Gospel of Basilides A noncanonical, no longer extant gospel mentioned by church father Origen as one of “many” used by heretics. Origen stated, “Basilides, too, dared to write a gospel and give it his own name” (Homily on Luke 1.2). From the middle of the third century, this gospel may have circulated among the followers of Basilides, a leader who taught in Alexandria and held Gnostic beliefs. Early church fathers viewed Basilides as heretical (see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4.7.3–8; Irenaeus Adversus Haereses 1.34.3–6; Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 7.14–27). Origen’s mention of the Gospel of Basilides, and the approximate dates of Basilides’ teachings in Alexandria, suggests a date for the gospel of about the mid-second century ad. The Gospel of Basilides was never widely authoritative in the early church period.

(For further information on Gnosticism and why it was deemed heretical by the early church fathers, see this article: Gnosticism. For information on the process of canonization, see this article: Canon, New Testament.)