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The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations
Bart Ehrman--the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus and a recognized authority on the early Christian Church--and Zlatko Plese here offer a groundbreaking, multi-lingual edition of the Apocryphal Gospels, one that breathes new life into the non-canonical texts that were once nearly lost to history.
In The Apocryphal Gospels , Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in the New Testament. This essential collection contains Gospels describing Jesus's infancy, ministry, Passion, and resurrection, as well as the most controversial manuscript discoveries of modern times, including the most significant Gospel discovered in the 20th century--the Gospel of Thomas--and the most recently discovered Gospel, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. For the first time ever, these sacred manuscripts are featured in the original Greek, Latin, and Coptic languages, accompanied by fresh English translations that appear next to the original texts, allowing for easy line by line comparison. Also, each translation begins with a thoughtful examination of key historical, literary, and textual issues that places each Gospel in its proper context. The end result is a resource that enables anyone interested in Christianity or the early
Church to understand--better than ever before--the deeper meanings of these apocryphal Gospels.
The Apocryphal Gospels is much more than an annotated guide to the Gospels. Through its authoritative use of both native text and engaging, accurate translations, it provides an unprecedented look at early Christianity and the New Testament. This is an indispensable volume for any reader interested in church history, antiquity, ancient languages, or the Christian faith.
In The Apocryphal Gospels , Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in the New Testament. This essential collection contains Gospels describing Jesus's infancy, ministry, Passion, and resurrection, as well as the most controversial manuscript discoveries of modern times, including the most significant Gospel discovered in the 20th century--the Gospel of Thomas--and the most recently discovered Gospel, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. For the first time ever, these sacred manuscripts are featured in the original Greek, Latin, and Coptic languages, accompanied by fresh English translations that appear next to the original texts, allowing for easy line by line comparison. Also, each translation begins with a thoughtful examination of key historical, literary, and textual issues that places each Gospel in its proper context. The end result is a resource that enables anyone interested in Christianity or the early
Church to understand--better than ever before--the deeper meanings of these apocryphal Gospels.
The Apocryphal Gospels is much more than an annotated guide to the Gospels. Through its authoritative use of both native text and engaging, accurate translations, it provides an unprecedented look at early Christianity and the New Testament. This is an indispensable volume for any reader interested in church history, antiquity, ancient languages, or the Christian faith.
611 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 2011
28 people are currently reading
630 people want to read
About the author
Bart D. Ehrman
68 books2,106 followersBart Denton Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 9, 2024
White guy suprised :O
July 20, 2013
Finally finished this huge tome! Although it took me almost two months, reading this was constructive. I give credit and much-deserved kudos to Drs. Ehrman and Plese for their fairness in the writeups before each apocryphal gospel. They have fairly portrayed why these gospels were considered apocryphal and gnostic, even heretical, unorthodox, and uncanonical without unduly vilifying the Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox faiths. This is certainly more than I can say of representatives from these 3 major faiths who do not hide their antagonism or vehement opposition to these "gospels" without fairly representing the reasons why. Maybe that's why I ended up reading this book in the first place (although it's certainly not my first Ehrman book). Surprisingly, much of the Roman Catholic tradition and beliefs that Protestants and E. Orthodox eschew come from these very same apocryphal gospels, particularly their beliefs on Mary Magdalene; the eternal virginity of Mary, why she was later elevated to the Immaculate Conception, the "only human" without sin, her early years; the sons of Joseph; Jesus' early years; the early people after Adam and Eve; etc. If these gospels were considered anathema or heretical by the early church, how did the Roman Catholic church eventually come to accept them, albeit deuterocanonical (or outside of the closed canon of the Bible)? It makes one wonder. ... The book was very illuminating to me and helped me understand where "the other side" is coming from, in this case the other side being those the 3 faiths consider "lost to salvation". I recommend it to open-minded people of different faiths and to post graduate theology students so they have a background of what got thrown out of what most Christians now consider Scripture and not remain ignorant and dissembling when addressing questions from their congregations regarding new age or gnostic beliefs and believers.
