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Jens Schröter

The New Testament contains four accounts of the life of Jesus. To some people in antiquity, four was too many. Disagreements in the Gospels over what Jesus said and did triggered debate between insiders and drew criticism from outsiders. To other people, four was not enough. As early as the first century, Christians wrote additional gospels, each with their own portrayal of Jesus and depictions of his relationships with his family, his followers, and his Father. 

While these gospels were not included in the New Testament canon, many continued to be important for Christian thought and practice; all these texts, moreover, are significant for the study of emergent Christianity. This short, accessible introduction draws on current scholarship on the various noncanonical (or apocryphal) gospels to present this fascinating literature to readers eager to learn more about their origins, contents, and meaning. 

The book begins with a discussion of the distinction between gospels that became canonical and those that came to be regarded as apocryphal. Then, the gospels are presented in chapters arranged according to Jesus' ministry: from Infancy Gospels to texts about Jesus' earthly career to his passion, resurrection, and post resurrection appearances. 

This book demonstrates how early Christians confronted crises in their communities through story, crafting new accounts of Jesus' life that expanded upon and sometimes challenged the Gospels that became canonical. The apocryphal gospels are not Scripture, but they are no less valuable for understanding Christianity in its formative centuries and beyond.

Cascade Books

Westar Tools and Translations

The Apocryphal Gospels: Jesus Traditions outside the Bible

Wayne Coppins

Lily C. Vuong

The Protevangelium of James tells stories about the life of the Virgin Mary that are absent from the New Testament Gospels: her miraculous birth to Anna and Joachim, her upbringing in the temple, and her marriage at the age of twelve to the aged widower Joseph. The text also adds significant details to the well-known stories of Jesus' conception, birth, and escape from the slaughter of innocents perpetrated by Herod the Great. Despite its noncanonical status, the Protevangelium of James was extremely influential in churches of the East, and since its publication in the West in the sixteenth-century has captured the imagination of readers all over the world. This study edition presents a fresh, new translation of the text with cross-references, notes, and commentary. The extensive introduction makes accessible the most recent scholarship in studies on Mary in Christian apocrypha, offers new insights into the text's provenance and relationship to Judaism, and discusses the text's contributions to art and literature.

The Protevangelium of James

Jacob A. Lollar

The Doctrine of Addai tells the story of how Christianity came to the Syrian city of Edessa. It incorporates and adapts a correspondence between Jesus and the Syrian king Abgar, who wrote to Jesus requesting healing from a long-term illness. In his response, Jesus promises to send him an apostle, Addai (sometimes called Thaddaeus), who will heal Abgar's disease and establish Christianity in his kingdom. The exchange between Jesus and Abgar and Edessa's subsequent evangelization by Addai functions as a founding myth for Christianity in the region, which likely did become Christian under a later King Abgar in the early third century. But the activities and interactions of Addai in Edessa reflect a later time: the fifth century, when Christians in the East were embroiled in a conflict over reforms enacted by the Bishop Rabbula. These complexities of Syrian Christian history are all made clear in the introduction and rich commentary that accompanies this updated English translation of the Doctrine of Addai and related texts--including early witnesses to the Abgar/Jesus Correspondence in papyri and inscriptions, and selections from the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, the Acts of Thaddaeus, and the Acts of Mar Mari.

The Doctrine of Addai and the Letters of Jesus and Abgar

The Westar Tools and Translations series provides critical tools and fresh new translations for research on canonical and non-canonical texts that survive from the earliest periods of the Christian tradition to the Middle Ages. These writings are crucial for determining the complex history of Christian origins. The translations are known as the Scholars Version. Each work, whether a translations or research aid, is accompanied by textual notes, translation notes, cross references, and an index. An extensive introduction also sets out the challenge a text or research aid addresses. 

Series Editor:

David Galston