Finding the Hidden Gospels

Although the Christian Apocrypha have been labeled “lost” and “secret,” several English translations of these texts are readily available.

J.K. Elliott’s translation, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), includes excellent references to modern scholarship and a bibliography of Christian Apocrypha. Elliott’s book claims to be an “update” of Montague Rhodes James, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), but the claim is much too modest. A lengthier, technical work is Wilhelm Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, trans. R. McClain Wilson, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1991).

Ron Cameron’s The Other Gospels (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1982) contains most of the earliest apocryphal gospels in readable English translations and has helpful introductions to these texts. A product of the Jesus Seminar, The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, ed. Robert J. Miller (Sonoma, CA: Polebridge Press, 1992), includes new translations of the four canonical Gospels (half of the book) plus several of the Christian Apocrypha. Polebridge Press has also just published Ronald F. Hock, The Infancy Gospels of James and Thomas (1995), which includes the Greek text of these two gospels with English translations on the facing pages; it also contains excellent introductory sections and critical notes.