November 23, 2023
The fact that each page in English has a facing page in the original language made me feel like I was in too deep here. However, the introductory material helped me understand the challenge of understanding how and why these documents came to be and how/why the content they contain came to be. Those are often different questions. I also gained an appreciation for the fact that whether you believe the stories or not, they represent a real tradition within the Christian faith at some place and time.
I read somewhere else that a good way to gain more appreciation for the canonical gospels is to read the apocryphal ones. That was my experience here.
I read somewhere else that a good way to gain more appreciation for the canonical gospels is to read the apocryphal ones. That was my experience here.
October 7, 2018
This book is such an amazing resource!
The introductions give the practical details associated with each work, as well as overviews of content, and often go in broad strokes through the provenance and interpretations of the piece.
Each piece is presented in the original language(s) as best can be determined. It is typed so that you are not straining to make out text on photocopies of the often small fragmented originals. This is great if you want to use the texts for translation practice. Most texts are in either Greek or Latin, though a few are in either one of the two major divisions of Coptic.
The English translations are well thought out, and presented well.
It is vital to remember that when reading this book, just as with any religious anthology (including the Canonical Bible), you have to read each work as an individual, yet in light of other texts that might shed insight. This is challenging and takes a fair amount of practice. The most important thing to remember is that this book and others like it, though bound by common theme and perhaps characters, are not meant to be read in a cover to cover narrative style like a novel. Each text is an individual and needs to be handled as such. So as hard as it can be "reset" your brain before reading each new text (this is aided somewhat by formatting and introductory material). It is well worth the effort.
The introductions give the practical details associated with each work, as well as overviews of content, and often go in broad strokes through the provenance and interpretations of the piece.
Each piece is presented in the original language(s) as best can be determined. It is typed so that you are not straining to make out text on photocopies of the often small fragmented originals. This is great if you want to use the texts for translation practice. Most texts are in either Greek or Latin, though a few are in either one of the two major divisions of Coptic.
The English translations are well thought out, and presented well.
It is vital to remember that when reading this book, just as with any religious anthology (including the Canonical Bible), you have to read each work as an individual, yet in light of other texts that might shed insight. This is challenging and takes a fair amount of practice. The most important thing to remember is that this book and others like it, though bound by common theme and perhaps characters, are not meant to be read in a cover to cover narrative style like a novel. Each text is an individual and needs to be handled as such. So as hard as it can be "reset" your brain before reading each new text (this is aided somewhat by formatting and introductory material). It is well worth the effort.
June 30, 2020
This is a collection of noncanonical Gospel materials from early Christianity, which reveal how different storytellers in different times and places related the life and impact of Jesus. Much of this writing is poetic or cryptic in nature. The writings are deeply fragmented because of early attempts to destroy them.
It is a great shame that the Catholic Church succeeded in destroying so much valuable spiritual writing. Censorship by the Catholic Church dates back to the earliest formulations of the New Testament Gospels. Because of this drastic destruction, apocryphal writing is of amplified importance, particularly because it emerged so close to the time of Christ.
In its censorship role, the Catholic Church positioned itself as a machine for secular rule, tweaking the original message of Christ, and lobotomizing the masses for the purposes of assuring acquiescence to monarchal demands. Most Christians don’t really understand the extent to which the early scriptures were disputed and modified.
For the most part, these apocryphal gospels represent difficult, esoteric reading that would likely only interest those with a profound fascination for the study of early Christianity. I’ve summarized a few of the more dramatic ideas in the following paragraphs:
The Dramatic Historical Impact of Jesus
Because Jesus is so different, so very much beyond human capabilities, His mere presence bothered leaders of the time. This is because Jesus challenged them by unveiling their sinfulness. To crucify Jesus for this reason, as opposed to changing, is to essentially sacrifice goodness; something we do each and every time we choose evil.
