GOSPELS, APOCRYPHAL

co-ordinate with the Logia of Matthew and the earliest section of the Book of Luke. Caution, however, is needed in taking this position, as the quotations which have been preserved from it differ markedly from those of any of the sources of our canonical Gospels which can be gained by criticism. At all events, the Gospel is to be distinguished from the Hebrew original of the canonical Gospel of Matthew mentioned by Papias (Euseb. HE iii. 39. 16, vi. 25. 4; Irenseus, i. 1). On the whole, the safest conclusion is probably that the Gospel was well known in the eastern part of the Roman Empire in the latter half of the 2nd cent., and that in general it was composed of material similar to that of the canonical Gospels, but contained also sayings of Jesus which our canonical Gospels have not preserved for us.

The most important quotations from the Gospel are as follows: —

*If thy brother Bin in word and give thee Batiafaction, receive liim seven times in the day. Simon, His disciple, said to Him, "Seven times in the day?" The Lord an-swered and said to him, "Yea, I say unto thee, until seventy times seven; for with the prophets also, after they were anointed with the Holy Spint, there was found sinful speech'" (Jerome, adv. Pdaq, iii. 2).

'Also the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews, which was recently translated by me into Greek and Latin, which Origen, too^ften uses, relates after the resurrection of the Saviour: "But when the Lord had given the linen cloth to the priest's servant, He went to James and appeared to him. For James had taken an oath that he would not eat bread from that hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord, until he should see Him rising from, that

'And again, a little farther on: "Bring me, saith the Lord, a table and bread." And there follows immediately: "He took the bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to James the Just, and said to him. My brother, eat thy bread, inasmuch as the Son of Man hath risen from them that sleep"' (Jerome, de Vir. Illus. ii.).

' In the Gospel according to the Hebrews ... is the following story: "Behold, the Lord's mother and His brethren were saying to Him, John the Baptist baptizes unto the remission of sins; let us go and be baptized by him. But He said unto them. What sin have I done, that I should go and be baptized by him? unless perchance this very thing which I have said is an ignorance"' (Jerome, adv. Pelag. iii. 2).

' In the Gospel which the Nazarenes are accustomed to read, that according to the Hebrews, there is put among the greatest crimes, he who shall have grieved the spirit of his brother' (Jerome, in Ezech. 18').

' In the Hebrew Gospel, too, we read of the Lord saying to the disciple, "And never," said He, "rejoice, except when you have looked upon your brother in love.' (Jerome, in Ephes.S^i-).

'For those words have the same meaning with those others, "He that seeketh shall not stop until he find, and when he hath found he shall wonder, and when he hath wondered he shall reign, and when he hath reigned he shall rest'" (Clem, of Alex. Strom, ii. 9. 45).

'And if any one goes to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, there the Saviour Himself saith: "Just now my mother the Holy Spirit took me by one of my hairs and carried me ofE to the great mountam Tabor'" (Origen, in Joan. vol. ii. 6).

' It is written in a certain Gospel, the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews, if any one likes to take it up not as having any authority but to shed light on the matter in hand: ' ' The other," it says, ' ' of the rich men said unto Him, Master, by doing what good thing shall I have life? He said to him, Man, do the Law and the Prophets. He an-swered unto him, I have. He said to him, Go, sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor, and come, follow Me. But the rich man began to scratch his head, and it pleased him not. And the Lord said unto him. How sayest thou, I have done the Law and the Prophets, since it is written in the Law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; and behold many brethren of thine, sons of Abraham, are cmd in 61th, dying of hunger, and thy house is full of good things, and nothing at all goes out from it to them. And He turned and said to Simon His disciple, who was sitting by Him: Simon, son of John, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven'" (Origen, in Mat. 16").

GOSPELS, APOCRYPHAL

'The Gospel which has come down to us in Hebrew characters gave the threat as made not against him who hid (his talent), but against him who lived riotously; for (the parable) told of three servants, one who devoured his lord's substance with harlots and flute-girls, one who gained profit many fold, and one who hid his talent; and how in the issue one was accepted, one merely blamed, and one shut up in prison' (Euseb. Theoph. xxh.).

2. The Gospel of the Egyptians.— This Gospel is mentioned in the last quarter of the 2nd cent, by Clement of Alexandria, by whom it was regarded as apparently of some historical worth, but not of the same grade as our four Gospels. Origen in his Commentary on Luke mentions it among those to which the Evangehst re-ferred, but does not regard it as inspired. Hippolytus says that it was used by an otherwise unknown Gnostic sect known as Naassenes. It was also apparently known to the writer of 2 Clement (ch. xii.).

The origin of the Gospel is altogether a matter of conjecture. Its name would seem to indicate that it circulated in Egypt, possibly among the E^ptian as distinguished from the Hebrew Christians. The prob-abiUty that it represents the original Evangelic tradition is not as strong as in the case of the Gospel according to the Hebrews. At least by the end of the 2nd cent, it was regarded as possessed of heretical tendencies, particularly those of the Encratites, who were opposed to marriage. It is not impossible, however, that the Gospel of the Egyptians contained the original tradition, but in form sufficiently variant to admit of manipulation by groups of heretics.

The most important sayings of Jesus which have come down from this Gospel are from the conversation of Jesus with Salome, given by Clement of Alexandria.

' When Salome asked how long death should have power, the Lord (not meaning that life is evil and the creation bad) said "As long as you women bear " ' (5(ro77i. iii. 64.5).

'And those who opposed the creation of God through shameful abstinence allege also those words spoken to Salome whereof we made mention above. And they are contained, I thinkj, in the Gospel according to the Egyptians. For they said that the Saviour Himself said,' ' I came to destroy the works of the female,"— the female being lust, and the works birth and corruption* {Strom, iii. 9. 63).

' And why do not they who walk any way rather than by the Gospel rule of truth adduce the rest also of the words spoken to Salome? For when she said, "Therefore have I done well in that I have not brought forth," as if it were not fitting to accept motherhood, the Lord replies, saying, "Eat every herb, but that which hath bitterness eat not" ' (ib.).

'Therefore Cassian says: "When Salome inquired when those things should be concerning which she asked, the Lord said. When ye trample on the garment of shame, and when the two shall be one, and the male with the female, neither male nor female"' {Strom, iii. 13. 92).

3. The Gospel according to Peter. — This Gospel is mentioned by Eusebius {HE vi. 12) as having been rejected by Serapion, bishop of Antioch, in the last decade of the 2nd century. He found it in circulation among the Syrian Christians, and at first did not op-pose it, but after having studied it further, condemned it as Docetic. Origen in his Commentary on Matthew (Book X. 17, and occasionally elsewhere) mentions it, or at least shows an acquaintance with it. Eusebius {HE iii. 3, 25) rejects it as heretical, as does Jerome {de Vir. Illus. i.).

In 1886 a fragment of this Gospel was discovered by M. Bouriant, and published with a transl. in 1892. It relates in some detail the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is particularly interesting as indicating how canonical material could be elaborated and changed in the interests of the Docetic heresy. Thus the words of Jesus on the cross, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' are made to read, ' My power, my power, thou hast forsaken me.' At the time of the resurrection the soldiers are said to have seen how 'three men came forth from the tomb, and two of them supported one, and the cross followed them; and of the two the head reached unto the heavens, but the head of him that was led by them overpassed the heavens; -and they heard a voice from the heavens saying.

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