The four gospels in the New Testament are our best sources of information about the life and teachings of Jesus. But early Christians also wrote some other gospels which weren't included in the Bible. Several of these other gospels, after being lost for centuries, have been rediscovered in modern times. But some are still missing, and could be permanently lost.
Gospels that were left out of the Bible are called non-canonical gospels. Some scholars also call them apocryphal gospels, because most of them were written under assumed names and have dubious origins. Doubt about the authenticity of a gospel was often the main reason it was excluded from the Bible. But some gospels were also excluded because they expressed unorthodox or heretical views.
Scholars are especially interested in non-canonical gospels which were written during the earliest period of Christianity. Because these earliest gospels were closest in time to the actual events, they are usually better sources of information than later gospels. Unfortunately, no copies of several of the earliest gospels appear to have survived.
But even if all the ancient copies of a gospel have disappeared, it is sometimes still possible to uncover some of its original content. This is because parts of it may have been copied into other early writings which have survived. In fact there is strong evidence that this actually happened with several of the earliest gospels. Thus, although no manuscripts of these earliest gospels still exist, some of their content is apparently still preserved in other books that did survive.
What are these other books that did survive? The most important examples are the New Testament gospels themselves, for they appear to contain material that was copied from at least three earlier sources. Many scholars think that these three earlier sources were the first gospels.
Since the ancient names of these three lost sources are unknown, they are usually identified by their modern names: the Lost Q Source, the Pre-Markan Passion Narrative, and the Signs Gospel.
Because no copies of any of these lost sources have survived, they are sometimes called hypothetical gospels. But most scholars believe that they really did exist at one time. And since parts of them are evidently still preserved within the New Testament, it is even possible to determine some of their probable original content.
These three lost writings -- the Lost Q Source, the Pre-Markan Passion Narrative, and the Signs Gospel -- were probably the first gospels. But several other apocryphal gospels may have also been written at a fairly early period. These include the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, and the Secret Gospel of Mark. All of these were rediscovered in modern times. But only fragments or secondary translations have been found, so the complete original forms of all of them are still unavailable.
Among the later apocryphal gospels, the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas are probably the best known. The Gospel of Mary is an account of some revelations to Mary Magdalene, but most scholars doubt that she was the real author. Similarly, the Gospel of Judas probably wasn't written by Judas iscariot, but by someone else who used his name. In ancient times unknown authors would often ascribe their books to famous people in an effort to get additional publicity and greater authority for them.
Early Christian writers mentioned a number of other gospels which they knew about, but which disappeared later. These include the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of Matthias, the Gospel of Perfection, the Gospel of the Seventy, the Dialogue of the Savior, the Gospel of the Twelve, the Gospel of the Hebrews, and the Gospel of Eve. Other gospels may have also existed, but even their names have been lost.
Some early gospels may have vanished because they were secret gospels and very few copies were made. Others could have been lost due to wars, conquests, persecutions, and economic dislocations. In addition, there have been accusations that early church leaders intentionally destroyed some gospels in order to cover up embarrassing facts or suppress unorthodox views. Some intentional destruction apparently did take place, although its extent is unclear.
But the modern rediscoveries prove that a previously-lost gospel can sometimes be found again. And there is a chance that more will be found in the future, especially since small fragments of several possible gospels have been uncovered in various excavations.
Here are brief descriptions of some of the best-known lost (or rediscovered) gospels:
-- The Lost Q Source --
This early gospel is also called the Lost Sayings Gospel and the Q Document. Like other hypothetical lost gospels, its probable existence has been inferred from studies of the New Testament gospels, for it is thought to be the original source of many of the teachings of Jesus that are preserved in Matthew and Luke. The name "Q" comes from the German word "quelle", which means "source".
Most scholars believe that this gospel was primarily a collection of the sayings of Jesus, with very little narrative material or biographical information. In the earliest period these sayings must have been preserved orally, but later someone apparently collected them and wrote them down. The sayings may have been collected in Galilee from conversations with people who had heard Jesus teach there.
Scholars have put together possible reconstructions of this gospel by extracting material from Matthew and Luke, but some uncertainties are involved in exactly what should be included. It is possible that some of the original parts of this gospel have been completely lost.
-- The Pre-Markan Passion Narrative --
Scholars have deduced the probable existence of this gospel from careful studies of the last three chapters of the Gospel of Mark. These studies indicate that the author of Mark obtained some material from an earlier source. This source is now lost, but reconstructions indicate that it was a short narrative of the arrest, interrogation, and crucifixion of Jesus. For this reason, it is called the Pre-Markan Passion Narrative.
The unknown author of this lost narrative had a good knowledge of what happened to Christ during and after his arrest. Evidently he (or she) got information from some of his original followers. The author may have even been a member of the first community of believers, known as the Nazarenes, who lived in Jerusalem in the years after Jesus departed.