Many struggle to understand this sacrifice. The orthodox contention that such a sacrifice was necessary to pay a debt is not fully clear. Why would an omnipotent God need to pay a debt, even if it is a debt humanity owes? Why would an infinitely good and omnipotent God need to make use of an evil crucifixion to gain His will? This paradox gains illumination only within the framework of freewill and the understanding that God is conducting this event upon Himself. The result is the deliverance of a radical message of grace that dramatically changed human history.
The crucifixion is God demonstrating His tolerance of our transgressions, while we grow. Ask yourself: what if Jesus had miraculously survived the cross by successfully resisting his persecutors supernaturally? Certainly, this would have compelled everyone, even Caesar, to worship Jesus; but not because they freely chose to do so. On the contrary, it would be because they were forced into a choice by supernatural persuasion. The amazing thing about the passive resistance exemplified in the crucifixion is that it distinctly infused the message of Gods tolerance and grace, while simultaneously preserving human freewill.
One might also ask, what other miracle could God do to convince people? If God wrote ‘I am God’ in the clouds we would say an airplane did it or that it was the result of coincidental cloud formations. If God spoke aloud to us then we would look in the bushes for speakers or declare ourselves schizophrenic. If God appeared before us we would say it was a ghost or apparition.
Truly, miracles are happening all around us all the time but we choose not to recognize them or we attribute them to something else. Does the statement that the sun was eclipsed offer any explanation that such an event is not a miracle? The miraculous and timely movement of the planets is deemed un-miraculous only because we have developed a juvenile explanation for it. The development of life in the womb, the sprouting of seeds, the diversification of lifeforms on earth … all miracles to which our awe has grown immune!
Regardless of the extravagance of any miracle, we return to our skepticism, failing to appreciate ineffable demonstrations, just as the Jews failed to appreciate manna, freedom from Egypt, or the gift of their own precious land. The sad contradiction is that the power of money never fails to mesmerize us and glean our attention, mainly because we thirst for the power, material possessions and idolization that wealth brings.
Looking at these historical writings allows us to examine the profound impact this one birth imposes upon humanity and the entire course of human history. How can anyone deny its force? And what is this message brought forth by Jesus? It is but love! A call for all to simply love! For it is within an embracement of love that the kingdom arises among men.
The life of Jesus could be referred to as the “Big Bang” of love; for it erupts into history like an explosion. The controversy over who or what Jesus actually was looms so large that we may clearly see that He was an enigma, unique, different and certainly unforgettable. The vivid, nonviolent message of Christ adhering firmly and unwaveringly to the truth of His sonship, even unto death, inscribes the Word indelibly into the history of the world.
Roman Propaganda
It is quite easy for the student of early Christianity to identify Roman propaganda in these early writings. As in the New Testament, these apocryphal writings endeavor to transfer the responsibility of the crucifixion of Jesus to the Jews. We see this in an account of the remorsefulness of Pilate and the scolding of Pilate by the Roman Emperor for allowing Jesus to be crucified. The Romans didn’t retreat from the use of fiction to make Rome appear more holy.
The naïve reader can understand this with better clarity by simply asking themselves why the Romans persecuted Christians for so long after the death of Jesus. It eventually became clear to the Romans that the Christian martyrs were not to be intimidated by the fear of death, so something more drastic had to be cooked up. The idea of perpetual torture by burning in horrible hell fire forever became the fate of those who would resist the dictates of the Roman church. It becomes clear to a discerning reader of history that the Romans eventually used such horrendous and unjust threats to hijack Christianity for the purposes of controlling the populace.
The lesson for us today is to recognize the extent to which those in power will go to sustain their political entrenchment. Freedom of the press pertains only to those who own the press and the governing powers that control the press. Fabrications of political bias and cultural propaganda remain as commonplace today as they were in the Roman era.
The Importance of the Present
Modern religious activity is overly focused upon the past. We allow ourselves to be hounded by the past and condemned by it in our present moments. We spend time studying the lives of the ancients but struggle to contemplate and understand the present moment.
