New Testament Apocrypha

by M.R. James (Editor)

s/t: Being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles & Apocalypses with other narratives & fragments newly translated.
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus & his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles & of their lives. These writings often have links with those books which are regarded as canonical. Not every branch of the Christian church is in agreement as to which writings are to be regarded as canonical & which apocryphal.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Theology, Nonfiction

628 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Montague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M.R. James, was a noted English mediaeval scholar & provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–18) & of Eton College (1918–36). He's best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

M.R.^James

Reviews

[Erik Graff]

My undergradute thesis being on the controversy regarding the orgins of gnosticism, I went on to do some further work on the subject in seminary while taking Elaine Pagel's course there, picking up this resource at Wiser's Bookstore in Manhattan.

Many of the extracanonical books of Christian scriptures deserve to be excluded, relatively speaking, as they are later texts with slight probabilities of being connected with any of the persons associated with the historical Jesus. Of course, by these criteria one might exclude the Epistle to the Hebrews or the Revelation of John from the canon as well and certainly The Gospel of Thomas would have some serious claim to be included.

[Richard Klueg]

If anyone is tempted to think that any of these apocryphal books ought to be considered part of the Bible, just a few minutes looking over them ought to disabuse him of such a notion. As the editor said in one place, "Put very broadly, the development is from rather dim historical reminiscences used as a framework for doctrinal teaching, to thaumaturgy [miracle/magic stories] plus doctrine to pure thaumaturgy without any doctrinal significance." (pg 474) These writings might be compared to contemporary "Christian fiction" like the "Left Behind" series, or video productions like "The Chosen" which begin with the material we have in the Bible and either "fill in the blanks" or "make it relevant to contemporary culture" - often with results that are at best doubtful or even disastrous.

None of these even came close to classic efforts like "Paradise Lost" or Dante's "Inferno," never mind the Bible! Perhaps my "favorite" is from the Coptic narratives of the passion: At the last supper, Jesus and the disciples are served a cock that has been cooked and carved for them. The Lord Jesus raises the bird from the dead, gives it the power of speech, and orders it to follow Judas to spy on him. The cock returns and weeps as he gives a full report, including how Judas' wife had egged him on to betray Jesus. The Lord then releases the bird to fly up into the sky for 1,000 years.

Of course, not all these works are nearly that silly, nor are they all "bad" doctrinally. Still, I'll stick with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, thank you very much!

[G.L.]

A real page turner. Makes one think and reflect.

[G.L.]

This offered great insight to what was going on. A must read for any Theology Student.

[Shelley Alongi]

This is very strange reading. I read it just to know what is out there. It is better than some fiction.

[Mark]

Interesting stories. The main theological departure from orthodoxy is the idea that any sex (including between married individuals) is wrong. Quite Gnostic.