The New Testament Apocrypha

What happened to Jesus before the Gospels begin? What became of the apostles after the Book of Acts?

The New Testament Apocrypha opens the door to the vast, strange, beautiful, and often startling world of Christian literature beyond the New Testament.

Gathered here are writings spanning the earliest centuries of Christianity through the medieval world: alternative and fragmentary gospels, stories of Jesus’ childhood, accounts of his Passion and resurrection, secret sayings and revelations, legendary adventures of the apostles, ancient letters and sermons, mystical hymns, church orders, Marian traditions, Gnostic scriptures, and unforgettable visions of heaven, hell, and the end of the world.

Among the works included are:

The Gospel of Thomas • The Gospel of Peter • The Gospel of Mary • The Gospel of Philip • The Gospel of Judas • The Protevangelium of James • The Infancy Gospel of Thomas • The Gospel of Nicodemus / Acts of Pilate • The Acts of Peter, Paul, John, Andrew, Thomas, and Philip • The Didache • 1 and 2 Clement • The Epistle of Barnabas • The Shepherd of Hermas • The Odes of Solomon • The Apocalypses of Peter, Paul, Thomas, and the Virgin • Marian Dormition and Assumption traditions • Ethiopian Christian works including Qalementos, Tizaz, and the Ethiopic Didascalia • and many more.

These writings are not a single “lost Bible,” nor were they all suppressed by the early church. Some were read beside books that eventually became Scripture; some belonged to rival forms of Christianity; some preserve very early traditions; others reveal how Christian imagination continued to develop for centuries. Together they offer an extraordinary record of Christians asking questions the canonical New Testament left unanswered. The finished volume ranges across gospels and sayings, apostolic narratives, letters, church orders, esoteric texts, Marian traditions, and apocalyptic literature, representing strikingly different periods and Christian communities.

Every major work is accompanied by a newly written introduction explaining its date, origins, manuscript history, theology, historical setting, and influence—clearly distinguishing what scholars know from what remains uncertain. Rather than treating these works as either forbidden secrets or worthless curiosities, this edition invites readers to encounter them as surviving voices from the immense and untidy world of Christian tradition.

Here you will meet a child Jesus who makes clay birds come alive, Peter confronting Simon Magus, Thomas carrying the gospel toward India, Mary Magdalene defending her revelation before skeptical apostles, Paul touring the punishments of the dead, Mary pleading for souls in hell, and Christians imagining everything from the hidden structure of heaven to the practical details of baptism, Eucharist, fasting, leadership, and community life.

The New Testament Apocrypha is an essential collection for readers interested in early Christianity, lost and forgotten scriptures, Christian origins, Gnosticism, biblical history, the historical Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the apostles, and the remarkable literature that flourished beyond the boundaries of the New Testament.

The New Testament gave Christianity its foundational books. This volume opens the much larger library that grew around them.