We must learn to revel in the present moment because the present is the place where our power exists. Each present moment works to form and fashion all forthcoming future moments, which pour over us persistently in an unrelentless stream. We must not allow our present creativity to be condemned and stifled by the past.
When we stop to think, meditate, pray and contemplate, we can map out how we would like to progress. Failing to do this results in our flailing about in a cascade of spurious, jolting and unpredictable reacting that is void of forethought. When we envision the future that is most likely to transpire as a result of certain present actions, we gain enormous power. But we fear this power.
We fear the responsibility present power places upon us; responsibilities to ourselves and for the wellbeing of the world. We choose instead to retreat into drunkenness and personal comforts while ignoring larger endeavors that we arbitrarily dismiss as impossible. It is time that we become proactive; recognizing the extent of our responsibility to others, to the environment, and to sustaining basic human decency on this planet.
Certain of these apocryphal writings encourage us to stand firm spiritually in this physical existence, which it recognizes as a shadow existence, a testing ground, a place into which we plunge momentarily, as if diving beneath water to retrieve a trinket or memento. We are encouraged to enjoy the time allotted to us in this realm by remaining fearlessly committed to the beautiful task assigned to us. That task is to transition material vulgarity; alter it, change it, and evolve it into a purer goodness. But accomplishing this task necessitates recognizing such purity exists and believing in it. This is a message not altogether different from the orthodox position.
Belief becomes manifest in our actions. Action, in and of itself, is not belief; but authentic belief heralds forth action. Belief void of action is not authentic belief. We choose and create with our actions. To believe is to embrace the message of Jesus and others, which we commonly refer to as “The Word”. Citizens of God’s kingdom will believe fervently in the Word. In fact, the Word will be the basis of their unity and the focus that governs them. Anyone rejecting the Word will be incompatible with the Kingdom and necessarily expelled unless willingly purified by the power of grace. Love issues forth the grace necessary to birth spirits.
The Immaculate Conception
Purity is visible by the physical embodiment of a young virgin and this motivates a spiritual desire for its preservation. Opposed to this are animalistic impulses to defile the purity of virginity for selfish pleasure. Mary represents the preservation of this virginal glory, standing above animalistic copulation, and thus she evolves into a deity.
The view of sexual intercourse as somehow dirty and polluted gives birth to the Catholic idea of celibacy as a means for sustaining purity. This idea has persisted all the way to contemporary Catholic clergy, who are often accused of polluting children when they fail to remain chaste. This has become a systemic problem within the modern church.
But the idea of the immaculate conception is deeper than merely sustaining the purity of virginity. If traveling hundreds of thousands of light years in space is impractical, the remaining option for gaining access to other planets would be to birth humanity there remotely, by manipulating the reproductive systems of organisms already there from afar. Even modern technology has revealed the power of nanobots, wave theory and remote vehicles.
What is human birth? Is it not the coming into existence of that which was not in existence before? How can human birth be anything other than the synthesizing of an existence into the physical realm from another realm? Is human birth anything less than a documented crossing from one dimension into another?
The Christian theology of an immaculate conception demands acceptance that the female womb was manipulated from afar, which means from another dimension of space/time. How could any Catholic contend otherwise? We may not know how it was done, but we cannot contend an immaculate conception without accepting that a woman was impregnated in a radically different way.
Regardless, the natural extension of birth is the idea of spiritual emergence into the physical world. Certainly, no one can deny that the spiritual influence of Christ is very vigorous today and has endured for more than two thousand years. That’s much longer than any human dynasty has ever endured.
The Significance and Influence of Eastern Religion
Christians believe that wise men from the East visited the infant Jesus. But have Christians ever stopped to wonder about the significance of the idea that the wise men came from the East? Is this indicative of a superior eastern philosophy at that time? Does it imply the influence of Zoroastrianism , the world’s oldest continuously practiced religion, which is ascribed to the Persian (Iranian) Zoroaster? By proclaiming them “wise”, is the Biblical narrative not acknowledging the flow of wisdom from the east into the west? Did the wise men not proclaim that God sent them to Bethlehem, that they were directed by dreams, and were even led by a star? What is the significance that the wise men come from the east and not from Germany, Spain, Italy, North Africa or some other geography within the Roman empire?
