Apocryphal Gospels Gospels not included in the New Testament or any ancient Bibles. These gospels, many of which are pseudonymous, were never widely authoritative in the early-church period, and most were labeled heretical by church fathers. With few exceptions, the apocryphal gospels tell us little about the historical Jesus. Their primary value is in what they reveal about the perception of Jesus and his teachings by particular groups during the second and third centuries ad (Gregory, “The Non-Canonical Gospels,” 3; Foster, “Preface,” xvii—xviii).

Some apocryphal gospels have been found in manuscript form in Egypt; others we know about only from references in patristic literature. Many of these works do not include the term “gospel” in their titles; rather, this label is attributed to them by modern scholarship, either because they seem to reflect the “gospel” genre or because they include a supposed saying of Jesus.

Some of these texts parallel portions of the canonical Gospels, while others contain very different content. The canonical Gospels all take the form of biographical narratives that climax with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. This is true for some but not most of the apocryphal gospels, which often reflect tendencies to embellish Jesus’ story with additional details and miraculous deeds (“The Non-Canonical Gospels,” 6–7; Kesich, “Christ’s Temptation,” 3). Some of these texts contain only tales of Jesus’ youth; others narrate only the passion and resurrection. Some are not narratives at all, but rather collections of sayings. Many gnostic texts bearing the title “gospel” are discourses between the risen Jesus and his disciples, with little narrative.