The Bible was definitely written around the 1st century AD. C. In it there are four accounts of the life of Jesus: the gospel of Mark, Luke, John and Matthew. However, there are other gospels that are not integrated into the Bible, as they were not recognized by the religious authorities for understanding that they were not inspired by God. These texts are known as the apocryphal gospels. Apocrypha Gospels
In the religious context of Christianity, the apocryphal word refers to sacred texts that are not part of the official canon. For this reason, there is a distinction between the canonical and apocryphal gospels.
Christianity took its first steps around the year 30 d. C when a group of Jews united to follow the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Apocrypha Gospels
Jesus’ followers told stories about the new Messiah until they were compiled in the New Testament. It is believed that the first gospel was that of Mark and was surely written around 70 AD. C. Together with the other three gospels already cited they form the official version of Christianity.
Main apocryphal gospels
The Gospel of Peter is an account of the life of Jesus. The text states that the author was the apostle Peter himself. This text was discovered in Egypt, in the nineteenth century, causing a great impact among biblical scholars and academics, as it recounted the events related to the resurrection of Jesus. Apocrypha Gospels
The Gospel of Thomas was discovered in 1945 in the city of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These are some manuscripts with 114 sentences attributed to Jesus of Nazareth. Experts believe that this text was part of a 3rd century d. C, the Gnostic movement .
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene was discovered in the 19th century and specialists placed it within the current of Gnosticism . About this text only some fragments are preserved. Although it was not written by Mary Magdalene, it is named after a disciple of Jesus, who is believed to have been Mary Magdalene.
The Gospel of Judas, surely written by the Cainites around the 2nd century d. C, presents a positive version of the apostle who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot. For some specialists, this interpretation of the manuscript is erroneous and is due to an error in the translation of the original text. Apocrypha Gospels
More questions than answers
In these gospels there is much controversy and disparity of opinion. Scholars ask themselves all sorts of questions: were they banned for theological reasons or for other interests? “Why did they disappear”? Was there a doctrinal battle to impose a model of Christianity on others? Apocrypha Gospels
At the Council of Nicea, in the 4th century d. C, the foundations of Christianity were laid
When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, the Roman Empire adopted this religion as official. At that time there was no doctrinal cohesion among Christians and in this historical context it was decided to organize the Council of Nicea, in 325, to establish the basic principles of the Christian faith. Apocrypha Gospels
The council’s objective was twofold: to unify the faith and give cohesion to the empire. The bishops and priests gathered at Nicaea agreed with religious dogmas and, at the same time, proclaimed certain texts (the canonical gospels) and other unofficial ones (the apocryphal gospels).