Death
As we must condition ourselves for physical endurance, so we must condition ourselves for the spiritual journey that awaits us at death. We traverse first the physical realm and then the spiritual. In the apocryphal writing entitled ‘The History of Joseph the Carpenter’, Jesus is quoted as saying: “It is better for a person to find a cup of water in the age that is coming than all the goods of the entire world. Better is a single footstep in the house of my father than all the wealth of the world. Better a single moment of the righteous rejoicing than a thousand years of the sinners.”
Our journey continues after death. The spirit issues forth from the body in the same manner as a child emerges from the womb. The spirit enters into a new realm that is foreign and within which it is vulnerable, in the same way a physical child is vulnerable in this environment.
If it is to be sustained, those in the alternative dimension must nurture the transient spirit. The spiritual realm will ask what is at the heart of the newly arrived spirit and what is its innermost motivational vitality? Can it withstand the swirling vicissitudes of darkness that seek to extinguish or corrupt it or shall it suffer mortality? The successful spirit will find solace amidst the coupling hands of the righteous who preceded it and who will endeavor to preserve it in the journey between dimensions.
Reading this sort of apocryphal writing let’s one begin to feel the horror that must rest within the heart of an infant that is not welcomed into our physical dimension; but rather aborted out of fear for the consequences associated with loving and nurturing it.
Adam
The concept of awareness occurring in the first man is exemplified as an animal ascending out of mere instinctual thought into a capacity for freewill. In the beginning there is this idea of God’s pet animal, contained within the cage of Eden, who suddenly demands independence by finding self-awareness. The mythology of Eden symbolizes Adam’s exercise of freewill as an unrighteous event that brings hard consequences; but God knew this situation would eventually develop.
REVIEW CONTINUED IN COMMENT SECTION BELOW
It is a great shame that the Catholic Church succeeded in destroying so much valuable spiritual writing. Censorship by the Catholic Church dates back to the earliest formulations of the New Testament Gospels. Because of this drastic destruction, apocryphal writing is of amplified importance, particularly because it emerged so close to the time of Christ.
In its censorship role, the Catholic Church positioned itself as a machine for secular rule, tweaking the original message of Christ, and lobotomizing the masses for the purposes of assuring acquiescence to monarchal demands. Most Christians don’t really understand the extent to which the early scriptures were disputed and modified.
For the most part, these apocryphal gospels represent difficult, esoteric reading that would likely only interest those with a profound fascination for the study of early Christianity. I’ve summarized a few of the more dramatic ideas in the following paragraphs:
The Dramatic Historical Impact of Jesus
Because Jesus is so different, so very much beyond human capabilities, His mere presence bothered leaders of the time. This is because Jesus challenged them by unveiling their sinfulness. To crucify Jesus for this reason, as opposed to changing, is to essentially sacrifice goodness; something we do each and every time we choose evil.
Many struggle to understand this sacrifice. The orthodox contention that such a sacrifice was necessary to pay a debt is not fully clear. Why would an omnipotent God need to pay a debt, even if it is a debt humanity owes? Why would an infinitely good and omnipotent God need to make use of an evil crucifixion to gain His will? This paradox gains illumination only within the framework of freewill and the understanding that God is conducting this event upon Himself. The result is the deliverance of a radical message of grace that dramatically changed human history.
The crucifixion is God demonstrating His tolerance of our transgressions, while we grow. Ask yourself: what if Jesus had miraculously survived the cross by successfully resisting his persecutors supernaturally? Certainly, this would have compelled everyone, even Caesar, to worship Jesus; but not because they freely chose to do so. On the contrary, it would be because they were forced into a choice by supernatural persuasion. The amazing thing about the passive resistance exemplified in the crucifixion is that it distinctly infused the message of Gods tolerance and grace, while simultaneously preserving human freewill.
