In recent years elaborate investigations of the apocryphal Gospels have been published. Invaluable to all students are those found in Harnack’s Altchristliche Litteraturgeschichte and Zahn’s Geschichte des NZ’ Kanons. Holtzmann’s Ein- leitung in das NT, 3rd. ed. 1892, contains an appendix on the ‘NT Apocrypha.’ Admirable introductions to these Gospels, with complete translations of their contents, are given in Die Apokryphen des Neuen Testaments — a comprehensive work shortly to be published under the editorship of Dr. Hennecke, who, with Prof. A. Meyer, has contributed the greater part of the section on the apocryphal Gospels.
Preuschen’s Antilegomena: Die Reste der ausserkanonischen Evangelien und urehristlichen Ueberlieferungen, presents a critically edited text of the extant fragments of these writings. The Syriac Versions are brought within the student’s reach by Wright’s Contributions to the Apocryphal Literature of the NT, and his articles in the Journal of Sacred Literature, 1865 ; the Coptic Versions by Forbes Robinson’s Coptic Apocryphal Gospels.
Other works are: Hofmann, Leben Jesu nach den Apokry- phen, 1851; Kleuker, Ueber die Apokryphen des NT'; Tappe- horn, Ausserbiblische Nachrichten (a Roman Catholic work) ; Pons, Recherches sur les apocryphes dunouveau Test. ; Nicholas, Etudes sur les Evangiles Apocryphes ; Variot, Les évangiles apocryphes (a Roman Catholic work); Barnes, Canonical and Uncanonical Gospels ; Baring-Gould, Lost and Hostile Gospels ; Ellicott, ‘On the Apocr. Gospels’ in Cambridge Essays, 1856 ; Kriiger, ‘The Apocr. Gospels’ in Gillett’s translation of Barly Christian Literature ; Cruttwell, ‘Early Apocr. Literature’ in A Literary History of Early Christianily ; Westcott, ‘On some of the Apocryphal Gospels’ in Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, Appendix D; Salmon, ‘Apocryphal and Heretical Gospels’ in ‘Introduction to the NT, lect. xi. ; Orr, NT Apocry- phat Writings, with brief and scholarly notes—a volume of the ‘Temple Bible’; Hone’s ‘catchpenny’ Apocr. New Testament is sufficiently described by Orr as ‘critically worthless.’ Excel- lent English translations are given in Walker’s Apocryphal Gospels, Acts and Revelations (Ante-Nicene Christian Library) ; vol. ix., an extra volume of the series, contains ‘the Gospel of Peter.’
Important and lengthy articles on these Gospels are contri- buted by Hofmann to vol. i. of PRE3; by Lipsius to vol. ii. of the Dict. of Christ. Biography ; shorter articles by James to vol. i. of the Encycl. Biblica, and by Charles to vol. xxv. of the Encyel. Britannica. Hofmann’s article has the most complete Bibliography.
THE.— i. Meaning of the title.
ii. Evidence of existence. 1. Clement of Alexandria. 2. Origen (Jerome, Ambrose). 3. Hippolytus and Epiphanius. 4. The so-called Second Epistle of Clement
of Rome.
5. Hypothetical sources.
iii. Contents.
iv. Origin and character. Place and date.
Literature.
i. MEANING OF THE TITLE.—In the title which Clement of Alexandria first applies to this Gospel —rd xar’ Alyvrrious edayyédvov — the preposition xaré cannot have the same meaning as in the titles of the canonical and other Gospels, where it is used with a proper name in the singular. The reference is not to authorship, but to the region in which the Gospel found acceptance, or to the circle from which it sprang. It is improbable that the Gospel was written in the Egyptian, i.e. the Coptic language; Clement of Alexandria quotes from it, but there is no evidence either that he made use of a translation or that he had learnt Coptic during his residence in Egypt. On account of the resem- blance of the title to that of the Gospel accord- ing to the Hebrews, Harnack (Chronologie, i. 612.) suggests that one Gospel circulated amongst the Jewish Christians residing in Egypt, and the other Gospel amongst the Christians who were natives of Egypt; it is also a possible inference that the Gospel was not called cad’ “ENAqvas, because Chris- tianity had more adherents amongst the native Egyptians than amongst the Greek residents in Egypt. But there is insufficient foundation for Harnack’s argument, when he maintains that the title—the Gospel of the Egyptians, or the Egyptian Gospel — signifies that this was the only Gospel known to these Egyptian Christians. ‘If, in the same circles, the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, etc., had been read with equal or even higher authority, it would have been impossible in those circles to describe this Gospel as the Gospel of the Egyptians.’ Harnack’s conclusion rests upon his statement that the name was given to the Gospel by Egyptian writers, 2.¢. by Clement of Alexandria and Origen ; he acknowledges that if non-Egyptian Fathers had thus described this Gospel, ‘we might, nay we must, have believed that because the Gospel came from Egypt it was called the Egyptian Gospel, just as the Palestinian Gospel was called 7d evayyédoy Kad’ ‘EBpatous, or ‘EBpaixéy, or lovoaixév.’ But although Origen was a native of Alexandria, Clement was an Athenian. Zabn (Geschichte, ii. 630) can find no intimation in the writings of Clement and Origen that they regarded themselves as Alyirrioc; his explanation of the title, therefore, is that whilst the Church at Alexandria kept to the canonical Gospels, this non-canonical Gospel had considerable popularity in the provinces of Egypt during the 2nd century. This conclusion is a probable inference from the scanty facts ; more- over, it is in accord with the history of the Church in Egypt during the 3rd and 4th cents., when the provincial Churches diverged in their theology trom the teaching of the Alexandrian F athers.
ii. EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE.—l. The Gospel according to the Egyptians is first mentioned (175-200) by Clement of Alecandria. After quot- ing a passage which Julius Cassianus (¢. 170) aseribes to ‘the Lord,’ Clement adds: ‘We have not this saying in the four Gospels that have been handed down to us, but in the Gospel kar’ A’yur- rlous (Strom. iii. 13, 92). The Gospel is not described as a heretical writing, but it is regarded as out- side the class to which the four Gospels belong (rots mapadedopévors niuiv rérrapow evaryyentots).