New Testament Apocrypha

Concept and Biblical Clues

The Korean term for "apocrypha" (oegyeong, 外經) means "books outside the scriptures." The New Testament Apocrypha are writings that take the form of gospels, acts, epistles, and apocalypses but were not accepted into the canon. The term itself does not appear in the Bible. Some New Testament passages, however, suggest that other accounts existed outside the canon.

• Luke 1:1 notes that "many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration" of the things concerning Jesus.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:2 warns believers not to be shaken by a letter claiming to come from the apostle ("nor by letter as from us").
• "The epistle from Laodicea" mentioned in Colossians 4:16 has not survived. A separate Latin letter bearing this name was composed later.

Major Writings

• Apocryphal gospels: the Gospel of Thomas (a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus), the Protoevangelium of James (an account of the birth and childhood of Mary), the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (stories of miracles performed by the boy Jesus), the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Nicodemus (including scenes of the trial before Pontius Pilate), and the Gospel of Judas.
• Apocryphal acts: the Acts of Peter, the Acts of Paul (including the story of Paul and Thecla), the Acts of John, and the Acts of Thomas.
• Apocryphal epistles and apocalypses: the Epistle to the Laodiceans, the Correspondence of Paul and Seneca, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Apocalypse of Paul.

Background

Most of the New Testament Apocrypha are thought to have been written in the second century or later. Many arose from a desire to fill in matters that the canonical Gospels pass over briefly, such as Jesus' childhood or the deaths of the apostles. Some were written to promote particular ideas, and a number reflect Gnostic tendencies (Gnosticism being the belief that salvation comes through special, secret knowledge). The full text of the Gospel of Thomas became known after the discovery of Coptic documents at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945. A manuscript of the Gospel of Judas was made public in 2006.

Relationship to the Canon

The early church is described as having distinguished among books by criteria such as apostolic origin, agreement with orthodox faith, and widespread use among the churches. In his Easter (Festal) Letter of 367, Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, set out a list of twenty-seven New Testament books identical to the one used today. These twenty-seven books are accepted in common by the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and Protestantism. Thus, unlike the Old Testament Apocrypha, whose status differs from church to church, the New Testament Apocrypha are not canonical in any church. Writings such as the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas were once read in some local churches, but they are usually distinguished from the apocrypha and classified among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers.

Terminology varies among churches. Protestants call books outside the Old Testament canon, such as Tobit, the "Apocrypha" and refer to books written under borrowed names as the "Pseudepigrapha." The Catholic Church includes Tobit and similar books in the canon as "deuterocanonical" books and calls the books corresponding to the Protestant "Pseudepigrapha" the "apocrypha."

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Some scholars hold that the Gospel of Thomas preserves early traditions independent of the canonical Gospels. Many other scholars and conservative churches, by contrast, regard it as a later work dependent on the canonical Gospels. Some stories commonly handed down in church tradition derive not from the Bible but from the apocrypha. The names Joachim and Anne for Mary's parents are known to come from the Protoevangelium of James, the account of Peter's being crucified upside down from the Acts of Peter, and the tradition of Thomas's missionary work in India from the Acts of Thomas.

In the Korean Church

Korean Protestant churches teach that only the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are canonical and do not treat the apocrypha as a basis for faith. Popular novels and certain groups sometimes present the apocrypha as a "hidden true gospel." For this reason, the nature and dating of the apocrypha are sometimes explained in church Bible studies and in heresy counseling.