One might also ask, what other miracle could God do to convince people? If God wrote ‘I am God’ in the clouds we would say an airplane did it or that it was the result of coincidental cloud formations. If God spoke aloud to us then we would look in the bushes for speakers or declare ourselves schizophrenic. If God appeared before us we would say it was a ghost or apparition.
Truly, miracles are happening all around us all the time but we choose not to recognize them or we attribute them to something else. Does the statement that the sun was eclipsed offer any explanation that such an event is not a miracle? The miraculous and timely movement of the planets is deemed un-miraculous only because we have developed a juvenile explanation for it. The development of life in the womb, the sprouting of seeds, the diversification of lifeforms on earth … all miracles to which our awe has grown immune!
Regardless of the extravagance of any miracle, we return to our skepticism, failing to appreciate ineffable demonstrations, just as the Jews failed to appreciate manna, freedom from Egypt, or the gift of their own precious land. The sad contradiction is that the power of money never fails to mesmerize us and glean our attention, mainly because we thirst for the power, material possessions and idolization that wealth brings.
Looking at these historical writings allows us to examine the profound impact this one birth imposes upon humanity and the entire course of human history. How can anyone deny its force? And what is this message brought forth by Jesus? It is but love! A call for all to simply love! For it is within an embracement of love that the kingdom arises among men.
The life of Jesus could be referred to as the “Big Bang” of love; for it erupts into history like an explosion. The controversy over who or what Jesus actually was looms so large that we may clearly see that He was an enigma, unique, different and certainly unforgettable. The vivid, nonviolent message of Christ adhering firmly and unwaveringly to the truth of His sonship, even unto death, inscribes the Word indelibly into the history of the world.
Roman Propaganda
It is quite easy for the student of early Christianity to identify Roman propaganda in these early writings. As in the New Testament, these apocryphal writings endeavor to transfer the responsibility of the crucifixion of Jesus to the Jews. We see this in an account of the remorsefulness of Pilate and the scolding of Pilate by the Roman Emperor for allowing Jesus to be crucified. The Romans didn’t retreat from the use of fiction to make Rome appear more holy.
The naïve reader can understand this with better clarity by simply asking themselves why the Romans persecuted Christians for so long after the death of Jesus. It eventually became clear to the Romans that the Christian martyrs were not to be intimidated by the fear of death, so something more drastic had to be cooked up. The idea of perpetual torture by burning in horrible hell fire forever became the fate of those who would resist the dictates of the Roman church. It becomes clear to a discerning reader of history that the Romans eventually used such horrendous and unjust threats to hijack Christianity for the purposes of controlling the populace.
The lesson for us today is to recognize the extent to which those in power will go to sustain their political entrenchment. Freedom of the press pertains only to those who own the press and the governing powers that control the press. Fabrications of political bias and cultural propaganda remain as commonplace today as they were in the Roman era.
The Importance of the Present
Modern religious activity is overly focused upon the past. We allow ourselves to be hounded by the past and condemned by it in our present moments. We spend time studying the lives of the ancients but struggle to contemplate and understand the present moment.
We must learn to revel in the present moment because the present is the place where our power exists. Each present moment works to form and fashion all forthcoming future moments, which pour over us persistently in an unrelentless stream. We must not allow our present creativity to be condemned and stifled by the past.
When we stop to think, meditate, pray and contemplate, we can map out how we would like to progress. Failing to do this results in our flailing about in a cascade of spurious, jolting and unpredictable reacting that is void of forethought. When we envision the future that is most likely to transpire as a result of certain present actions, we gain enormous power. But we fear this power.
We fear the responsibility present power places upon us; responsibilities to ourselves and for the wellbeing of the world. We choose instead to retreat into drunkenness and personal comforts while ignoring larger endeavors that we arbitrarily dismiss as impossible. It is time that we become proactive; recognizing the extent of our responsibility to others, to the environment, and to sustaining basic human decency on this planet.
