In the process of determining the Biblical canon, a large number of works were excluded from the New Testament. These New Testament Apocrypha are generally not accepted by Christians, though the Ethiopian Orthodox Church recognizes Jubilees, Book of Enoch, the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, Acts of Paul , and some uniquely Ethiopian books.

Books which are not objectively known to have existed in antiquity, such as the Gospel of Barnabas or the Book of Mormon, are usually not considered part of the Apocrypha.

Non-canonical ancient books

Many of the books in this list are not preserved in their entirety, surviving only in fragments, short quotes, or not at all beyond mention of their title in preserved works.

Apocryphal Gospels

These books are generally considered to be of Gnostic origin.

• Gospel of Thomas
• Infancy Gospel of Thomas
• Gospel of Truth
• Gospel of Philip
• Gospel of Mary
• The Infancy Gospel of Mark
• The Arabic Infancy Gospel

Another group of "gospels" was considered heretical or fraudulent.

• Gospel of Peter
• Gospel of Matthias
• Gospel of Paul

Quoted by orthodox authors

Many of the books noted below, while often quoted by orthodox authors and not considered particularly heretical in content, were nonetheless not considered canonical.

• 1 and 2 Clement
• Shepherd (or Pastor) of Hermas
• Didache
• Book of Enoch (debatably Old Testament Apocrypha)
• Epistle of Barnabas
• Apocalypse of Peter
• The Infancy Gospel of James
• Third Epistle to the Corinthians

Other ancient books

• Secret Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of the Egyptians
• Gospel of the Hebrews
• Secret Book of James
• Preaching of Peter
• Gospel of the Ebionites
• Gospel of the Nazoreans
• The Egerton Gospel
• Oxyrhynchus Gospels
• Gospel of the Savior
• Epistula Apostolorum
• Acts of Peter
• Acts of Peter and the Twelve
• Book of Thomas the Contender
• Pistis Sophia
• Dialogue of the Savior
• Gospel of the Savior
• Acts of Thomas
• Acts of Andrew
• Acts of John
• Acts of Pilate
• Third Epistle to the Thessalonians
• Epistle of the Corinthians to Paul
• Epistle to the Ionians
• Acts of Paul and Thecla
• Acts of Peter and Paul
• First Apocalypse of Paul
• Second Apocalypse of Paul
• Sermon of Paul
• Book of spells of serpents

• The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa (See Image of Edessa)
• The Epistle to the Laodiceans (allegedly from Paul of Tarsus)
• The Correspondence of St. Paul to Seneca the Younger

See Also

• Textual criticism
• Historicity of Jesus
• History of Christianity
• Authorship of the Pauline epistles

External Links

Some of the most complete collections and resources on New Testament Apocrypha can be found at:

• New Testament Apocrypha texts
• New Testament Apocrypha resources
• New Testament Apocrypha histories