pseudepigraphal gospels

Christian Alexander

What pseudepigraphal (AKA gnostic) gospels deal with the life of Jesus? 

MJ. Smith

I don't know why but Old Testament para-Biblical texts are usually called pseudepigrapha while the equivalent New Testament texts are called apocrypha. This matters in terms of building searches to finding data like this. This is an example of a question that you could ask a free AI chat bot like GoogleBard or ChatGPT to find starting points. Using them could help you gain more independence as a researcher - I don't trust them especially on details but they do get one started (much like Wikipedia). Are you intending to limit yourself to gnostic materials or are you thinking more broadly? An example of what AI chat bots can provide:

Here is a chart of Gnostic New Testament apocrypha focusing on the life of Jesus Christ.

Title	Estimated Date	Original Language
Gospel of Thomas	early to mid 2nd century AD	Possibly Greek, but found in Coptic
Gospel of Judas	early to mid 2nd century AD	Coptic (possibly originally in Greek)
Gospel of Mary	early 2nd century AD	Coptic (possibly originally in Greek)
Gospel of Philip	3rd century AD	Coptic
Gospel of Truth	mid 2nd century AD	Coptic (possibly originally in Greek)
Gospel of the Egyptians	2nd century AD	Coptic (possibly originally in Greek)
Gospel of the Savior (Unknown Berlin Gospel)	2nd to 4th century AD	Coptic
Pistis Sophia	3rd to 4th century AD	Coptic
Second Treatise of the Great Seth	3rd century AD	Coptic
The Sophia of Jesus Christ	3rd century AD	Coptic
The Dialogue of the Savior	mid to late 2nd century AD	Coptic
The Apocalypse of Peter (Gnostic)	early to mid 2nd century AD	Greek
The Book of Thomas the Contender	2nd to 4th century AD	Coptic
The Apocryphon of John	late 2nd century AD	Coptic (possibly originally in Greek)

Excluding gnostic texts:

Here is a chart of New Testament apocrypha, excluding Gnostic texts, focusing on the life of Jesus Christ:

Title	Estimated Date	Original Language
Protoevangelium of James (Infancy Gospel of James)	mid 2nd century AD	Greek
Gospel of Peter	late 2nd century AD	Greek
Infancy Gospel of Thomas	later 2nd century AD	Greek
Gospel of the Hebrews	early 2nd century AD	possibly Aramaic or Greek
Gospel of the Ebionites	2nd century AD	Greek
Gospel of the Nazarenes	2nd century AD	Aramaic
Pseudo-Clementine literature (Recognitions and Homilies)	4th century AD (based on earlier sources)	Greek
Arabic Infancy Gospel	5th-6th century AD	Arabic
History of Joseph the Carpenter	5th-6th century AD	Coptic
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew	7th-8th century AD	Latin
Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate)	4th century AD	Greek
Gospel of Bartholomew	3rd-5th century AD	Greek
Third Epistle to the Corinthians (apocryphal)	mid to late 2nd century AD	Greek
Gospel of Barnabas	16th century AD (claimed to be based on earlier work)	Italian
Life of John the Baptist (attributed to Serapion)	7th-8th century AD	Greek
The Giving of the Law (Epistle of Christ to Abgar)	4th-5th century AD	Syriac
The Legend of Aphroditianus	5th-6th century AD	Syriac
The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea	4th century AD	Greek

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1260571#Comment_1260571

MJ. Smith said:

I don't know why but Old Testament para-Biblical texts are usually called pseudepigrapha while the equivalent New Testament texts are calledyoarted on finding data like this.

Something got garbled in your paragraph. I think you meant to say "are called apocrypha" but part of the next sentence got swallowed in the garbling.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1260575#Comment_1260575

Thank you - I've got it straightened out I think although not with the original wording. I need to quit letting my hand rest on the pad [:$] I usually catch it but ...