Certain of these apocryphal writings encourage us to stand firm spiritually in this physical existence, which it recognizes as a shadow existence, a testing ground, a place into which we plunge momentarily, as if diving beneath water to retrieve a trinket or memento. We are encouraged to enjoy the time allotted to us in this realm by remaining fearlessly committed to the beautiful task assigned to us. That task is to transition material vulgarity; alter it, change it, and evolve it into a purer goodness. But accomplishing this task necessitates recognizing such purity exists and believing in it. This is a message not altogether different from the orthodox position.
Belief becomes manifest in our actions. Action, in and of itself, is not belief; but authentic belief heralds forth action. Belief void of action is not authentic belief. We choose and create with our actions. To believe is to embrace the message of Jesus and others, which we commonly refer to as “The Word”. Citizens of God’s kingdom will believe fervently in the Word. In fact, the Word will be the basis of their unity and the focus that governs them. Anyone rejecting the Word will be incompatible with the Kingdom and necessarily expelled unless willingly purified by the power of grace. Love issues forth the grace necessary to birth spirits.
The Immaculate Conception
Purity is visible by the physical embodiment of a young virgin and this motivates a spiritual desire for its preservation. Opposed to this are animalistic impulses to defile the purity of virginity for selfish pleasure. Mary represents the preservation of this virginal glory, standing above animalistic copulation, and thus she evolves into a deity.
The view of sexual intercourse as somehow dirty and polluted gives birth to the Catholic idea of celibacy as a means for sustaining purity. This idea has persisted all the way to contemporary Catholic clergy, who are often accused of polluting children when they fail to remain chaste. This has become a systemic problem within the modern church.
But the idea of the immaculate conception is deeper than merely sustaining the purity of virginity. If traveling hundreds of thousands of light years in space is impractical, the remaining option for gaining access to other planets would be to birth humanity there remotely, by manipulating the reproductive systems of organisms already there from afar. Even modern technology has revealed the power of nanobots, wave theory and remote vehicles.
What is human birth? Is it not the coming into existence of that which was not in existence before? How can human birth be anything other than the synthesizing of an existence into the physical realm from another realm? Is human birth anything less than a documented crossing from one dimension into another?
The Christian theology of an immaculate conception demands acceptance that the female womb was manipulated from afar, which means from another dimension of space/time. How could any Catholic contend otherwise? We may not know how it was done, but we cannot contend an immaculate conception without accepting that a woman was impregnated in a radically different way.
Regardless, the natural extension of birth is the idea of spiritual emergence into the physical world. Certainly, no one can deny that the spiritual influence of Christ is very vigorous today and has endured for more than two thousand years. That’s much longer than any human dynasty has ever endured.
The Significance and Influence of Eastern Religion
Christians believe that wise men from the East visited the infant Jesus. But have Christians ever stopped to wonder about the significance of the idea that the wise men came from the East? Is this indicative of a superior eastern philosophy at that time? Does it imply the influence of Zoroastrianism , the world’s oldest continuously practiced religion, which is ascribed to the Persian (Iranian) Zoroaster? By proclaiming them “wise”, is the Biblical narrative not acknowledging the flow of wisdom from the east into the west? Did the wise men not proclaim that God sent them to Bethlehem, that they were directed by dreams, and were even led by a star? What is the significance that the wise men come from the east and not from Germany, Spain, Italy, North Africa or some other geography within the Roman empire?
Death
As we must condition ourselves for physical endurance, so we must condition ourselves for the spiritual journey that awaits us at death. We traverse first the physical realm and then the spiritual. In the apocryphal writing entitled ‘The History of Joseph the Carpenter’, Jesus is quoted as saying: “It is better for a person to find a cup of water in the age that is coming than all the goods of the entire world. Better is a single footstep in the house of my father than all the wealth of the world. Better a single moment of the righteous rejoicing than a thousand years of the sinners.”
Our journey continues after death. The spirit issues forth from the body in the same manner as a child emerges from the womb. The spirit enters into a new realm that is foreign and within which it is vulnerable, in the same way a physical child is vulnerable in this environment.
