Our image of Jesus Christ is mostly based upon the tradition which can be found in the New Tes-tament. The four canonical gospels share the same basic outline of the life of Jesus. Preached for centuries by priests, monks, theologians, etc. biblical image of Jesus is deeply incised into the col-lective memory through out the Christian world and beyond.
Bearing this in mind, it should be noted however, that most of the testimonies regarding Jesus' life and work written by his contemporaries or persons who lived immediately after his death, never made it to the New Testament. These texts compose the so called New Testament apocrypha. Those are writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives.
The New Testament apocrypha offer a somewhat different image of Jesus from the one that is fa-miliar to the most of us. Most of these texts are not opposed to the canonical gospels but they pro-vide additional information regarding Jesus' life. Therefore, the best way to observe the New Tes-tament apocrypha is to observe them as a missing puzzle. Jointly, with the canonical gospels they will help us fully to perceive Jesus and to get closer to his human nature.
Content:
Infancy Gospels
The Gospel of the Birth of Mary
The Gospel Called the Protevangelion
The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
The Second, or St. Thomas's Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
The History of Joseph the Carpenter
Passion Gospels
The Gospel of Nicodemus, Formerly Called the Acts of Pontius Pilate
The Gospel of Peter
Dialogues With Jesus
The Gospel of the Egyptians
General Texts Concerning Jesus
The Letter of Lentulus
Pistis Sophia
