doctrines on various theological matters (like the very identity of God, the nature things created, the Fall, sin, Jesus’ divinity, the mode of Salvation, etc.) have been dwarfed (justifiably or otherwise) by those of more Orthodox Christianity. These writings have generally come to be seen as heretical by mainline Christians.
5. Miscellany – There are many writings, including ancient legal and mystical Rabbinical commentaries on Torah, pagan and NeoPlatonist apologia, etc. that are often counted among alternate scriptures.

On occasion, these categories run together or evident a certain mutual influence.


As you delve into these writings, keep in mind their controversy. Some, such as the Gospel of Barnabas, supposedly “discovered” in the 1500s, have been all but dismissed by most theologians as a full-scale hoax. Others, while scholars agree on their genuineness, are somewhat anachronistic. Still others, while they were contemporary with their canonized counterparts, suggest theological points that are quite opposite those of mainline Christianity. By all accounts, if you study these, I suggest you assure you first have a solid knowledge of accepted scriptures. Otherwise, you could get totally lost and confused. As with all biblical study, it’s up to you to study, pray and discern.

As for actual research sources, if you want depth and comprehensiveness, plan on a LOT of reading: While claims that there were about 100 gospels that vyed for inclusion in the original Roman Catholic canon are overblown (a mentor of mine says there were more like 30-40), there are dozens and dozens of uncanonized books beyond gospels – epistles, apocalypes, teachings and sayings, commentaries, poetry, creation stories, etc. Many of these books you can find explored in dedicated titles – so there are hundreds and hundreds of books out there. If, however, you want briefer synopses and excerpts and multiple books discussed in a single volume, one I find handy is The Other Bible, edited by Willis Barnstone.

Some others that I’m aware of (in addition to Elaine Pagel’s stuff, as namepeace said), though I haven’t read all of them:
Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It into the New Testament and Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by Bart Ehrman
Lost Books of the Bible, by William Hone
The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation, by J. K. Elliott
The Nag Hammadi Library: A Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures, by James M. Robinson
New Testament Apocrypha, Gospels and Related Writings, by Wilhelm Schneemelcher
Complete Idiot's Guide to the Gnostic Gospels, by J. Michael Matkin

…and lest your study be one-sided:

Here’s an article I found online by the Christian Reseach Institute: http://www.equip.org/free/DG040-1.htm

And there are other titles you’ll find online refuting the authority of alternate Biblical books.

Happy studying.
[Edited 11/29/05 23:27pm]

SassierBritches said:

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[Edited 11/30/05 9:58am]