If it is to be sustained, those in the alternative dimension must nurture the transient spirit. The spiritual realm will ask what is at the heart of the newly arrived spirit and what is its innermost motivational vitality? Can it withstand the swirling vicissitudes of darkness that seek to extinguish or corrupt it or shall it suffer mortality? The successful spirit will find solace amidst the coupling hands of the righteous who preceded it and who will endeavor to preserve it in the journey between dimensions.
Reading this sort of apocryphal writing let’s one begin to feel the horror that must rest within the heart of an infant that is not welcomed into our physical dimension; but rather aborted out of fear for the consequences associated with loving and nurturing it.
Adam
The concept of awareness occurring in the first man is exemplified as an animal ascending out of mere instinctual thought into a capacity for freewill. In the beginning there is this idea of God’s pet animal, contained within the cage of Eden, who suddenly demands independence by finding self-awareness. The mythology of Eden symbolizes Adam’s exercise of freewill as an unrighteous event that brings hard consequences; but God knew this situation would eventually develop.
REVIEW CONTINUED IN COMMENT SECTION BELOW
March 30, 2018
The early manuscripts, those apocrypha that dealt with the infant Jesus and Joseph arrested my attention, but the later ones, especially those that came off as knockoffs of the Book of Revelations, were quite dull.
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September 10, 2016Bart Ehrman--the New York Times bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus and a recognized authority on the early Christian Church--and Zlatko Plese here offer a groundbreaking, multi-lingual edition of the Apocryphal Gospels, one that breathes new life into the non-canonical texts that were once nearly lost to history.
In The Apocryphal Gospels, Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in the New Testament. This essential collection contains Gospels describing Jesus's infancy, ministry, Passion, and resurrection, as well as the most controversial manuscript discoveries of modern times, including the most significant Gospel discovered in the 20th century--the Gospel of Thomas--and the most recently discovered Gospel, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. For the first time ever, these sacred manuscripts are featured in the original Greek, Latin, and Coptic languages, accompanied by fresh English translations that appear next to the original texts, allowing for easy line by line comparison. Also, each translation begins with a thoughtful examination of key historical, literary, and textual issues that places each Gospel in its proper context. The end result is a resource that enables anyone interested in Christianity or the early Church to understand--better than ever before--the deeper meanings of these apocryphal Gospels.
The Apocryphal Gospels is much more than an annotated guide to the Gospels. Through its authoritative use of both native text and engaging, accurate translations, it provides an unprecedented look at early Christianity and the New Testament. This is an indispensable volume for any reader interested in church history, antiquity, ancient languages, or the Christian faith.(less)
Hardcover, 624 pages
Published July 21st 2011 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published January 26th 2011
In The Apocryphal Gospels, Ehrman and Plese present a rare compilation of over 40 ancient gospel texts and textual fragments that do not appear in the New Testament. This essential collection contains Gospels describing Jesus's infancy, ministry, Passion, and resurrection, as well as the most controversial manuscript discoveries of modern times, including the most significant Gospel discovered in the 20th century--the Gospel of Thomas--and the most recently discovered Gospel, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot. For the first time ever, these sacred manuscripts are featured in the original Greek, Latin, and Coptic languages, accompanied by fresh English translations that appear next to the original texts, allowing for easy line by line comparison. Also, each translation begins with a thoughtful examination of key historical, literary, and textual issues that places each Gospel in its proper context. The end result is a resource that enables anyone interested in Christianity or the early Church to understand--better than ever before--the deeper meanings of these apocryphal Gospels.
The Apocryphal Gospels is much more than an annotated guide to the Gospels. Through its authoritative use of both native text and engaging, accurate translations, it provides an unprecedented look at early Christianity and the New Testament. This is an indispensable volume for any reader interested in church history, antiquity, ancient languages, or the Christian faith.(less)
Hardcover, 624 pages
Published July 21st 2011 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published January 26th 2011
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