Reconstructions of the original form of this gospel indicate that it gave a simple straight-forward account of what happened before and during the crucifixion. Because this account could be the basis for all the later accounts, whoever wrote it performed an extremely important service.
-- The Signs Gospel --
The likely existence of this hypothetical gospel has been deduced from studies of the Gospel of John. It is called the Signs Gospel because it apparently described some miracles of Jesus which it called "signs". Its unknown author may have regarded the ability of Jesus to perform miracles as one of the "signs" that he was the Messiah.
In addition to the miracle stories, this gospel may have also included some information about John the Baptist, and about the crucifixion and resurrection. But it probably didn't have much information about the teachings of Jesus.
-- The Gospel of Peter --
A fragment of this gospel was discovered in Egypt in the late nineteenth century, and two more possible fragments have been found since then. But a large portion may still be missing. Hopefully the remainder will eventually be found, because the available text contains some interesting material, including the only known description of how Christ left the tomb after his resurrection.
Ever since the first fragment was discovered, this gospel has been controversial. Some scholars think that it preserves some of the beliefs and views of the earliest Christians. But others regard it as a secondary work containing a mixture of fanciful elements and material copied from the New Testament gospels.
One very intriguing part of this gospel is its account of the exit of Jesus from the tomb. This exit takes place during the night as some Roman soldiers stand guard nearby. Suddenly the soldiers see two men (or angels) descend from heaven and enter the tomb. A short time later the men come back out with Jesus between them. At this point the men look so tall that their heads reach to the sky, and Jesus looks even taller. They are followed out of the tomb by a cross. Suddenly the Roman soldiers hear a voice from heaven, and the cross answers it.
The description of this scene puzzles many readers, since it appears to depict a wooden cross which can walk and talk. But some scholars think that the passage is actually describing a cross-like formation of resurrected saints who have returned to life along with Jesus and follow him out of the tomb. A few scholars also see connections between this account and a passage at Matthew 27:52-53, which describes a similar resurrection of dead saints.
-- The Gospel of Mary --
The existence of this gospel was unknown until several fragments were discovered in the twentieth century. Since the only long fragment is a Coptic translation, most of the original Greek text is still lost. And even the long fragment probably only includes about half of the gospel.
Because the "Mary" in this gospel is depicted as a very prominent disciple, most scholars assume that she is Mary Magdalene, although in the extant text she is always just called Mary. The gospel emphasizes her prominence by presenting her as a strong leader, and by suggesting that she was the most favored disciple of Jesus, and received a special revelation from him. It also suggests that this led to a conflict with Peter, who may have seen her as a threat to his position as overall leader of the disciples in the period immediately after Jesus departed.
Indications of a rivalry with Peter are especially evident in the last section of the extant text, in which Mary gets into an argument with Peter and his brother Andrew over the true meaning of Jesus' teachings. This section may derive from memories of a historical conflict between her and Peter which eventually caused her to leave the group. Thus, although this gospel probably wasn't written until the second century, it may preserve some traditions passed down from an earlier period.
The Gospel of Mary contains some gnostic ideas, particularly in the section which describes the revelation she received from Jesus. This connection with gnosticism, together with the prominent role which the gospel gives to a female, may have led to its suppression by orthodox Christians.
-- The Gospel of Thomas --
This gospel was probably first written in Greek, but the only surviving complete text is a Coptic translation discovered in Egypt in 1945. Its initial section indicates that it contains the "secret sayings" of Jesus, and the main text then gives 114 of those sayings. In most of the passages Jesus speaks as a teacher and his disciples make comments and ask questions.
Because the initial section of this gospel refers to "secret sayings", many scholars believe that it was a secret gospel, at least originally. This means that it was thought to contain secret knowledge, and that only certain individuals were allowed to read it. Several other secret gospels, or fragments of them, have also been discovered.
The Gospel of Thomas may preserve some authentic teachings of Jesus that aren't found in the New Testament. For this reason, many scholars regard it as the most important surviving non-canonical gospel.
-- The Gospel of Judas --
The only extant copy of this gospel was found in Egypt in the 1970s. The details of its discovery are unclear, but it apparently passed through the Egyptian black market at one stage, and then was hidden away for a number of years, with the result that scholars didn't get a look at it until the late 1990s.
The existing copy is a Coptic text, probably a translation of a still-lost Greek original. Unfortunatly, the manuscript is damaged in many places, and some pages are missing, so that translation and interpretation are difficult. However, many scholars believe that it was a secret gospel used mostly by certain gnostic sects of Christians.
This gospel is notable in that it may depict Judas Iscariot as the most loyal disciple of Jesus, and an innocent martyr instead of an evil betrayer. But because of the damage to the manuscript, and the difficulties of interpretation, there is some uncertainty about this matter. In any case, this is one of the later gospels, probably not written until the second century, and most scholars doubt that it contains any authentic information about the real Judas Iscariot.
Note: For more information about this subject, go to Lost Gospels and Early Christian Writings.
